After mega-election year, growth of women in power grinds to near-halt

Almost half of the world’s population – 3.6 billion people – had a general election in 2024, but it was also the year of the slowest increase in women’s representation for 20 years.

Twenty-seven (27) new parliaments have fewer women than they had before the election – countries such as the US, Portugal, Pakistan, India, Indonesia and South Africa. And, for the first time in its history, a minority of women were also elected to the European Parliament.

The BBC has narrowed down the number of 46 countries where election results have been confirmed and found that almost two-thirds of them have. the number of elected women decreased.

The data comes from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) – an international organization of national parliaments that collects and analyzes election data.

There were benefits for women in the in the UKMongolia, Jordan and the Dominican Republic, while Mexico and Namibia both elected their first female presidents.

However, losses in other areas mean that growth this year has been almost non-existent (0.03%) – after doubling. worldwide between 1995 and 2020.

Mariana Duarte Mutzenberg, who tracks gender statistics at the IPU, says progress has been “very fragile” in some democracies. For example, the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu lost its only female member of parliament, and now has no women in government at all.

The Pacific Islands have the lowest proportion of female parliamentarians in the world at 8%.

Globally, women make up 27% of the world’s parliaments, and only 13 countries are close to 50%. Latin America and some African regions are leading the way in women’s representation.

Other countries, says Duarte Mutzenberg, are still making gains, mainly due to gender parity – Mongolia jumped from 10% to 25% of female representatives this year, after implementing approved 30% candidates women’s section.

On average, countries without quotas elect 21% of women, compared to 29% of those with quotas.

For example, quotas – and political will – helped Mexico to achieve gender equality in 2018, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador decided that the parliament should be 50% women.

Political will can also be a factor in ministerial affairs, says Julie Ballington from UN Women – which collects data on women in government.

Cabinets have the power to destabilize society, yet they have the lowest female representation in all politics seen by UN Women, she says, with women often holding other ministerial positions such as overseeing human rights, equality, and human affairs – not money or security.

This is a “lost opportunity,” he says.

With different countries, events and political issues at play it’s hard to explain why the call hasn’t changed this year.

But there are international obstacles that prevent women from participating in politics.

First, research has shown that there is the difference between men and women.

“Women are not going to wake up and think they’re going to be good at leadership,” said politics professor Rosie Campbell. audience at King’s College, London. “They usually need a nudge: ‘Have you decided to become an MP?'”

And the slow decline could mean fewer female political advisers for the future, says Dr Rachel George, a gender and politics expert at Stanford University in the US. Therefore, girls “may not think that they can, or should, run”.

As soon as they decide to take office, women face financial problems.

A the amount of research he has found it difficult for women to get money for political support or to have the financial freedom to not work.

In many areas, women still have a more conservative role than men – which can affect how they are perceived by voters, says Dr George.

This is not supported by the fact that few parliaments provide for maternity leave, said Carlien Scheele of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). “It puts women in a position where the policy isn’t working,” she says.

And then, there is the decision-making process.

Countries using proportional representation (PR) or mixed voting elect a higher proportion of women than those previously elected and are also more likely to have women’s elections, according to the IPU.

But this is not unusual. So what is changing?

There has been an increase in attacks women in societyonline and in person, according to research in different countries.

In Mexico, that has already been experienced violent electionsGender-based violence has increased this year, said IPU’s Mariana Duarte Mutzenberg, while women politicians are also the target of false news aimed at “damaging their reputation in some way”.

All these have many “challenges” and discourage girls from wanting to run, says Dr George.

Backtracking on women’s economic and social empowerment is one of them.

In South Korea – despite a slight increase in the share of elected women – the feeling among many young men of a different discrimination occurred during this year’s election.

“Some parties continued to develop anti-gender attitudes among male voters who saw women’s rights activists as anti-male,” said Duarte Mutzenberg.

However, he says, this brought them together more women are coming out to vote.

So why does all this matter?

Basic justice aside, Equal parliaments can improve the economy of the countrysaid Carlien Scheele of EIGE, citing research that shows that diverse groups of men and women make better decisions, and mixed groups of men and women reap the greatest benefits.

Research has shown that too the benefits of including women in peace negotiationsmeaning that methods based on contributions from women are more likely to achieve sustainable results.

“When women are in the room, peace agreements can happen as well more lasting information,” says Dr. George.

Julie Ballington from UN Women says she would encourage people to think differently about women.

“It’s not an underrepresentation of women. It’s an overrepresentation of men.”

Additional data analysis by Rebecca Wedge-Roberts from BBC Verify

Produced by Raees Hussein