A politician has called for an end to the insults that women receive on social media when they enter the political spotlight.

Kahina Bouhassane received a deluge of abuse on social media when she stood as the Green Party’s candidate for Sussex police and crime commissioner. The 23-year-old deputy chair of Brighton and Hove Green Party decided to speak out about the comments as she wants to more women to take part in political life.

Just before Christmas, a government report highlighted that over half of the Irish population believes the most important role for a woman is to take care of her home and family. The most important role for a man, according to a significant proportion of the population (almost 40%), is to earn money.

The new government has been sworn into office in the Netherlands, a record 299 days after the country's last election.Mark Rutte is now set to become the Netherlands’ longest-serving prime minister as he leads a fourth separate executive. Rutte has already headed three coalitions and only narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in parliament last April.

As the Columbia City Council begins its first full week of business in the new year, it also marks the start of the tenures for two history-making women. Dr. Aditi Bussells and Tina Herbert, who were sworn in last week, are the second and third women of color to represent the city on council.

Tameika Isaac Devine, who held an at-large seat since 2002 and left office last week, was the first.

The Election Commission, on Saturday, mandated that one polling station in each constituency should be managed by women in the upcoming Assembly Elections. This is introduced in a bid to facilitate increased participation of women in the election process.

The announcement was a part of the all-important press conference held by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra where he asked the political parties to hold virtual rallies, keeping in mind the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Domestic responsibilities and social constructs are the biggest hurdles to improving women's participation in politics, a researcher at the University of Indonesia's Politics Review Center (Puskapol UI), Beni Telaumbanua, has said.

"Women encounter a domestic challenge in the form of their responsibility as a wife or a mother," he noted at a webinar on 'Ensuring Women's Participation in the General Election', streamed live on YouTube here on Tuesday.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of only five countries in the world that have no female members of Parliament (alongside Yemen, Qatar, Micronesia, Vanuatu) and is below the global average of 23% female representation in Parliament.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, PNG, for the first time in 25 years (since the 1992 election), no females will make up the 111 - member Parliament - despite more female candidates being nominated for elections in 2017 than ever before; 167 of 3,332 were female candidates.

Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold elections in 18 months’ time, but women are reluctant to have their faces appear on ballot papers.

Women here know only too well that in politics, sticks and stones literally break bones, and name-calling is part of the gladiatorial politics in a country where each election cycle is greeted with violence. From party primaries to national elections, the violent nature of the contests is the history of Zimbabwe, with little being done to provide safe spaces for women candidates.

Indonesian Women's Congress (Kowani) Chairwoman Giwo Rubianto called to address the issue of low women's participation in national politics, especially the national legislature, by promoting participation and boosting political education among women.