Parliaments & Representatives
Online Gender-Based Violence (OGBV) has become a pervasive threat in the digital age. It undermines democratic processes, silences marginalised voices, and perpetuates systemic inequality. Harassment, threats, and abuse—both online and offline—have become so common that women and gender-minoritised people often view them as “the cost of doing politics.” As a result, 21 percent of women parliamentarians in Europe said that they did not want to pursue another term in office.
This briefing is part of a series examining OGBV on TikTok in English, German, French and Hungarian. It is part of a project titled ‘Monitoring Online Gender Based Violence Around the European Parliament Election 2024’, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
This report summarises ISD’s findings across key issue areas and offers evidence-based recommendations for creating safer, more inclusive online spaces that uphold democratic values. ISD’s findings demonstrate that addressing OGBV requires a holistic approach – one that not only strengthens content moderation but also tackles the underlying social norms and biases that enable online gender-based violence.
Article published by the Institute of Strategic Dialogue on 19 May 2025.
Image by Institute of Strategic Dialogue
Elise Pereira Nunes is the Deputy Mayor of Tours (France) for gender equality, international relations and city networks. An academic expert in gender issues, Elise has been a long-time activist in several movements for women and LGBTQI+ rights and regularly contributes to seminars. Her political commitment stems from her desire to be a voice at the intersection of the worlds of academic research, citizen mobilization and political action. As a deputy mayor, she demonstrates that exchanges between local authorities, locally and internationally, are vectors of progress on environmental, economic and societal issues. Internationally, she advocates for the recognition of local governments within the multilateral system and champions the political participation and empowerment of women. Elise joined a two-day Expert Group Meeting organized by UN Women to address one of the most persistent barriers to gender equality in political and public life: discriminatory social norms. This experts’ meeting was organized under the WYDE | Women’s Leadership, funded by the European Union, which is a collaborative global effort aimed at advancing women’s full and effective political participation and decision-making at all levels, especially those most often left furthest behind.
“In my role as Deputy Mayor, my focus is on making gender equality a core part of our city’s policies. Our goal is to create a city where everyone, regardless of gender, origin, age, or ability, can thrive. I also connect gender equality with international affairs, building partnerships with sister cities across Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Spain. Change must happen both locally and globally—if the world around us struggles, we will be affected too.
Of course, working in politics comes with challenges. Bureaucracy, budget constraints, and slow progress can be frustrating. But meaningful change requires both short-term action and long-term vision. Some policies take immediate effect, while others take years to show results. What matters is planting seeds for a better future. I take pride in pushing these issues forward and making gender equality a cross-cutting priority in city governance.
One challenge I faced was entering politics without ties to any political party or organization. I had to learn how political structures operate while ensuring my voice was heard as someone from civil society. Even if you don’t belong to a party, it’s essential to make politicians understand that they need engaged citizens, just as much as citizens need politicians to represent them. Citizens shape the projects that affect their communities, while political parties provide the platform and resources to implement them. It’s a partnership that can drive real change.
Another challenge is overcoming stereotypes about women in politics. Despite gender parity laws, I often hear claims that it’s "hard to find women willing to engage" or that their "quality" is questionable, implying that all male candidates are automatically competent. I wanted to prove that being a woman from civil society is not a limitation.
I also firmly believe in feminist municipalism. If we want more women in politics, we must demonstrate that it’s possible, including at local level. Too often, those who want to get involved hesitate because they feel they lack legitimacy, whereas their diverse perspectives are essential. Diverse voices—across social, economic, ethnic, racial, gender or disability backgrounds—enrich decision-making.
Local politics is crucial because it’s where real engagement with citizens happens, it’s where we can understand and respond to people’s needs. We may not be able to solve every problem, but we can do our best to make an impact with the power we have. Women have a major role to play in shaping the future. If there isn’t enough space for us, we will make space, because our voice is needed.”
Interview published by Capacity4Dev (European Union) on 14 May 2025.
When Florida state Rep. Fiona McFarland's infant daughter, Grace Melton, crawled for the first time, the mom of four was right next door, hard at work with her legislative policy staff in the state Capitol.
Thanks to the on-site child care available in the statehouse, McFarland didn't miss that magical first milestone in her 7-month-old's young life.
“The sitter I had with her just grabbed me out of my meeting right next door and I came over and got to witness it,” McFarland recalled.
As more women and young people run for public office, they're bringing more than fresh policy ideas to statehouses — some are bringing their kids.
Like working parents across the country, some lawmakers are scrambling to find child care that fits their often unpredictable schedules, at a price they can afford. Rushing back and forth from their districts, they juggle meetings with constituents and coordinate their children's drop-offs, power through late-night floor sessions and step out to pump breast milk between votes, hoping to make it home for their kids' bedtime.
“Looking back, I'm like, ‘How did I do that?'" Michigan state Sen. Stephanie Chang said, recalling those frenzied years when she was a new legislator and a new mom.
The Democrat used to race across the state with her baby and freezer bags of milk in tow, leaving her daughter with family members so she could make her 9 a.m. committee meetings at the state Capitol in Lansing.
Full article published by NBC Miami on 10 May 2025.
Image credits: NBC Miami
Hind Kabawat, the only female minister in Syria’s new government, in her house, in Bab Touma, a majority Christian neighborhood of Damascus. Hind Kabawat hopes her long experience as a conflict mediator can help Syria’s next generation. The challenges are immense.Hind Kabawat, the only female minister in Syria’s new government, in her house, in Bab Touma, a majority Christian neighborhood of Damascus.
In a white pantsuit, Hind Kabawat stood out a mile, the only woman in a lineup of 23 men in suits, all ministers of the interim Syrian government just sworn in, flanking the president.
“I want more women and I did tell the president the first day we met,” Ms. Kabawat said in an interview a few days after her appointment. “This is for me very important because it wasn’t very comfortable to be there.”
Her appointment as minister of social affairs and labor has been welcomed by many in Syria and internationally, both as a woman and as a representative of Syria’s Christian minority. It was taken as a sign that Syria’s new leader, President Ahmed al-Shara, was broadening his government beyond his tight circle of rebel fighters to include a wider selection of technocrats and members of Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities.
Full article here published by The New York Times.
Image source: NYT
NEW DELHI: India moved up three places to be ranked 130th among 193 countries in the Human Development Index rankings for 2023 due to progress made in improving life expectancy through health sector initiatives, and sustained improvements in key dimensions of human development, particularly in mean years of schooling and national income per capita.
While noting that India's progress continues amid global challenges, the 2025 report underscored a broader global slowdown in human development to an unprecedented 35-year low, and India is no exception. "Had pre-2020 trends continued, the world would be on track to reach very high human development by 2030, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal timelines," the report highlighted.
Income and gender disparities in India still significant, says UNDP
Achieving this goal now risks getting delayed by decades, UNDP said. "Inequality between low and very high HDI countries has increased for a fourth consecutive year, reversing long-standing progress," it added.
UNDP, however, signaled a strong post-pandemic recovery on life expectancy in India, which touched the highest of 72 years in 2023, compared with 58.6 years in 1990. The increase in life expectancy, which rose to 71.7 years in 2022, is among the biggest contributors to India's improved overall ranking. UNDP also highlighted that national health programmes by successive govts have contributed significantly to improved life expectancy over the years.
With an HDI value of 0.685, while India remains in the "medium human development category" it is moving closer to the threshold for high human development, which calls for a value of more than 0.7. UNDP said that India's HDI value has increased by over 53% since 1990, growing faster than both the global and South Asian averages. "This progress has been fueled
Read here the full article published by Times of India.
Image source: Times of India*
As Liberal MP Pam Damoff prepares to leave politics, she joins other Canadian women MPs in warning that growing threats and harassment are driving them out of politics.
Their call adds to the voices of other politicians in Australia and the United Kingdom who caution that misogyny and threats of violence, especially on social media, have caused them to refrain from seeking re-election.
With the Canadian federal election approaching, campaigns expose politicians to increased online incivility and abuse. Nearly 19 per cent of tweets analyzed by the Samara Centre for Democracy during the 2021 campaign contained harassment.
Harassment undermines democracy and threatens the equal participation of women in politics. When women politicians don’t seek re-election, we lose key voices advocating for a more equitable future.
Despite threats to our democracy being a key theme of the ongoing federal election campaign, barely anyone is talking about the threat harassment poses.
Read here the full article published by The Conversation on 16 April 2025.
Image by The Conversation
This document presents the result of a series of surveys conducted by Abacus Data in January 2022, about women in politics and the future of women in politics.
Click here to access the report.
Data provided by the Center for American Women and Politics and KnowWho Data Services. Numbers include members and officers of the municipal legislative branch of incorporated cities and towns with populations over 10,000 as per the U.S. Census. These bodies vary by municipality, but include city councils, boards of alderman, city commissions, among others. Mayors and other officials who perform mayoral functions are included in these counts. Data is as of March 2022 and will be updated annually.
Click here to access the data.
A survey on politicians in Japan has shown that many former and current female national legislators and local assembly members have been subject to sexual harassment.
"I was threatened that if I did not kiss them, they would not vote for me," and "I was told that young women win elections even if they are not qualified," are examples of some of the responses.
Released in February, the results were a part of a "politician harassment white paper" containing the results of a survey carried out by Tokyo-based Woman Shift, a network of young female lawmakers and assembly members, as well as Polilion, a Gifu Prefecture-based organization that conducts harassment training for legislatures and assemblies. The survey was carried out between August and October 2021, and 200 people (100 men, 98 women and 2 others) responded.
Click here to read the full article published by The Mainichi on 29 March 2022.
Recent conversations prompted by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have put issues of workplace sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assault into the global spotlight. This paper examines how members of the Australian Liberal Party made sense of, and responded to, accusations by female Liberal MPs of bullying and intimidation in their party. Transcripts of media interviews identified by searching the ParlInfo database (between August and September 2018) were analysed using a critical discursive psychology approach. Two discursive repertoires were routinely mobilised in Liberal politicians’ accounts: (1) a gender-neutral repertoire whereby reported incidents of bullying were argued to apply equally to men and women, and (2) a ‘politics is tough’ repertoire that served to downplay and legitimise bullying and intimidation as normative and unproblematic. We argues that such repertoires functioned to silence talk about the relevance of gender and the persistence of inequality. The bullying and intimidation experienced by women may continue to be the cost of their political engagement unless systemic change occurs that acknowledges the ongoing relevance of gender in politics.
Click here to access the paper.
In celebration of International Women's Day, we review the history of women in politics in Mexico. Gender parity electoral laws, leaders who value women's inclusion, and fierce women who have propelled Mexico's gender equality movement forward have altogether helped realize the major strides in women's representation, especially since the turn of the century. Women have not only vied for more elected positions; they have also secured a historic number of governorships and legislative seats, effectively reaching gender parity in Congress. President Lopez Obrador has also made a point to promote women to appointed positions, both in his cabinet and in the Supreme Court. While Mexico still has a way to go in reaching full gender equality and equity, gender quotas have had the positive effect of normalizing women's active role in politics and of welcoming them as viable and worthy contenders in the political arena, moving the needle in a necessary and positive direction.
Click here to read the full article published by The Wilson Center on 7 March 2022.
This is a House of Commons Committee report, with recommendations to government. The Government has two months to respond.
While there is still some way to go to achieve equal representation of women in the House of Commons, and in the wider political and public sphere, in recent decades the focus has broadened to encompass “gender sensitivity” in the House of Commons as a workplace. Steps have been taken to make the House a more welcoming and accommodating place for women. For example, there has been focus on its working hours and practices, and support for MPs who are parents. The planned restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster is an opportunity to design in greater accessibility and inclusion, for women and other underrepresented groups.
Click here to access the report.