In Politics
The United Nations Development Programme defines women's wings within political parties as "internal sections that aim to strengthen women’s representation and participation within the party and in the political process in general." [3] Women are significantly underrepresented in political positions globally, on both local and national levels. [4] Forming a women's wing is one method which may be used to combat this under-representation, through promoting women and women's interests within a political party, and ensuring that women's voices are heard in government. [5] They may also work to combat barriers against women's political participation. These obstacles can include lack of resources, legislative barriers against female participation, exclusion from governmental decision-making by fellow politicians, sabotage, intimidation, and political violence. [6]
Structure
Women's wings vary in structure, but most successful women's wings have a strong relationship with their affiliated political party. In some cases, members of the women's wing may hold "leadership positions in the party's executive committee," and therefore situate themselves as a crucial part of the party's affairs. [2] Some women's wings may also hold a level of autonomy from their associated political party in order to "allow members of the women’s wing to feel comfortable raising issues that may initially be controversial or make male leadership uncomfortable." [2] Funding provided for the women's wing may either be allocated by the associated political party, or independently raised by the women's wing. [7] Women's wings may exist on all sides of the political spectrum.
Effect
Women's wings throughout the world have achieved significant strides towards increasing women's representation and political power within government by a variety of means. Since different barriers towards women's participation in government exist in different locations, individual women's wings have had to adapt to their own circumstances in order to achieve their goals. In Cambodia, the Candlelight Party's women's wing "sought to promote women within the party, lobbied for the introduction of internal quotas for governing boards, provided training for women candidates, and conducted civic education and voter outreach," with the percentage of women in Cambodian parliament increasing from 3% to 22% from 1993-2009. [3] In Serbia, the women's wing of the G17 Plus party has lobbied for consideration of female candidates for appointed positions, promoted electoral campaigns for female candidates, and funded workshops for women interested in politics or activism. [3] In Croatia, women's representation in parliament has risen from 4.6% to 23.5% from 1990-2011, largely in part due to the efforts of the SDP Democratic Women’s Forum, a women's wing within the Social Democratic Party, that helped encourage women into leadership roles and addressed women's issues through legislation. [3] Women's wings can be highly successful in improving women's representation in short amounts of time, though the opposition they may face can detrimentally affect their progress.
Potential Issues
Women's wings face numerous obstacles and potential pitfalls that can negatively impact their level of effectiveness in promoting the inclusion of women in politics. In some cases, a women's wing may face a lack of autonomy from their associated political party that mitigates their power and authority. The United Nations Development Programme states that it is crucial for women's wings to ensure that they are not isolated by addressing only gendered issues. In some nations, such as India, female politicians are often automatically relegated to a women's wing where they are "made to concentrate on what are seen as specifically "women's issues" such as dowry and rape cases." [8] These 'women's issues' are typically issues seen as gender-specific or highly associated with the traditional role of women according to societal gender roles. [9] Systems such as this are representative of the women's wing being sidelined by its affiliated party, creating further obstacles towards equitable political engagement by women. [3] Mandated membership may put women's wings at risk of being sidelined in this manner, though it can also allow for women to present a more unified voice more easily. [10]
A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to people of marginalized genders, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents an oppressed demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy. No matter how invisible the glass ceiling is expressed, it is actually an obstacle difficult to overcome. The metaphor was first used by feminists in reference to barriers in the careers of high-achieving women. It was coined by Marilyn Loden during a speech in 1978.
The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature established under section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution. It consists of a Senate with 109 members and a 360-member House of Representatives. The body, modeled after the federal Congress of the United States, is supposed to guarantee equal representation with 3 senators to each 36 states irrespective of size in the Senate plus 1 senator representing the Federal Capital Territory and single-member district, plurality voting in the House of Representatives. The National Assembly, like many other organs of the Nigerian federal government is based in Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory.
Movements for Muslim women to seek roles in national leadership have increased rapidly. Greater opportunities for women in education have further encouraged their involvement in politics. The most prominent Muslim female leaders are former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri (2001–2004), former Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Çiller (1993–1996), former Senegalese Prime Minister Mame Madior Boye (2001–2002), Bangladeshi Prime Ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed, former Iranian Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar (1997–2005), former Malian Prime Minister Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé (2011–2012), Kosovan President Atifete Jahjaga (2011–2016), former President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib (2015–2018), former President of Singapore Halimah Yacob (2017–2023) and current President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan
Since the founding of the State of Israel, relatively few women have served in the Israeli government, and fewer still have served in the leading ministerial offices. While Israel is one of a small number of countries where a woman—Golda Meir—has served as Prime Minister, it is behind most Western countries in the representation of women in both the parliament and government.
In many countries, women have been underrepresented in the government and different institutions. This historical tendency still persists, although women are increasingly being elected to be heads of state and government.
Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which people are not treated equally on the basis of gender. This inequality can be caused by gender discrimination or sexism. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empirically grounded, while others appear to be social constructs. While current policies around the world cause inequality among individuals, it is women who are most affected. Gender inequality weakens women in many areas such as health, education, and business life. Studies show the different experiences of genders across many domains including education, life expectancy, personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliation. Gender inequality is experienced differently across different cultures and also affects non-binary people.
The phrase women in business refers to women who hold positions, particularly leadership in the fields of commerce, business, and entrepreneurship. It advocates for their increased participation in business.
Voting behavior refers to how people decide how to vote. This decision is shaped by a complex interplay between an individual voter's attitudes as well as social factors. Voter attitudes include characteristics such as ideological predisposition, party identity, degree of satisfaction with the existing government, public policy leanings, and feelings about a candidate's personality traits. Social factors include race, religion and degree of religiosity, social and economic class, educational level, regional characteristics, and gender. The degree to which a person identifies with a political party influences voting behavior, as does social identity. Voter decision-making is not a purely rational endeavor but rather is profoundly influenced by personal and social biases and deeply held beliefs as well as characteristics such as personality, memory, emotions, and other psychological factors. Voting advice applications and avoidance of wasted votes through strategic voting can impact voting behavior.
The term 'political participation' has a very wide meaning. It is not only related to 'Right to Vote', but simultaneously relates to participation in: decision-making process, political activism, political consciousness, etc. Women in India participate in voting, run for public offices and political parties at lower levels more than men. Political activism and voting are the strongest areas of women's political participation. To combat gender inequality in politics, the Indian Government has instituted reservations for seats in local governments.
Women in positions of power are women who hold an occupation that gives them great authority, influence, and/or responsibility in government or in businesses. Historically, power has been distributed among the sexes disparately. Power and powerful positions have most often been associated with men as opposed to women. As gender equality increases, women hold more and more powerful positions in different sectors of human endeavors.
The Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues is a bipartisan membership organization within the House of Representatives committed to advancing women's interests in Congress. It was founded by fifteen Congresswomen on April 19, 1977, and was originally known as the Congresswomen's Caucus. Its founding co-chairs were Representatives Elizabeth Holtzman (N.Y.-Dem.) and Margaret Heckler (Mass.-Rep.). In 1981, men were invited to join and the name of the organization was therefore changed to the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues. However, in January 1995, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to eliminate funding for offices and staff of caucus organizations on Capitol Hill; therefore, the Congresswomen reorganized themselves into a Members' organization. It is still called the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, but men no longer belong to it. Today its membership consists of all women in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Feminism in Sweden is a significant social and political influence within Swedish society. Swedish political parties across the political spectrum commit to gender-based policies in their public political manifestos. The Swedish government assesses all policy according to the tenets of gender mainstreaming. Women in Sweden are 45% of the political representatives in the Swedish Parliament. Women make up 43% of representatives in local legislatures as of 2014. In addition, in 2014, newly sworn in Foreign Minister Margot Wallström announced a feminist foreign policy.
Women's empowerment may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training. Women's empowerment equips and allows women to make life-determining decisions through the different societal problems. They may have the opportunity to re-define gender roles or other such roles, which allow them more freedom to pursue desired goals.
The Nigerian Women's Trust Fund is a women's political action committee dedicated to increasing women's representation and addressing gender equality in line with the National Gender Policy (NGP) of 2006. The Nigerian Women's Trust Fund conducts mentorship programs, provides access to funding, and publishes policy data. Founded in 2011, the Nigerian Women's Trust Fund is a non-governmental organization that was established in response to a vacancy of gender-focused political action committees supporting women in politics. The organization's strategy is oriented around promoting advocacy, developing research, fundraising, and grant creation, and developing competitive candidates that sustain the organization's values. The Nigerian Women's Trust Fund has partnered with various organizations to promote social equality across the region.
Sexism in American political elections refers to how sexism impacts elections in the United States, ranging from influences on the supply, demand, and selection of candidates to electoral outcomes. Sexism is inherently a product of culture, as culture instills a certain set of beliefs or expectations for what constitutes appropriate behavior, appearance, or mannerisms based on a person's sex. Sexism in American political elections is generally cited as a socially-driven obstacle to female political candidates, especially for non-incumbents, raising concerns about the representation of women in the politics of the United States. Such prejudice can take varying forms, such as benevolent or hostile sexism—the latter stemming from fears of women threatening the power or leadership of men.
Foreign aid for gender equality in Jordan includes programs funded by governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that aim to empower women, close gender based gaps in opportunity and experience, and promote equal access to education, economic empowerment, and political representation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Gender inequality in Ukraine refers to economic, social, political and education inequalities between men and women of Ukraine experienced due to their gender. According to multiple reports it is an ongoing issue on each level of the Ukrainian society, where discrimination of women is an inevitable part of everyday life. The root causes of the circumstances are reportedly related to patriarchal attitudes and deeply entrenched gender stereotypes of the traditional Ukrainian culture. The cultural environment in Ukraine is aggravated by a poor rule of law, insufficient power of the social institutions and lack of political will.
The colonial roots of gender inequality refers to the political, educational, and economic inequalities between men and women in Africa. According to a Global Gender Gap Index report published in 2018, it would take 135 years to close the gender gap in Sub-Saharan Africa and nearly 153 years in North Africa. While much more is known about the effects of colonialism on all African people, less is known about the impacts of colonialism on specifically women. There are competing theories about the cause of gender inequality in Africa, but scholars suggest its genesis is in slavery and colonialism. For most women, colonialism resulted in an erosion of traditions and rights that formerly granted women equality and esteem. Women in pre-colonial Africa held positions of power and were influential in many aspects of their societies. This changed during the post-colonial period. With new forms of gender inequality introduced, many of the cultural underpinnings of African societies were eroded, and this harm has been challenging to mend. Theoretical frameworks that help to explain the colonial roots of gender inequality include coloniality of power and coloniality of gender. These decolonial concepts provide an account of how gender inequality became situated within the African context and help to explain why present-day inequalities, including women's political underrepresentation, remain significant challenges for Africa.
African American women played a variety of important roles in the civil rights movement. They served as leaders, demonstrators, organizers, fundraisers, theorists, formed abolition and self-help societies. They also created and published newspapers, poems, and stories about how they are treated and it paved the way for the modern civil rights movement. They were judged by the color of their skin, as well as being discriminated against society because they are women. African American women faced two struggles, both sexism and racism. Womanism fully encompasses the intersectionality between these two social barriers, thus encompassing African American female involvement in the civil rights movement. African American women led organizations and struggles for their suffrage, anti-lynching laws, full employment and especially against the Jim Crow Laws. They had to constantly fight for equality and needed to have a voice in what they can do in society. Black women served a special role as "bridge leaders," forming connections between those in formal positions of power and political constituents. They were the middle person going back and forth between the two groups and provided information to them. African American women actively participated in community organizing and took on informal leadership roles, making substantial grassroots contributions to the movement. They were essential in energizing the neighborhood, planning activities, and building relationships between neighbors. Black women provided crucial safe spaces for activists to plan, strategize, and discuss important problems by hosting meetings and gatherings in their homes. When coordinating activities was not safe or feasible in public locations, this kind of grassroots involvement was especially crucial. The experiences of Black women during the CRM were more nuanced due to the confluence of gender and race. They had to navigate issues of race and gender, and they occasionally encountered prejudice inside the civil rights movement as well as in larger society. Notwithstanding these obstacles, African American women persevered in their endeavors, making a substantial contribution to the movement's eventual triumph. Their leadership and activity opened doors for later generations and demonstrated how important it is to acknowledge and value the diverse roles that Black women have played in the struggle for racial justice and equality. A major turning point was the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, which followed Rosa Park's bold move of not giving up her bus seat. Several notable African American female activists and organizations emerged from this movement, making essential gains in the civil rights agenda, despite restricted access to power and the Cold War atmosphere pushing for silence within the United States.
Women in China are under-represented in government, especially in high-ranking positions.
