Parliaments & Representatives
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea seeking to expand the scope of the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Workplace (POSH) Act, 2013, to include political parties. The court observed that such organisations cannot be classified as workplaces under the law. The plea was filed by Advocate Yogamaya M G, seeking recognition of political parties as workplaces in order to bring them under the POSH framework.
“How can you include political parties as a workplace? Joining a party is not a place of employment,” remarked Chief Justice Gavai during the hearing. The bench further stated that "It will open a Pandora's box... there will be blackmail." The CJI further added that political engagement does not constitute employment as there is "no payment."
Full article here.
Abstract
Nonconsensual synthetic intimate imagery (NSII)—content depicting an individual that is digitally altered to be sexual or nude without their consent—targeting women in politics is underreported and underresearched. This report examines how NSII is weaponized against public officials through an exploratory analysis of 100 documented cases across 14 countries between 2017 and 2025. The findings show that women comprise the vast majority of victims, spanning from presidential candidates to local commissioners, with attacks often strategically timed during critical pre-election moments. NSII inflicts individual trauma, including psychological damage, reputational harm, and significant legal and administrative burdens on candidates and public officials. Current legal and technical approaches are limited in countering NSII creation and distribution due to complexities in defining NSII and related technical concepts, enforcement gaps, and insufficient technical remedies for addressing the core harms of professional delegitimization and psychological damage. The report concludes with recommendations for civil society, governments, and technology companies to prevent NSII creation and limit its distribution, emphasizing that addressing this threat is essential not only to protect individual victims but also to preserve the integrity and inclusiveness of democratic institutions.
Full article here.
Monrovia – Liberia, in partnership with India, Brazil, South Africa, and UN Women, has launched a $1 million initiative aimed at strengthening women’s leadership and promoting gender-responsive governance. The launch took place Tuesday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Conference Room in Monrovia.
The project, titled “Women Legislators in Liberia: Promoting Voice, Leadership, and Gender-Responsive Governance for Sustainable Development (2025–2027),” is funded by the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Fund and coordinated by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation. It will be implemented over 18 months by UN Women Liberia in partnership with the Women’s Legislative Caucus of Liberia (WLCL).
Speaking at the ceremony, UN Women Representative to Liberia, Comfort Lamptey, praised the Women’s Legislative Caucus for its continued advocacy and commitment to advancing gender equality. She stated that the initiative will not only strengthen the Caucus but also extend its reach to communities, helping to ensure that legislative work results in inclusive laws, policies, and budgets.
Aug. 26, Women’s Equality Day, marks the anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s certification—a milestone that granted American women the right to vote and expanded democracy in unprecedented ways. While it’s a victory worth celebrating, full enfranchisement happened later with the adoption of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, but it was never intended to be the end of the struggle.
One hundred and five years later, RepresentWomen’s new 2025 Gender Parity Index shows just how unfinished that work remains: Despite some gains for women in state legislatures, half of U.S. states still earn a “D” grade for women’s representation.
Those words resonate powerfully today. The 2025 Gender Parity Index shows that while strides have been made—with Maine, New Hampshire and Oregon earning an “A” this year—the U.S. is still far from true equality. More work is necessary.
Women’s participation in politics has significantly increased over recent decades, with many countries introducing gender quotas, anti-discrimination laws, and policies aimed at protecting women’s rights. Despite these advances, women’s underrepresentation in politics remains a systemic issue and barriers to their full participation in political life are still significant.
One of the most persistent obstacles growing at an alarming rate is the onslaught of sexism as well as violence against women in politics. These deter women from entering or remaining in politics and form a daunting barrier to achieving gender equality in political decision-making. Additionally, new and emerging threats, including technology-facilitated violence, are deepening existing inequalities and silencing women, including in political spaces and public debates, further weakening democratic discourse and inclusive governance.
The 2025 Annual Conference of the Gender Equality Commission of the Council of Europe addresses the pressing issue of violence and sexism against women in politics. We are focusing on combating these challenges within political parties and institutions.
From navigating backlash and countering violence, to addressing structural inequalities and the role of political institutions, the 2025 Annual Conference explores the ups and downs of women’s equal participation with a broad range of international experts.
Nepal is heading to the polls in less than two years. Voters will choose their representatives for three tiers of government – the local, provincial, and federal – which will shape Nepal’s political course until the early 2030s. As the election timeline approaches, Nepal’s political scene is slowly heating up, with political parties forming fluid alliances, striving to reclaim lost ground, and rolling out fresh campaign tactics.
This may seem like a regular democratic exercise for the Himalayan nation, but beyond the political hubbub, a pressing challenge looms large. Elections in Nepal are becoming increasingly expensive with each passing cycle, thereby threatening inclusive democracy and raising concerns about the future of political participation.
Political campaigning in Nepal, like all other South Asian countries, requires massive financial resources. Candidates must mobilize cadres, organize rallies, conduct door-to-door campaigns, arrange for media coverage, and now also compete in the fast-expanding digital sphere. All of this comes at a heavy price. This rising campaign cost does more than financially strain party resources and that of the individuals contesting elections. It has rather profound consequences, limiting the political participation of women and underrepresented groups.
It’s no secret that women have made unprecedented strides in seeking and attaining elected office over the last decade. Twenty-eight percent of elected officials in Congress are women (compared to 19 percent 10 years ago), nearly one-third of our state legislature seats are held by women, and we have our first-ever woman vice president.
But while more women are winning elected positions, the looming gender bias within our political system persists. And according to a number of women elected throughout various levels of government — it’s one hurdle to win an election, but quite another to thrive in office.
That was the consensus among more than 60 women across the political spectrum — including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego — who were interviewed for a year-long reporting project by Cosmopolitan, “How to Succeed in Office.” The report was produced in partnership with Melinda French Gates-founded Pivotal Ventures.
Read here the full article published by MSNBC News on 16 May 2024.
Image by MSNBC News
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Gendered disinformation is being used across Africa as a tactic to silence critics and exclude women from online civic discourses, new research shows.
A new book ‘Digital Disinformation in Africa: Hashtag Politics, Power and Propaganda’ explores this further. It is written by Nkem Agunwa, a digital campaigner focusing on human rights activism based in Nigeria and member of the African Digital Rights Network (ADRN), hosted by IDS.
In an unprecedented year for elections in Africa – with 17 countries heading to the polls, the fear is that digital disinformation poses a rising threat to women’s political participation.
The book references the 2016 study by the Inter-Parliamentary Union of female lawmakers globally which revealed that 41.8 per cent of participants said they have been subjected to degrading or sexual images of themselves being circulate on social media. While gendered disinformation is not new, digital technology allows for collective and coordinated anonymous targeting of people with disinformation. As a result, digital spaces across Africa are increasingly being used to manipulate the public and spread disinformation, or to harass and intimidate individuals, creating an atmosphere of fear and distrust.
Not only does gendered disinformation keep women from participating in democratic processes, but as the book details, it directly threatens the fight for gender equality and inclusivity across Africa.
Read here the full article published by the Institute of Development Studies on 10 May 2024.
Image by Skorzewiak via Shutterstock
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In recent years, the share of women in public office has surged.
*In 2000, just 65 women served in Congress. Today, the number is 151, more than a quarter of the total 535 voting members.
*Likewise at the state level, women now make up about a third of elected officials.
Yet despite these historic gains, women—who make up roughly half of the population—remain starkly underrepresented in government. And for women of color, the disparity is even greater.
No single factor created this gap, and no single change will fix it. But part of the problem is how campaigns are funded—and changing that will make a significant difference.
It’s expensive to run for office: Political ad spending in the 2024 election cycle is expected to exceed $16 billion. And the price of campaigning is a greater barrier for women, who typically have less access than men to the wealthy donors who provide most of this money.
Enter: public financing, a simple but powerful reform that uses public funds to boost small donations to candidates. It’s a policy that can help any candidate willing to engage with a broad base of voters—but some of its biggest beneficiaries are women, particularly women of color, who make up 25 percent of the country’s population but less than 10 percent of state and federal elected offices.
Read here the full article published by Ms. Magazine on 25 April 2024.
Image by Ms. Magazine
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A historic law, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, mandates the reservation of one-third of the total seats in the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for women.
In 2023, a historic law was passed to usher more women in governance. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, mandates the reservation of one-third of the total seats in the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for women. But representation in leadership isn’t the only sign of gender parity in politics — active participation of the women electorate is also paramount.
So, how has India fared in both regards so far? India Today’s Data Intelligence Unit analysed the turnout data from 1962 to 2019 and candidates’ data from 1957 to 2019 and found a mostly positive trend.
TURNOUT GAP NARROWED
In 1962, men's turnout stood at 63.3 per cent, while women's turnout was notably lower at 46.6 per cent, indicating a considerable gap of 16.7 per cent. This gap fluctuated over the subsequent decades but generally narrowed. For instance, in 2014, men's turnout was 67.1 per cent, while women's turnout increased substantially to 65.6 per cent, resulting in a smaller gap of 1.5 per cent.
Read here the full article published by India Today on 13 April 2024.
Image source: India Today
A Qualitative Study on Violence against Women in Politics in Türkiye, prepared in cooperation with UN Women and Terra Development Cooperative, was introduced at an event organized in Ankara. A qualitative study, which provides important findings on the causes, occurrence, and consequences of violence against women in politics, was presented to the representatives from civil society organizations, public institutions, local governments, and political parties.
The Study on Violence against Women in Politics in Türkiye, which was started to be prepared by Prof. Dr. İknur Yüksel Kaptanoğlu, Project Coordinator of Terra Development Cooperative, together with her study team in 2022, was carried out within the scope of the project "Advancing Gender Equality and Women's Leadership in Political and Business Life” implemented by UN Women and financially supported by the Sweden through Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). In her opening speech, Swedish Ambassador to Ankara Malena Mård emphasized the importance of a political environment free from all forms of violence, especially for young people.
Click here to read the full report published by UN Women on 10 January 2024.
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A Glimpse into the Life of a Women in Politics: CEMR Unveils First Data Coming from 31 Countries
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) has released the first infographics showcasing critical insights from their latest report, "Women in Politics."
The data offer a visual snapshot of the representation of women in elected roles across various subnational levels. Additionally, a detailed breakdown of their portfolios at the local level is provided. The second slide of the infographics unveils the results of an anonymous CEMR survey involving 2,424 participants from 31 countries. Focused on elected women in local and regional European roles, the survey explores their experiences of violence in the political realm.
Click here to see the infographic published by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions on 14 December 2023.
Image by Council of European Municipalities and Regions
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