Women's Leadership

In April 1922, Roxie Dunn announced that she was running on the Democratic ticket for county treasurer. In his endorsement, Oat Bryson stated, "Much has been said about the desirability of the woman voter, if we have the women voter, logically we must have the woman office holder."

In 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, the Suffragette Parade organized between 5,000 and 10,000 women and allies, marching down Pennsylvania Avenue, in search and support of the right to vote for women. It was the first major demonstration in Washington in support of women’s suffrage. But the parade was also marred by rampant racism; women of color had to march in the back of the procession.

The Presidential Office on Friday tweeted a blistering criticism of a United Nations entity that produced a map, in collaboration with another organization, showing the global rankings of women in government, executive and parliamentary positions but excluded President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

At a seminar on the way forward for an enforceable gender quota and strategies for implementing Elections Law 4.5 b and c, Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor stressed that without a good financial backing, women will find it difficult to remain in politics.

Motoralivoa Hilda Lini stands at the front door of Vanuatu’s parliament, wearing an elegant pink dress and customary pig tusks on her wrists, signifying her chiefly status. When the Guardian apologises for being late, because we had been waiting on the street unaware it was possible to simply walk into Parliament House, she replies: “Hemia ples blong yumi evriwan” – this place is for everyone.

Except it isn’t. At least not at the moment.

To mark this year’s International Women’s Day celebration, a group of civil society organizations, led by women’s rights groups and networks assembled outside the National Elections Commission (NEC’s) headquarters in Sinkor and released a communique calling for reform on New Elections Law Section 4.5 (b) and (c).