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Parliaments and Representatives

Democracy and the equal participation of men and women in the political arena are closely intertwined. No parliament or any decision-making body can claim to be representative without the participation of both men and women. As stated in the Universal Declaration on Democracy adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Member Parliaments in 1997, "The achievement of democracy presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct of the affairs of society in which they work in equality and complementarity, drawing mutual enrichment from their differences."

Recent years have seen a steady increase in the number of women in parliament, though the world average of less than 22 percent remains far from the goal of parity between women and men. The election of women to the highest positions of state and government in several countries has also contributed to the changing face of politics.

While the road to election is a difficult one, the challenges for women do not stop there. Once women enter parliament or other bodies, they are faced with many new challenges. Parliament is traditionally a male-oriented domain where the rules and practices have been written by men. It is, therefore, an ongoing challenge to transform parliament into a gender-sensitive environment, to ensure that actions are gender-sensitive and to guarantee that gender is mainstreamed throughout the legislature.

January 19, 2022
India’s Congress Party Courts Women in Major State Elections

An actress jailed for protesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial citizenship law, the mother of a rape survivor, and a beauty pageant winner.

January 18, 2022
African parliaments talk openly about sexism

Following the publication of the IPU’s regional study on Sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments in Africa, many African parliaments accepted the IPU’s call to amplify the findings of the study and talk about sexism with the following local i

POLITICO women rule: 2021 rewind and 2022 forecast

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January 18, 2022

POLITICO women rule: 2021 rewind and 2022 forecast

Congress is sprinting to get through a lengthy and challenging legislative to-do list before the end of the year, including passage of President Biden's $1.85 trillion social services package that will provide child care subsidies, free pre-K, paid family leave and an

Congress is sprinting to get through a lengthy and challenging legislative to-do list before the end of the year, including passage of President Biden's $1.85 trillion social services package that will provide child care subsidies, free pre-K, paid family leave and an

La candidata del PPE, Roberta Metsola, será elegida este martes presidenta de la Eurocámara. Créditos: Europa Press
January 18, 2022
Malta’s Roberta Metsola elected EU Parliament's third woman president

Centre-right Maltese lawmaker Roberta Metsola, chosen Tuesday as only the third woman to head the European Parliament, is viewed as a political moderate despite controversy over her anti-abortion stance.

Interviews

Attacks on Women in Politics Are on the Rise Around the World

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January 17, 2022

Attacks on Women in Politics Are on the Rise Around the World

Amid a well-documented deluge of online abuse, new data and research from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) show that physical violence targeting women in politics is also increasing in most regions of the world, creating additional—and at t

Amid a well-documented deluge of online abuse, new data and research from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) show that physical violence targeting women in politics is also increasing in most regions of the world, creating additional—and at t

#NotTheCost - Stopping Violence Against Women in Politics: A Renewed Call to Action

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January 17, 2022

#NotTheCost - Stopping Violence Against Women in Politics: A Renewed Call to Action

In 2016 at the launch of the #NotTheCost campaign, NDI presented a list of strategies to address and prevent violence against women in politics, focusing on a wide range of potential change-makers, from the global to the grassroots levels.

In 2016 at the launch of the #NotTheCost campaign, NDI presented a list of strategies to address and prevent violence against women in politics, focusing on a wide range of potential change-makers, from the global to the grassroots levels.

Candidate officielle à la présidentielle française, Christiane Taubira veut bousculer le paysage à gauche. Crédits: Le Figaro
January 17, 2022
Former justice minister Christiane Taubira joins France's presidential race

France's former justice minister Christiane Taubira on Saturday launched her bid to unify the floundering French left and challenge President Emmanuel Macron in April presidential elections, but she faces a slew of competing candidates reluctant to cede the limel