The Asian Tribune
www.asiantribune.net
The representation of women in parliaments is one of the major indicators of gender equality, as it reflects the progress of our society.
Their presence in politics and the proper representation in legislature is vital for women empowerment. It is for this reason that the share of women in the corridors of power, needs to be reviewed on a regular basis.
The percentage of women among lawmakers has been rising all over the world. In Scandinavia, North America, Caribbean nations, Oceania and South America, women have comparatively higher representation than the other regions.
The representation is better in East Africa, South Africa and to an extent, Central Asia, also. but it is still quite low in other parts of Asia.
Women constitute half of the entire world’s population but in many countries, they are not even 25% when it comes to being the lawmakers.
In terms of population, India is the biggest democracy in the world. The last general election saw, 74 women elected to the house, and this forms less than 15% of the numerical strength of the Parliament.
United Nations report suggests that the proportion of women in the legislatures, stared going up after 1990 but it is still far behind a level of parity.
It says that barely 21 countries have 40% women in national parliaments. Further, just one of these countries is in Asia. All the rest are in Europe, Africa and Latin America.
In fact, the number of countries in the world having 50% or more women in the parliaments, can be counted on fingers. In Asia, there is one nation, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Other countries include Nicaragua, Rwanda, Cuba. Bolivia, New Zealand, Mexico and Andorra, also fare highly on the gender equality and have the similar level.
But big countries and vast regions, still have poor participation of women in decision making and as lawmakers.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) report had suggested that the in three decades, percentage of seats held by women rose from 11.3% in 1995 to 27.2% in 2025. This report is titled ‘Women In Parliament’. But, in many countries, the rate at which representation was going up, has slowed down, lately.
