Just six women out of 98 female candidates succeeded in winning a seat in the 56-member legislature, two fewer than the previous parliamentary election held in 2006. The total number of candidates was 412.
The European Women’s Lobby (EWL), calls on the Polish Presidency to continue to be a driving force for women’s rights in Europe and, in particular, to ensure progress in the adoption of gender-related legislation which is currently on the table, to ensure the full integration of a women’s rights
Merve Kavakci Islam was elected to parliament in 1999, but was prevented from taking her parliamentary oath because she wears a headscarf.
With her telegenic good looks and powerful political support, Yingluck Shinawatra is shaking up Thailand's first parliamentary election since a wave of political violence last year.
Very soon wives in Uganda will legally have the right to a share in their husband’s property, that’s if the country’s new speaker of parliament has her way.
Political parties should be forced, through changes in legislation, to bring more women into government.
"The revolution had proved one point: women are just equal to men," said Ayman Oqeil, a lawyer by profession and the chairman of the Maat Centre, an NGO specialised in human rights.
Minister for Environment Phil Hogan announced on May 30th the introduction of quotas in the electoral system. From the next general election a 30% gender quota of candidates will be introduced, which will then rise to 40% subsequently.
Vietnam has become one of the five countries to benefit from a Spanish-funded programme aimed at enhancing gender equality in politics, which began in the central city of Danang on May 31.