Tuesday’s recount that ratified the election of Democrat Rachel Hunt to the North Carolina House underscored the success not only of female candidates but of the women who helped elect them.

Hunt, who defeated Republican Rep. Bill Brawley by 68 votes, will be one of 45 women in the 170-member General Assembly — the most in a decade.

Abuse, sexism and a lack of equality remain barriers to women looking to stand for election, according to a cross-party parliamentary panel.

Dozens of MPs pulled no punches in expressing how tough it still is for women to get into parliament as they invited their constituents to parliament to mark 100 years since the Qualification of Women Act.

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s caretaker foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has delivered remarks at the Plenary Session of World Democracy Forum “Women, security and democratization in the context of multilateralism”.

Below is the transcript of the full speech of Mnatsakanyan, as reported by the foreign ministry. 

“Mr. President,

JAIPUR: A total of 189 women candidates will be contesting the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections, the highest number in the last 10 years.

After at least 579 candidates withdrawing their nominations for the December 7 elections on Thursday, 2,873 candidates have been left in the fray.

Of the 189 women candidates, 23 are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 27 are from the Congress.

In 2005, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first elected female head of state in Africa, marking a milestone for the country and the continent. Although a woman occupied the highest elected office for twelve years, Liberian women continue to struggle to obtain leadership roles in politics.

Theresa May told a gathering of female politicians from around the world that “a woman’s place is in elected office” as she urged them to work together to make sure their voices were heard.

The British prime minister admitted that getting the political system to work in a male-dominated environment was “never easy” but warned that less representative parliaments operated with “one hand tied behind their backs”.