women's empowerment

Five months ago, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's passing reference to 50% quota for women triggered a raging storm in political circles and the tremors were felt in the saffron camp. Rival Congress also panicked at the possible repercussions.

Her: A simple pronoun and basic linguistic tool in the everyday English vernacular.

But, in the context of women in politics, “her” is more than a grammatical component. It is a symbol of slowly rising equality in representation — too slowly, in both the national and student government political arenas.

We invite you to read the full article published October 17, 2013

The four female incumbents in the field of about 30 governors seeking reelection in November 2014 are doing something considered incumbent upon any female executive who wants her job back: playing up their accomplishments. The quartet includes three Republicans: New Mexico's Susana Martinez, Oklahoma's Mary Fallin and South Carolina's Nikki Haley. The lone Democrat is New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan. All are emphasizing their ability to get things done as evidence of why they deserve to be reelected to second terms next year.

I have a story in this week’s magazine about the 20 Senate women and their growing—and positive—influence on the Upper Chamber. You can credit the tight, bipartisan bonds that these women have formed for not only seeding the compromise that reopened the government, but the vast majority of the legislation passed this session.

With the federal government at shutdown's door, the 20 female Senate members are setting new standards for civility and bipartisanship. Look out, old boys' club.

Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said on Wednesday afternoon that their female colleagues can take most of the credit for driving the compromise that is expected to temporarily reopen the U.S. government and raise the debt ceiling before Thursday's deadline.

"Leadership, I must fully admit, was provided primarily from women in the Senate," McCain said after the bipartisan deal was announced.

One evening, in a conversation with a group of impressive Afghan women activists in Kabul, the first participant started the conversation by making a simple but profound statement. She said, “Stop looking at us as victims, and look at us as the leaders that we are.” She was right. All too often when we look at women struggling for their rights in Afghanistan, we see them solely as victims. To be sure, many have been victimized, but they are also on the front lines of progress, working to create a better future for their country.

Beating breast cancer as a mom of young children made Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz reshape her priorities as a politician and leader of the Democratic Party, she told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, also a breast cancer survivor, on Tuesday.