Video on women candidates and campaign finance
Women continue to be severely underrepresented in decision-making processes and bodies across the world at all levels. In fact, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) reports only 23% of members of parliament (MPs) are women. A major contributing factor to this is the unequal access to the resources needed to successfully seek nominations or participate in electoral campaigns. It has been increasingly recognized that politics dominated by money, more often than not, is politics dominated by men. IPU conducted a survey in 2008 of 300 MPs affirming that campaign financing was one of the biggest obstacles faced by women. This was later confirmed in research done by UN women in 2013, wherein over 80% of the respondents identified access to financing as one of the biggest barriers to enter politics. The costs of running for office varies greatly across countries and the barriers faced by women differ depending on context. Systemic issues such as lower economic status and lack of economic independence affect women globally, effectively placing barriers for women’s participation in politics.
Visit our e-Discussion’s page on Financing for Women Candidates to learn more.
Women continue to be severely underrepresented in decision-making processes and bodies across the world at all levels. In fact, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) reports only 23% of members of parliament (MPs) are women. A major contributing factor to this is the unequal access to the resources needed to successfully seek nominations or participate in electoral campaigns. It has been increasingly recognized that politics dominated by money, more often than not, is politics dominated by men. IPU conducted a survey in 2008 of 300 MPs affirming that campaign financing was one of the biggest obstacles faced by women. This was later confirmed in research done by UN women in 2013, wherein over 80% of the respondents identified access to financing as one of the biggest barriers to enter politics. The costs of running for office varies greatly across countries and the barriers faced by women differ depending on context. Systemic issues such as lower economic status and lack of economic independence affect women globally, effectively placing barriers for women’s participation in politics.
Visit our e-Discussion’s page on Financing for Women Candidates to learn more.
