The process to establish a Women’s Situation Room has started in Ghana. The idea is to use the experience and expertise of women in order to prevent the conflict that may arise in the November polls.

The political participation of women is currently a hot topic in American politics. In the race to the 2016 United States presidential elections, different polls declare Hillary Clinton a strong candidate to become the first female President of the country. Never before a woman had bigger chances to become President of the USA. However, gender equality in politics and women’s political empowerment is still a goal to be achieved.

Emerge Wisconsin, an organization dedicated to increase the number of Democratic women in public office, has published an article on the underrepresentation of women in politics in that State. According to CAWP data, only 25.8% of state lawmakers are women; however, when women run for public office, they win in the same percentages as men.

A new article published in The Cap Times focuses on the sexist violence experienced by women who are involved in politics. The article starts citing the words by State Representative Michelle Litjens, who declared: “You have to be pretty strong. I think more strong than a man, because I don’t think they go after men’s children like they do for a woman”, to continue presenting examples of verbal violence suffered by female politicians.

An article published in The Atlantic discusses the negative impacts for women’s political empowerment of the so-called ‘system of beauty’. This expression refers to the systematic referral to women’s appearance, instead of focusing the attention on their political skills. Even when it’s praise and compliments, talking about the looks of women politicians makes it harder for them to develop fully their political capacities, as they are subjected to a different demeaning measure than their male counterparts.

The NEW Leadership National Network is a national nonpartisan program to educate college women about politics and leadership and encourage them to become effective leaders in the political arena. It was created in 1991 by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), with the idea of teaching college women the value of civic engagement and the importance of having women in positions of political leadership.

Judith Prat, documentary photographer, has recently published an article on the sustained political struggle of Kurdish women. The article builds upon an interview with Cemile Akgun (vid. Photo) from the association “Mothers for Peace”. After the attack the Turkish army in 1994, which destroyed the town of Dersim, where they resided, Cemile and her family were obliged to flee to Istanbul.

The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) has published an article on the situation of women defenders of human rights in Mesoamerica. The article highlights the extra difficulty experienced by female human rights activists in a context marked by discrimination and gender inequality, due to the implicit cultural norms and stereotypes that limit women’s political and social participation.