Women in politics face more hostility and intimidation from the public, both online and offline. 76% of women parliamentarians say they are intimidated by the public compared with 68% of men – a trend that deters women from seeking office and slows progress toward equal political power, according to new data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women.
“Across the world, women remain vastly under-represented in political leadership, with the most powerful decisions still overwhelmingly made by men”, the organisations say in a report.
In 2026, only 28 countries are led by a woman Head of State or Government, while 101 countries have never had a woman leader, according to the data. Image
“The new global data reveals stagnation, and in some cases regression, in women’s political leadership, particularly in executive government.
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