It is important for citizens to be given enabling structures to enable civil organisation and participation. This will, in turn, aid the creation of progressive institutional structures. But then the enactment and promotion of harsh policies and the stifling of participation, amongst many other factors, have hindered this development, thereby repressing the civic space. Participation is key, especially for impact and policymakers, but the shrinking civic space has affected the involvement of key players, especially women.

When women gain power in national legislatures such as the U.S. Senate or Israeli Knesset, countries begin to spend more on priorities like education and health care.

That’s the conclusion of new research led by CU Boulder and published this fall in the journal Political Science Research and Methods.

The study comes as women are winning more seats in parliaments and national assemblies around the globe, but still struggling to gain a majority in many countries.

When the global face to climate action is Greta Thunberg, it can appear that women and girls are well represented at the top table. As the U.K. opens the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the lack of women’s senior leadership in climate negotiations has been raised as an issue of concern by activists.

Maintaining that he intends to lead his party into the next election, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday overhauled his gender balanced cabinet, naming women to the foreign affairs and defense posts.

Trudeau named Mélanie Joly as foreign minister and Anita Anand as defense minister. Chrystia Freeland retains her positions as deputy prime minister and finance minister.

Harassment is common for women who run for office and female MPs comprise just 9.9% of lower house.

Mari Yasuda has come to dread checking her social media accounts. While a TV programme has tipped the candidate as “one to watch” in Japan’s general election this month, her anonymous correspondents make no secret of their belief that, as a woman, she should not be standing for parliament at all.

TOKYO – Just 186 of the 1,051 candidates standing in Japan's House of Representatives election this month, or 17.7%, are women -- on par with the low level seen in the previous lower house race in 2017.