women's empowerment

Sameera Rajab is everything in person that you wouldn’t expect from an official government spokesperson in a Gulf country: she’s a woman, a mother of three girls, a Shiite, and the first cousin of Nabeel Rajab, one of the main opposition leaders against the system that she represents.

"He is my cousin from my mother’s and father’s side; that is very close," she says.

Julia Gillard may be out and 'sexygate' may be rumbling on, but let's not forget there are incredible female politicians in Australia

Tony Abbott was criticised last week for referring to Liberal candidate Fiona Scott's "sex appeal", but he's back at it. This morning he praised Scott's answer to a question about his economic plan with the comment: "obviously from that answer she ain't just a pretty face."

As political parties concentrate around preparations for the Constituent Assembly (CA) election, protest programs demanding 33 percent women´s representation in the new CA has fallen under shadow. 

Inter Party Women Network (IPWN) had 3 weeks ago planned to carry out agitations in the capital at four different places to create pressure for the demand to be met. 
However, on seeing the parties too busy to notice them, IPWN had to cancel its street protests.

Speaking at the Stand With Us International Women’s Conference in Jerusalem, Shalev described serving as a woman in the male dominated United Nations. She said that whenever she was called into the UN Security Council to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she was surrounded by men in black suits with grim looks on their faces. It was an uncomfortable feeling for her, yet these experiences inspired her to become even more Zionist and feminist.

Lady Verma argues macho 'bang on tables' to be heard aspect of politics is unattractive, but warns PM against tokenism

Female politicians have to work hard to be "noticed and seen" in the "bang-on-tables" world of Westminster, one of David Cameron's ministers has said.

Lady Verma of Leicester, an energy minister, said the way women have to "raise our tempo" to be heard is an unattractive aspect of politics today.

Next up in our Women in Politics series, is Senator Bridget McKenzie. Tall and blonde, Ms McKenzie gained unwanted media attention last year when fellow National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce referred to her in the Senate as “a flash bit of kit.”

FROM the age of five, an eager Bridget McKenzie would wake up at 3 am and accompany her father as he delivered milk to darkened houses in northern Victoria.

Possibly the most controversial inclusion in our Women in Politics series is Fiona Patten, Senate candidate for Victoria and Leader of the Australian Sex Party.

A woman leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), who was a candidate on reserved seats for women, was shot dead inside her house in Hayatabad on Friday night.

Najma Hanif Jadoon’s spouse and former Tehsil Nazim, Hanif Gul Jadoon, was killed along with a 16-year-old son and a gunman in a suicide attack on his car in Swabi on the Eid day in November 2011.

WITH two years to go for Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries to meet the 50-50 target for gender parity in decision-making positions, it seems many states in the region are not on course to meet this target. Only five countries – South Africa, Seychelles, Mozambique, Tanzania and Angola – are on course to meet the target at Parliamentary level only.
Zambia, together with Swaziland, Malawi, Congo DR among others, have shown low representation of women in parliament, meaning that women have no say on matters that affect their lives.