women's role in society

“There’s something sexist about saying that the candidates are two women. Has anyone ever remarked on it when the candidates are two men?” former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet complained about comparisons between herself and her main rival in the presidential elections, rightwing candidate Evelyn Matthei.

The Nov. 17 elections are the first electoral race in Latin America in which the two main presidential candidates are women.

The study, A View of Bahraini Women's Political Stance, was made by Bahraini Nooh Khalifa, who is a renowned author and media expert. A total of 300 Bahraini women from different political backgrounds and age groups were surveyed. It was completed in around a year and revealed that a majority of voters have a positive opinion of women in power.

We invite our users to read the complete article published August 18 2013

Thousands of Saudi women have been using social media, especially Twitter, to air their views and campaign for their rights, a senior Saudi journalist said, adding that their tweets were instrumental in mobilizing public and official support for their causes.
“Saudi women, especially university graduates, are using Twitter and other social media outlets to mobilize support for their rights. Many of them have been waiting for years to get employed. They have formed a group now on Twitter to make their voice heard by officials,” Khaled Aburas told Arab News.

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.

At 38, Julie Bishop had achieved what many young lawyers aspire to do. Having worked as a barrister and a commercial litigation solicitor, she was managing partner of a national law firm’s Perth office.

She was at the peak of her career, or so she thought, until a business trip to Burma led to an hour-long meeting with Burma’s then opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest.

“If you want to be influential in the political arena, you need to influence policy,” Ms Betty Murungi, a social justice advocate, recently told female entrepreneurs and corporate managers in Nairobi.

On August 6, National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited NDI's new Parliamentary Resource Center (PRC) in the capital city of Naypyitaw.

Although not yet officially open, the PRC is attracting the interest of MPs from many parties in the Hluttaw, or parliament.

We invite you to read the full article published August 7, 2013 by our partner, NDI

Can you name the politician with the most influence over the lives of women and their families in the past five years? Few would probably come up with Jenny Macklin, the low profile but highly prolific Minister for Families in the Federal Labor government since 2007.

Macklin’s portfolio is huge: in addition to Families, she is also the Minister for Community Services, Indigenous Affairs and Disability Reform, in one way or another touching the lives of just about every Australian.