Gender and Political parties: Far from parity

The election of four female presidents in Latin America in recent years has drawn attention to women’s political participation and their access to political decision-making. Despite these encouraging results, statistics reveal that the Latin American region is still far from achieving gender equality in politics. Although women are increasingly involved in politics, they still have limited access to leadership positions in political party contexts.

Researchers from 18 countries provided input to the Gender and Political Parties in Latin America database (www.iadb.org/research/geppal/) based on a survey of 94 political parties. This report presents an analysis of database information. The purpose of the report is to provide comparative data on women and men in political parties to inform on the situation and challenges of women’s political participation.