Women's Leadership
This is the second issue of our policy insight series on gender-inclusive conflict transformation. This paper explores the political re-conversion pathways that women ex-combatants pursue after the signing of a peace agreement. From 2022 to 2023, we engaged in focus group discussions, interviews, and peer-learning workshops with over 70 women ex-combatants from Colombia, El Salvador, and the Philippines. In this publication, we present their testimonies and analyse their experiences of continuing their engagement post-war through nonviolent means in both formal and informal political spheres.
Click here to read the full article published by Relief Web on 17 December 2024.
Image by Relief Web
Following their victories in the recent Local Government Elections, newly elected female leaders are encouraging other women to pursue leadership roles despite the challenges.
Mtwara Ms Rukia Myachi, chairperson of Myegedi village in Mkunwa ward, emphasised the importance of resilience. "I faced many obstacles, from stereotypes to lack of support," she shared.
"But I persevered. This proves that women can lead effectively. Don't let challenges deter you. Step up and take on leadership roles to represent other women's voices."
Read here the full article published by The Citizen on 2 January 2025.
Image by The Citizen
Women’s presence in politics is vital for shaping policy outcomes in the economic, social and cultural spheres. Despite progress over the past two decades, women remain under-represented in political leadership in Africa. This publication examines the factors motivating women’s participation and representation in politics on the continent, providing insights to enhance gender equality and empower women politically. Through interviews, it becomes clear that global and regional efforts for gender equality are key factors motivating women’s political participation. Women's movements and civil society groups have played a significant role in advocating for increased inclusion. However, social norms and practices often still hinder women from meaningful participation in decision making.
The report suggests that African governments should expedite the implementation of international and regional frameworks to enhance women’s political participation. Strengthening women’s capacity to engage in politics, improving access to finance and addressing violence against women in politics are essential measures to promote their representation.
Click here to read the full report published by IDEA International on 30 December 2024.
International IDEA organized in August 2024, in Kampala, Uganda, a roundtable with the Adeela Foundation to discuss and evaluate the role of Sudanese women in peace and ending war initiatives. The dialogue covered the war’s economic, social and political impacts on women’s groups. Also, it addressed the violations that Sudanese women are subjected to in a systematic and regular manner by all parties to the war without exception.
The participants discussed the role of Sudanese women in establishing women’s initiatives to stop the war and the role of Sudanese women in peace initiatives and ending the war led by regional and international institutions. Among the important topics discussed by the participants was the issue of the challenges and difficulties that hinder the participation of Sudanese women in building peace and restoring stability in Sudan. The participants agreed on practical, responsive and implementable recommendations. The dialogue results and the final recommendations were directed to local, regional and international policymaking institutions.
Click here to read the full report published by International IDEA on 20 December 2024.
New York, 19 December, 2024 – Women's representation in political leadership remained critically low in 2024. Only five women were elected as Heads of State out of 31 direct presidential elections held worldwide. These women leaders represent Iceland, Mexico, Namibia, North Macedonia, and the Republic of Moldova. For Mexico, Namibia, and North Macedonia, these elections were historic, as they marked the countries' first-ever women presidents. Additionally, Mexico and the United Kingdom achieved significant progress in gender equality by forming gender-equal cabinets following their respective elections, setting an important precedent for inclusive governance.
Women's representation in parliament remained stagnant at 27% in 2024. Among 39 countries with available data, 15 recorded increases in the number of women elected, while 24 experienced declines. Legislated quotas proved to be a driving force for progress; for instance, stricter enforcement in the Dominican Republic resulted in an eight-point rise in women's representation. Conversely, 12 out of 16 countries without quotas experienced declines, underscoring the pivotal role such measures play in advancing gender equality in political representation.
Read here the full article published by UN Women on 19 December 2024.
A new report has found that women in Congress are 70 times more likely to be targeted by deepfakes than men, often with sexually explicit images created by AI.
The American Sunlight Project (ASP) found that out of over 35,000 images of politicians, 26 different people have been exposed to non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII).
Out of these, 25 were women. Strikingly, one in six congress women have fallen victim to non-consensual imagery.
This is particularly concerning as Congress has previously introduced bills such as the Defiance Act, which criminalizes such activity. However, according to news outlet the 19th, due to the bureaucracy of the American political system, the House is still awaiting approval to finalize the legislation.
In a separate study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an analysis of the comments on Instagram posts for women currently in power found that one in ten comments was highly likely to be toxic, with a staggering 93% of reports ignored by Instagram, as previously reported.
Read here the full article published by Cyber News on 16 December 2024.
Image by Cyber News
Gender parity is fundamental to whether and how economies and societies thrive. Ensuring the full development and appropriate deployment of half of the world’s total talent pool has a vast bearing on the growth, competitiveness and future-readiness of economies and businesses worldwide. The Global Gender Gap Report benchmarks 149 countries on their progress towards gender parity across four thematic dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. In addition, this year’s edition studies skills gender gaps related to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Click here to see the report.
El artículo presenta evidencia actualizada sobre la brecha de género en la implicación, el cono- cimiento y la participación política en España y en perspectiva comparada. Los resultados muestran que mientras que la brecha de género ha disminuido hasta casi desaparecer para el caso de la participa- ción política, sigue siendo importante respecto al conocimiento, la implicación con la política, y la creencia en la propia capacidad para entender cómo funciona la vida política. Se discuten los factores explicativos de estos hallazgos, incidiendo en la importancia de la socialización en roles de género y el predominio de la idea de que la política sigue siendo cosa de hombres.
Haga clic aquí para acceder al informe.
The Reykjavik Index for Leadership measures how people feel about women in leadership. It measures the perceived legitimacy of male and female leadership in politics and across twenty professions, as well as a measure of how men and women differ in their views, and the extent to which men and women are viewed equally in terms of suitability of individuals for positions of power.
The Index evaluates the G7 groups of nations, surveying the attitudes of more than 10,000 people.
Click here to see the report.
Recent years have witnessed a troubling rise in reports of assault, intimidation, and abuse directed at politically active women. The United Nations General Assembly first called for zero tolerance for violence against female candidates and elected officials in Resolution 66/130 in 2011. In 2012, Bolivia became the first country in the world to criminalize political violence and harassment against women, in response to a more than decade-long campaign by locally elected women to document the numerous injuries and abuses they confronted. Resonating across the region, this development led the states parties to the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women to endorse a Declaration on Political Violence and Harassment against Women in 2015.
Click here to see the academic article.
Latin America has been at the vanguard in implementing diverse strategies to combat violence against women in politics (VAWIP). In 2012, Bolivia became the first country to criminalize “political violence and harassment against women” with Law 243. Soon, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, and Mexico followed with similar proposals (Krook and Restrepo Sanín 2016). Despite high levels of criminal impunity (Piscopo 2016), legislative measures have been the preferred strategy to combat VAWIP within the region. The Inter-American Commission on Women (CIM) recently published a model law, drawing on experiences in Bolivia, to serve as inspiration for other legislative measures in the region. What can these legislative definitions tell us about the phenomenon of VAWIP, its limits, and its challenges?
Click here to see the academic article.
Violence against women in politics (VAWP) is a human rights violation, as it prevents the realization of political rights. Violence against women in political and public life can be understood as “any act or threat of gender-based violence, resulting in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering to women, that prevents them from exercising and realizing their political rights, whether in public or private spaces, including the right to vote and hold public office, to vote in secret and to freely campaign, to associate and assemble, and to enjoy freedom of opinion and expression” (UN Women/UNDP 2017, 20).
Although awareness of the gravity and increasing levels of VAWP is growing, the issue is a relatively new area of investigation, with no global statistics or measurements available on prevalence or incidence, a lack of commonly agreed definitions and indicators, a reliance on anecdotal evidence, and underreporting because of the stigma attached to genderbased violence in many societies. The absence of commonly agreed definitions and methodologies for measuring VAWP is a barrier to the advancement of research, monitoring, and policy and programming responses in this field. Are agreed indicators and methodologies for measuring VAWP necessary? How can consistency across different measurement approaches be ensured? This essay examines the extent to which VAWP is measured, identifying gaps in current violence against women (VAW) measurements and considering new opportunities for measuring and monitoring VAWP.
Click here to see the academic article.