The Americas and the Caribbean

With only three female aldermen on the last council and just one woman running for mayor, some people are wondering why more women aren’t interested in seeking public office. According to Druh Farrell, who has represented the people of Ward 7 for 12 years, part of the answer is in how women are treated in politics. We invite our users to read the complete article published October 11th 2013 here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/sexist-attitudes-discourage-women…

By some measures, women are making huge gains when it comes to elected politics in Canada.
Currently, five provinces and one territory representing 85 per cent of Canada’s total population are governed by women premiers and a record high of 76 women were elected to Parliament in the last federal election in 2011, including a record 18 women under the age of 40.

That’s an amazing turnaround from even a few years ago when there wasn’t a single woman premier in the country and the number of women elected to Parliament was actually falling.

Quotas are one way to ensure that women are given a fair proportion of what is available, meaning equal spaces to influence and effect positive change while making meaningful contributions to the development of all Jamaicans. It's really a matter of fairness, human rights, active citizenship and evidence of a true democracy.

Latin American culture is usually associated with being a chauvinistic society (known as machismo), particularly when it comes to how male individuals have historically been in positions of political power. This situation has changed over the past two decades, as several female politicians have become presidents of their respective nations.