Skip to main content

How women are changing the face of Congress

Report / White Paper

Back
January 2, 2019

How women are changing the face of Congress

Source: BBC

History will be made in America on 3 January when a record number of women are sworn in as part of the 116th Congress.

It will be the culmination of two years of resistance to President Donald Trump - primarily led by women - following his unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The day after his inauguration, millions of women joined protests against him across the country.

As the mid-term elections approached, Democrats saw a surge of women who wanted to represent the party - a stark contrast to previous years when they appeared reluctant to enter politics.

This led to suggestions that 2018 could become another “Year of the Woman” - a reference to the 1992 elections in which the number of women in Congress nearly doubled.

That jump 26 years ago was put down to a controversy over claims of sexual assault against a Supreme Court nominee - a situation similar to the case of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

Here's how the mid-term results have changed the make-up of Congress and a look at some of the women leading that change.

Click here to see the BBC report.

Resource type
Author
Mike Hills
Publication year
2018
Focus areas

History will be made in America on 3 January when a record number of women are sworn in as part of the 116th Congress.

It will be the culmination of two years of resistance to President Donald Trump - primarily led by women - following his unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The day after his inauguration, millions of women joined protests against him across the country.

As the mid-term elections approached, Democrats saw a surge of women who wanted to represent the party - a stark contrast to previous years when they appeared reluctant to enter politics.

This led to suggestions that 2018 could become another “Year of the Woman” - a reference to the 1992 elections in which the number of women in Congress nearly doubled.

That jump 26 years ago was put down to a controversy over claims of sexual assault against a Supreme Court nominee - a situation similar to the case of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

Here's how the mid-term results have changed the make-up of Congress and a look at some of the women leading that change.

Click here to see the BBC report.

Resource type
Author
Mike Hills
Publication year
2018
Focus areas