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Latin America: Statistics are encouraging, but parity is still out of reach

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Latin America: Statistics are encouraging, but parity is still out of reach

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Lima, 8 March 2013

There was good news at the end of 2012 for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who ended her second year in office with a 62 percent approval rating. All indications are that she will run for a second term next year as the candidate of the Partido dos Trabalhadores. Meanwhile, Lilian Soto is the candidate of the Kuña Pyrendá party in the presidential elections to be held this year in Paraguay. This will be the first time in the region that a political movement will have a presidential ticket made up only of women and a parliamentary list on which most of the candidates are women.

In Chile, although it is not yet official, former President Michele Bachelet may run for president again. According to voter preference polls, she would win 54 percent of the vote.

Looking at the numbers through a parity lens: more women in the Executive Branch and Parliament

The average proportion of women in the region’s Cabinets rose from 24.6 percent in 2012 to 28.1 percent in 2013. Some countries made particularly noteworthy progress. In Nicaragua’s Cabinet has more women than men (six women and five men); more than 40 percent of Ecuador’s Cabinet members are women; and in four countries, women make up more than 35 percent of the Cabinet. In six Latin American countries, however, the percentage of female ministers is still below 20 percent. The most alarming cases are El Salvador, where only one of the 13 ministers is a woman; Uruguay, with two female ministers out of 13; and Mexico, where only three of the 16 Cabinet ministers are women.

Of the 93 female Cabinet ministers in the region, 26 percent are in ministries related to health, education, culture and sports; 15 hold portfolios related to production; 12 percent are in ministries that support government management; and 11 percent are in social development ministries. Only two women head ministries of economy and finance (in Ecuador and Costa Rica).

The regional average of women in parliament has also increased since last year, from 21.4 percent to 24 percent in upper houses and from 20.4 percent to 22.3 percent in lower houses and unicameral parliaments. The region’s parliaments are still far from parity, however; on average, only one out of every five parliamentarians is a woman. The regional average also masks significant differences; although in countries such as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Ecuador and Mexico, the proportion of women in the lower house exceeds 30 percent, in others, such as Panama, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, women hold no more than 12 percent of seats, as the following table shows.

Looking back at 2012: encouraging reforms and processes

In 2012, two Latin American countries – Mexico and El Salvador – held parliamentary elections. In both cases, the outcomes were positive for women. In Mexico, the number of women in both houses of Parliament increased by 10 points, and in El Salvador, the percentage of women parliamentarians rose from 19 percent to 26.2 percent.

In 2011, Mexico’s Electoral Tribunal issued a ruling establishing mechanisms for enforcing the principle of equity in federal elections. Because the country has a mixed electoral system (with some seats filled by proportional representation and others by relative majority), the tribunal ruled that for relative majority candidacies, at least 40 percent of a party’s or coalition’s candidates for the upper and lower house must be of the same sex. For seats chosen by proportional representation, every five slots must include at least two candidates of different genders, with alternation. Finally, according to the ruling, both the titular and substitute candidates who make up the quota must be of the same gender. That protects the minimum quota percentage if a titular candidate resigns, but it does not mean there could not be more women substitutes in candidate slots not included in the quota. This measure was approved to avoid what is known in Mexico as “las juanitas”– placing women on lists to meet the quota, and once they are elected, forcing them to resign to be replaced by men who ran as substitutes. In 2009, eight women deputies requested leave just a few months after they were elected and were replaced by men. The tribunal’s ruling was binding for the 2012 elections and resulted in a significant increase in the percentage of women elected.

In 2012, Honduras approved an electoral reform that increased the quota of women to 40 percent on candidate lists, although the impact could be limited because the country uses an open-list system. Under the reform, that proportion will increase to 50 percent as of 2016.

In February 2013, El Salvador’s Congress approved the Political Parties Law, which establishes a gender quota for candidate lists. This measure is temporary and will only apply to the next five elections deputies, legislative assembly and municipal councils, and the next four Central American Parliament elections, after the law takes effect. This measure is still awaiting the president’s signature.

One pending challenge is to revolutionize the way of “doing politics” in patriarchal societies like those of many Latin American countries, where the organizational culture of state agencies and political parties is still governed by men, and where women politicians have had to adapt in order to gain a foothold, often investing more time and effort than men and frequently suffering political harassment.

To address this problem, Bolivia approved a Law against Political Harassment and Violence against Women in May 2012. Enabling legislation for the law has not been passed, however, and there is no budget allocation for its implementation. And although the law should take effect immediately, the agencies responsible for enforcing it have not yet been created.

In Peru, draft legislation against gender-related political violence and harassment has been introduced in Parliament, and in Costa Rica, a draft law is being circulated and debated in preparation for being introduced in Congress.

For more information, please visit the link for International Women’s Day on the International IDEA Web site www.idea.int and/or contact: Pilar Tello <p.tello@idea.int>

Informations
Partenaire
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)

Lima, 8 March 2013

There was good news at the end of 2012 for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who ended her second year in office with a 62 percent approval rating. All indications are that she will run for a second term next year as the candidate of the Partido dos Trabalhadores. Meanwhile, Lilian Soto is the candidate of the Kuña Pyrendá party in the presidential elections to be held this year in Paraguay. This will be the first time in the region that a political movement will have a presidential ticket made up only of women and a parliamentary list on which most of the candidates are women.

In Chile, although it is not yet official, former President Michele Bachelet may run for president again. According to voter preference polls, she would win 54 percent of the vote.

Looking at the numbers through a parity lens: more women in the Executive Branch and Parliament

The average proportion of women in the region’s Cabinets rose from 24.6 percent in 2012 to 28.1 percent in 2013. Some countries made particularly noteworthy progress. In Nicaragua’s Cabinet has more women than men (six women and five men); more than 40 percent of Ecuador’s Cabinet members are women; and in four countries, women make up more than 35 percent of the Cabinet. In six Latin American countries, however, the percentage of female ministers is still below 20 percent. The most alarming cases are El Salvador, where only one of the 13 ministers is a woman; Uruguay, with two female ministers out of 13; and Mexico, where only three of the 16 Cabinet ministers are women.

Of the 93 female Cabinet ministers in the region, 26 percent are in ministries related to health, education, culture and sports; 15 hold portfolios related to production; 12 percent are in ministries that support government management; and 11 percent are in social development ministries. Only two women head ministries of economy and finance (in Ecuador and Costa Rica).

The regional average of women in parliament has also increased since last year, from 21.4 percent to 24 percent in upper houses and from 20.4 percent to 22.3 percent in lower houses and unicameral parliaments. The region’s parliaments are still far from parity, however; on average, only one out of every five parliamentarians is a woman. The regional average also masks significant differences; although in countries such as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Ecuador and Mexico, the proportion of women in the lower house exceeds 30 percent, in others, such as Panama, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, women hold no more than 12 percent of seats, as the following table shows.

Looking back at 2012: encouraging reforms and processes

In 2012, two Latin American countries – Mexico and El Salvador – held parliamentary elections. In both cases, the outcomes were positive for women. In Mexico, the number of women in both houses of Parliament increased by 10 points, and in El Salvador, the percentage of women parliamentarians rose from 19 percent to 26.2 percent.

In 2011, Mexico’s Electoral Tribunal issued a ruling establishing mechanisms for enforcing the principle of equity in federal elections. Because the country has a mixed electoral system (with some seats filled by proportional representation and others by relative majority), the tribunal ruled that for relative majority candidacies, at least 40 percent of a party’s or coalition’s candidates for the upper and lower house must be of the same sex. For seats chosen by proportional representation, every five slots must include at least two candidates of different genders, with alternation. Finally, according to the ruling, both the titular and substitute candidates who make up the quota must be of the same gender. That protects the minimum quota percentage if a titular candidate resigns, but it does not mean there could not be more women substitutes in candidate slots not included in the quota. This measure was approved to avoid what is known in Mexico as “las juanitas”– placing women on lists to meet the quota, and once they are elected, forcing them to resign to be replaced by men who ran as substitutes. In 2009, eight women deputies requested leave just a few months after they were elected and were replaced by men. The tribunal’s ruling was binding for the 2012 elections and resulted in a significant increase in the percentage of women elected.

In 2012, Honduras approved an electoral reform that increased the quota of women to 40 percent on candidate lists, although the impact could be limited because the country uses an open-list system. Under the reform, that proportion will increase to 50 percent as of 2016.

In February 2013, El Salvador’s Congress approved the Political Parties Law, which establishes a gender quota for candidate lists. This measure is temporary and will only apply to the next five elections deputies, legislative assembly and municipal councils, and the next four Central American Parliament elections, after the law takes effect. This measure is still awaiting the president’s signature.

One pending challenge is to revolutionize the way of “doing politics” in patriarchal societies like those of many Latin American countries, where the organizational culture of state agencies and political parties is still governed by men, and where women politicians have had to adapt in order to gain a foothold, often investing more time and effort than men and frequently suffering political harassment.

To address this problem, Bolivia approved a Law against Political Harassment and Violence against Women in May 2012. Enabling legislation for the law has not been passed, however, and there is no budget allocation for its implementation. And although the law should take effect immediately, the agencies responsible for enforcing it have not yet been created.

In Peru, draft legislation against gender-related political violence and harassment has been introduced in Parliament, and in Costa Rica, a draft law is being circulated and debated in preparation for being introduced in Congress.

For more information, please visit the link for International Women’s Day on the International IDEA Web site www.idea.int and/or contact: Pilar Tello <p.tello@idea.int>

Informations
Partenaire
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)