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What the voter gender divide means for Canada’s political future
What the voter gender divide means for Canada’s political future

Canada’s recent federal election suggests a growing gender divide in political preferences.

Polling indicated women voters leaned strongly toward the Liberals, while an increasing number of men — particularly younger men — gravitated toward the Conservatives.

This polarization was not simply a matter of partisan preference, but reflected deeper social, cultural and economic realignments rooted in identity politics and diverging values.

The gender gap also mirrors patterns across western democracies, where far-right populist parties increasingly draw male support through nationalist, anti-immigration and anti-feminist narratives, while women — especially racialized and university-educated — opt for progressive parties promoting equality and social protection.

What the polls showed

While official voting records by gender are not available, several public opinion polls heading into the election indicated gender was a key predictor of party support.

Abacus Data found that women’s early preferences were nearly evenly split — 31 per cent for the Liberals and 32 per cent for the Conservatives. But as the campaign progressed, Liberal support among women rose steadily by two to three points per week, reaching 35 per cent by April 8, while support for the Conservatives fell to 30 per cent.

This pattern was echoed by an EKOS Politics analysis, which described the 2025 election as defined by a “massive gender divide” — women supported the Liberal Party by a 25-point margin, while the Conservatives held a slight lead among men, especially those under 50.

Findings from Angus Reid further underscored this divide. Among men, support was closely split, with the Conservatives holding a slight lead over the Liberals (44 per cent to 42 per cent). Among women, however, the Liberals enjoyed a commanding lead, with 51 per cent support compared to 32 per cent for the Conservatives.

Together, these three polls suggest a growing gender gap in Canadian politics — one that shaped party support throughout the election campaign.

The New Democratic Party, meanwhile — once positioned as a progressive bridge between working-class voters and social justice movements — struggled to attract voters as it had in previous elections.

The NDP’s waning influence in the 2025 election highlights the erosion of class-based solidarity, which has seemingly been supplanted by identity politics.

Full article published by The Conversation on 15 May 2025.

Image credits: The Conversation

 

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The Conservatives had a chance to reach millennial women like me. It was their mistake to ignore us
The Conservatives had a chance to reach millennial women like me. It was their mistake to ignore us

Do the federal Conservatives have a problem with women? All signs point to yes — but not in the way many progressive voters think. It’s not that they’re afraid of strong women. Rather, it’s that they can’t seem to figure out how to talk to female voters.

Throughout the recent election campaign, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives had perilously low support from women across every age group. In its final poll before voting day, Nanos had Mark Carney’s Liberals ahead among women by 20 points. Angus Reid had them leading by 25 points for women 55-plus,10 points for women 35 to 54 and 22 points for women 18 to 34. Even Abacus, which presented a tighter race than most pollsters, clocked the Liberals at eight points ahead of the Conservatives among women. Apart from the Trump factor, women’s distrust of and distaste for the Conservative Party was its biggest electoral liability.

Unlike Trump, Conservatives’ standing with women is largely within their control. Yet for all their focus on deficits, they stubbornly chose to ignore their deficit among female voters, despite having ample resources and time, as well as favourable issues to play with.

It’s a bad Conservative habit that persists across leaders and elections: ignore the issues and demographics you’re losing on and double down on base support. While this may work sometimes, you can’t simply opt out of appealing to women and expect to win an election, let alone majority government.

When Poilievre enjoyed a 25-point lead and victory seemed assured, perhaps the Conservatives figured they didn’t need to reach out to women. Instead of expanding the big blue tent, they focused on internal battles over which type of conservative deserved to be in it. As they slid in the polls, it became abundantly clear that they should’ve spent less energy on conducting purity tests and more on fixing their women problem.

Read here the full article published by The Star.

Image credits: The Star

 

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globe and the mail
Number of female candidates drops across parties: study
Number of female candidates drops across parties: study

The number of female candidates running for federal office has dropped in this election, a fresh analysis shows, raising fears that this will make gender parity in the House of Commons a more distant prospect.

The main political parties except the NDP have fewer women standing compared with the 2021 general election, while the number of visible-minority candidates has also dropped for the Liberals and NDP.

Andrew Griffith, a fellow of the Environics Institute and a former director-general in the Immigration Department, who carried out the study with Professor Jerome Black, former chair of McGill’s Department of Political Science, said he was surprised by the reversal of the trend toward more female candidates since 2011.

The Conservative Party has seen a drop of almost 10 percentage points in the number of female candidates it has fielded compared with 2021. While a third of its candidates were women last time, now only 23 per cent are female, the analysis shows. The Liberals have seen a decline of about 6.5 percentage points, from 43 per cent to 36.5 per cent this time, according to the study.

Read here the full article published by The Globe and Mail on 23 April 2025.

Image by The Globe and Mail

 

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Electing More Women Helps All Of Us Build Wealth (And Vice Versa)
Electing More Women Helps All Of Us Build Wealth (And Vice Versa)

The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio recently commissioned original research to uncover the barriers and accelerators women experience in building wealth in our region. We worked with The Center for Community Solutions to survey over 3,000 women from across Central Ohio and conduct focus groups with 126 women of varying identities, backgrounds, and life experiences.

The research, published in “Making Women Wealthy and Free” demonstrates that building financial stability and wealth has many outcomes, including increasing women’s representation in decision-making spaces. This in turn creates systemic changes that benefit women, families and communities.

Michele Swers, a political scientist at Georgetown University, has conducted research that shows that when women are elected to Congress, they tend to focus more on issues that impact women, like paid leave and intimate partner violence, than men do. The problem is women are still vastly underrepresented in political office. Currently, only 28.2% of Congressional members are women. What will it take for more women to run for office and win?

Our research shows that women candidates in Central Ohio experience challenges running for office for the following reasons:

  • They don’t feel like standard campaigns are structured or designed for them or their families.
  • They are expected to oversell themselves and their qualifications, something they don’t feel men are asked to do.
  • Women candidates feel they have to be assertive, especially when asking for campaign funds, but not too assertive, or they could end up being viewed negatively, which doesn’t help them.
  • The common stereotype that women are bad at fundraising makes it harder to raise money as a candidate and can be a barrier to running for office in the first place.

We found that women need access to more affordable childcare, paid leave, and more flexible work schedules to find a balance that works for themselves and their families. To accomplish these policy victories, public and private stakeholders and advocates have to work together.

When women build wealth for themselves, our entire economy is better off. Women need policies that will help them do that, and we know that women elected officials are more likely to make those policies a priority. Electing more women is good for families, our communities, and our country. Working to remove the barriers women face in running for office and winning is essential to fighting for the policies benefit all of us.

Read here the full article published by Gender On The Ballot on 15 April 2025.

Image by Gender On The Ballot

 

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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-21/men-and-women-are-more-divided-and-it-could-sway-the-election/105188052
Evidence grows that men and women are more divided — and it could sway the election
Evidence grows that men and women are more divided — and it could sway the election

Is gender the sleeper issue of this election?

According to research to be published later this week by the ANU, the views of women and men in Australia are becoming more divided.

Researchers found the number of people who believe Australia has gone "too far" in promoting equality has doubled to 19 per cent.

What's more, the data suggests that gender and politics are getting more polarised and the views of women and men more divided. It is consequential for how we understand this election.

There was a moment in the second election debate where the leaders were asked to make a choice about what they regarded as their signature legacy policy.

Anthony Albanese nominated universal childcare as the change he most wanted to be known for as prime minister. Peter Dutton nominated his legacy wish as affordable energy, starting with his gas reservation plan and nuclear power stations.

The answers spoke volumes about not only their priorities and personal passions, but also who they were overwhelmingly talking to in the election campaign.

Read here the full article published by ABC News on 20 April 2025.

Image by ABC News

 

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Datablog | Georgians overwhelming see gender equality as important to country’s future success
Datablog | Georgians overwhelming see gender equality as important to country’s future success

A recent UN Women and CRRC Georgia study has found that the vast majority of Georgians find it important to work towards a more equal society.

The survey focused on a wide range of issues related to gender equality in Georgia, from the need for quality childcare services to women’s representation in politics and business.

According to the data collected, between 79%–98% of respondents believed that improvements in social and police rights, more equal sharing of domestic work, and a greater representation of women in leadership positions were important for Georgia’s future.

Looking at the role of women in leadership positions specifically, 79% believed that more opportunities for women in business was important; 77% believed the same for women in politics; and 75% believed it was important for women to have more opportunities in decision-making roles writ large.

The survey also assessed attitudes toward fundamental rights and social policies. A large majority (83%) considered improved access to higher education for women important. A similarly large majority (84%) supported affordable healthcare for women. The idea that respect for women’s rights in all areas is essential for the country’s success had 91% agreement.

Read here the full article published by OC Media on 22 April 2025.

Image by OC Media

 

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Key facts about women’s suffrage around the world, a century after U.S. ratified 19th Amendment
Key facts about women’s suffrage around the world, a century after U.S. ratified 19th Amendment

This year marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote. But the United States was hardly the first country to codify women’s suffrage, and barriers to vote persisted for some groups of U.S. women for decades. At least 20 nations preceded the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center analysis of women’s enfranchisement measures in 198 countries and self-administering territories. Today, none of these 198 countries and territories bar women from voting because of their sex; some countries do not hold national elections.

Here is a closer look at the history of women’s suffrage around the world. This analysis focuses on when women in each country won the right to vote in national elections, not regional or local elections.

Click here to read the full article published by the Pew Research Center on 5 October 2020.

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In ranked choice elections, women win
In ranked choice elections, women win

RepresentWomen tracks women's representation and leadership in the United States and around the world to identify the "best practices" for creating a more representative government. Our research indicates that even as more women run, electoral rules and systems play a major role in determining electoral outcomes. As seen in both our 2016 and 2020 reports, we find that electoral outcomes for women and people of color are overall better in jurisdictions that have implemented ranked choice voting (RCV). 

The 2020 ranked choice voting report, "In Ranked Choice Elections, Women WIN" provides a thorough review of ranked choice voting in the United States and how it is impacting women's representation in the cities that have implemented it. Over the last decade, 19 cities and counties have used ranked choice voting to elect sitting city officials, including 13 mayors and the city councilmembers in 14 jurisdictions. Over the last decade (2010-2019), women have won 45% of all municipal ranked choice elections. As of April 2020, nearly half of all mayors (46%) and 49% of all city council seats decided by RCV are held by women.

Click here to see the report.

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Protecting political campaigns from digital threats
Protecting political campaigns from digital threats

Political campaigns online have demonstrated that they can help candidates win elections, include more citizens’ concerns in political debates or allow upcoming parties to gain political exposure.

However, social media can also have a negative effect on political and electoral integrity by attacking an essential principle of democracy: the fundamental right of citizens to access trustable, reliable information to form their political opinions and, ultimately, decide their votes.

In this context of potential manipulation of public opinion through digital information operations, electoral management bodies, monitoring authorities, legislators and political parties face increasing difficulty in protecting the integrity of the political process.

Based on International IDEA’s work in Tunisia, Panama and Bolivia, this Fact sheet seeks to identify some overarching recommendations and a way forward based on how these types of activities may have potentially influenced their recent elections.

Click here to see the fact sheet.

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Pursuing equality in rights and representation – Women’s experiences running for parliament in Lebanon’s 2018 elections
Pursuing equality in rights and representation – Women’s experiences running for parliament in Lebanon’s 2018 elections

In late 2018 and early 2019 UN Women interviewed 87 per cent of the women who ran for Parliamentary election (75 of the 86 women; of the 113 women who registered to run, 86 made it on to candidate lists). This report summarizes their stories and experiences as candidates and looks at issues of: violence against women in politics, financial constraints and campaign management, media and image portrayal, violence harassment and discrimination.

Click here to see the report.

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Breaking cycles of violence: Gaps in prevention of and response to electoral-related sexual violence in Kenya
Breaking cycles of violence: Gaps in prevention of and response to electoral-related sexual violence in Kenya

Introduction

I was targeted because my husband is from a different community that was perceived to hold a differing political opinion from the one of the dominant community we live in.’

Survivor of sexual violence during the 2017 elections interviewed in this research Electoral-related sexual violence (ERSV) is a form of sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual assault and defilement, associated with electoral processes and/or intended to influence or achieve a political end within an electoral process. In Kenya, sexual violence has been a recurrent feature of elections, which have been marred by deadly violence, unrest and serious human rights violations and abuses. Outbreaks of sexual violence during elections have been documented since the 1990s.Following the post-election violence in 2007/2008, the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence (CIPEV), known as the ‘Waki Commission’, documented 900 cases of sexual violence perpetrated by security agents, militia groups and civilians against both men, boys, women and girls in a context of large scale violence, mass displacement and more than 1,000 deaths.

CIPEV provided critical recommendations for reform and was followed by the historic adoption in 2010 of a progressive Constitution with a robust Bill of Rights. Since 2010, an impressive set of laws, policies and standard operating procedures have been developed on prevention and response to sexual violence. Yet, during the general elections held in August and October 2017, within a context of localised violence, large numbers of cases of sexual violence perpetrated by persons in uniform and civilians were again documented. According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), at least 201 Kenyans – most of them women and girls — were subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence; [4] however the actual figure is likely higher due to under-reporting and the fact that KNCHR documented these in 11 of the 47 counties.

Click here to see the report.

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Gender-Sensitive Parliaments
Gender-Sensitive Parliaments

The Report on Gender-Sensitive Parliaments is the result of a two-year research project. It follows up on a previous IPU publication, Equality in Politics: A Survey of Women and Men in Parliaments (2008). That Survey had found that women were overwhelmingly the main drivers of progress in gender equality in parliament, but that parliaments, as institutions, must also shoulder their share of the responsibility. This finding begs the questions: What are parliaments doing to foster gender equality? What policies inform gender equality efforts? Are the institutional structures of parliaments around the world mindful of both men and women? In short, are parliaments gender-sensitive?

The Report seeks to provide answers to these questions. Simply put, a gender-sensitive parliament is one that responds to the needs and interests of both men and women in its structures, operations, methods and work. This publication not only provides an important assessment of the gender sensitivity of the world's parliaments, but also identifies key steps parliaments can take to become gender-sensitive institutions that contribute to the achievement of gender equality.

Click here to see the report.

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