Advocacy and Lobbying

Regardless of the role or industry in question, networking is often an essential part of the modern day-to-day job. We all build up an array of contacts during our professional lives and we learn from the people we meet and work with. As a professional political consultant, I can vouch for this being as true in Westminster as anywhere else; and I believe that building on these networks is the key to making Parliament a more female-friendly workplace.

I do not consider myself to be a very political person. I pay a healthy amount of attention to politics during big election years and I enjoy the occasional West Wing rerun, but I certainly wouldn’t want to engage in a debate any time soon. However, I feel like I should know more and care more about politics so I do try to make an effort to pay attention.

ACTIVISTS under a coalition of women and constitution intend to camp at the Constituent Assembly when it commences next month, with a view to guarding their proposals already infused into the Katiba draft.

The move is also aimed at using the opportunity to persuade members of the Constituent Assembly to put in the draft issues they believe have been left out, but touch significantly on gender equality as a foundation for the country's progress.

“Our young women are forming a new era in female history,” wrote Massachusetts feminist Judith Sargent Murray excitedly. “The Rights of Women begin to be understood; we seem, at length, determined to do justice.” The year was 1798. It would be two hundred and fourteen years until her home state would elect its first female senator, Elizabeth Warren. This year, it might get its first elected female governor, likely Democratic nominee Martha Coakley.

As the world celebrates 100 years of women suffrage, Indian women continue to fight for things that matter.

2013 was a turning point for women in India as the brutal gang rape of Nirbhaya and the huge protests in the aftermath placed the issue of violence against women at the heart of public discourse in the country.

As we step into 2014, it is crucial to reflect as to why as a society we are still struggling to ensure something as basic as safety for one half of its population.

In November, Cambridge voters elected eight men and one woman to serve on the nine-member City Council. It’s the first time in decades that only one woman has served on the council, prompting many residents to wonder how a city known for its liberalism and diversity could have such a lopsided field of representatives. The Chronicle spoke with Emerge Massachusetts executive director Taylor Woods-Gauthier about why gender balance in politics is important and how to encourage more women to run.