Elections

As polling ended on Monday, the 2014 elections recorded the highest ever turnout with 66.38 per cent voters casting their votes to elect 543 members of the 16th Lok Sabha, beating the previous high of 64.01 per cent in the 1984-85 elections.

There is a need for women to organise themselves as a pressure group to be able to carve a niche in the political sphere, three Delhi-based women journalists said Saturday.

Women may get 79 or 14 percent of the total seats in the House of Representatives following April's legislative election; a figure that was lower than the historic high of 18 percent or 103 seats in the 2009 election, researchers said Monday.

This is despite more women candidates, accounting for 37 percent or 2,467 of the total 6,619 candidates, contesting the 560 House seats.

It is already the fifth time today that Rama makes a cross in the last column of the table that is displayed on her monitor screen. The column is reserved for sexual harassment. A 16-year-old girl has just informed her on the phone that she "was threatened with a weapon."

Rama works at "Helpline 181," an emergency service for women. "I like to work here," says the 20-year-old, adding that "in my own case, the police did not help me and I felt being left alone. By working here, I can help other women so that they have it better."

WOMEN will continue to be an integral part of the society, says Fiji Labour Party.

Party assistant general secretary Kini Marawai says FLP, since its inception almost 29 years ago, always advocated and championed the rights of women.

"The party strongly believes in giving women equal opportunities in leadership including empowerment in the political decision making processes," Mr Marawai said.

"In that stance the FLP not only talks the talk but walks the talk all these years as is manifestly inherent in its philosophies, manifestos and actions."

As Rwanda began to rebuild itself from the ashes of the 1994 genocide, something unexpected happened: Women began playing a much more influential role on many fronts, including politics.

Traditions that had limited women previously were cast aside, and President Paul Kagame also actively pushed for women to be in more prominent positions.

Today, women make up 64 percent of the country's lower house of Parliament — a far higher percentage than in any other nation, according to figures compiled by the .

Given the chance to vote for the first time in the March primary, 17 year olds turned out at a higher rate in Cook County than voters old enough to be their parents, according to a new study released today.

Nouakchott, Mauritania:  A woman has put forward a rare bid for the presidency of Mauritania, a west African nation run under strict Islamic law, the country's Constitutional Council said Wednesday,

"Lalla Mariem Mint Moulaye Idriss dropped off a file at the Constitutional Council containing her candidacy for the June 21 presidential elections," the body said in a statement.