women candidates

Despite efforts to increase the number of women in politics, they still face an uphill battle to join the male-dominated political world, a political expert has said.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political analyst Siti Zuhro said women in general were still victims of discrimination.

We invite you to read the full article published January 13, 2014

Noorzia Atmar never wanted to leave Afghanistan. Not even after the beatings, knife attacks and bitter divorce; not even when her ex-husband turned up at her new workplace with a gun and sent thugs to the shelter where she had sought refuge. Only when the threats targeting her spread to include other women living in the shelter did she feel she had no choice but to flee.

Where are all the women?

A new study of women serving elected office in Utah shows that, even though Utah is one of the few states with a female Speaker of the House, the number of women serving in the state Legislature has actually declined over the past decade and only 12 of 161 mayors are women.

“Our young women are forming a new era in female history,” wrote Massachusetts feminist Judith Sargent Murray excitedly. “The Rights of Women begin to be understood; we seem, at length, determined to do justice.” The year was 1798. It would be two hundred and fourteen years until her home state would elect its first female senator, Elizabeth Warren. This year, it might get its first elected female governor, likely Democratic nominee Martha Coakley.

Liz Cheney cited family health concerns as her reason for dropping out of the Wyoming Senate race, but her exit Monday came after months of struggling to gain traction in a Republican primary challenge to Sen. Michael B. Enzi.

Nearly six months after announcing her first bid for public office, the campaign of the former State Department official and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney had grabbed more headlines for causing intrafamily drama than for offering a decisive argument for her candidacy.

On the third floor of Apex Town Hall, inside council chambers, visitors got to see a rare sight.

Two women, Nicole Dozier and Denise Wilkie, were sworn into office. They are the first women to serve on the Apex Town Council in 12 years.

As female elected officials, they are a rarity not only in Wake County but on a state and national level.

We invite you to read the full article published December 8, 2013

Kenyan member of parliament Alice Wahome spoke about the violent abuse, harassment and humiliation she has experienced as a female politician at the launch of a report about women's participation in the March 2013 elections.

Female candidates in Kenya face many barriers, including violent attacks, cultural and social stereotypes, lack of money and lack of political connections.

Wahome is one of 16 women who were elected as a constituency MP in 2013, compared to 274 men.

In March 2013, Sophia Abdi Noor was the only woman to stand for parliament in northern Kenya, a marginalised region where Islam has a lot of sway.

She spoke about the obstacles she has faced as a female politician at the launch of a report about women’s participation in the March 2013 elections. Female candidates in Kenya face many barriers, including violence, cultural and social stereotypes, lack of money and lack of political connections.

New laws designed to increase the number of elected women in Kenyan politics had no effect on the 2013 elections because those concerned failed to implement them, the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) said.

“We have good laws that we are not using,” said Mariam Kamunyu, the lead author of ‘Key Gains and Challenges: A Gender Audit of Kenya’s 2013 Election Process’, a report on how women fared in the polls,