Parliaments & Representatives

Highlighted Resources

Rally in Paris, France © SERGE TENANI / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP

Violence against women parliamentarians: Causes, effects, solutions

Women account for just over 26% of parliamentarians worldwide according to the IPU’s latest figures. Despite progress made in recent years, significant obstacles continue to block their path to parity with their male counterparts. One of the biggest obstacles is sexism, harassment and...

Women’s representation in India’s parliament: Measuring progress, analysing obstacles

Women’s representation in India’s Parliament is an important metric to evaluate progress in bridging gender inequities in the country. India has a female population of 662.9 million and is the largest and one of the most resilient parliamentary democracies in the world. As the country completes 75...

Action kit: Engaging parliaments in gender responsive budgeting

This action kit is a practical tool for unpacking gender responsive budgeting (GRB) and engaging parliaments and parliamentarians in strengthening scrutiny and oversight of gender responsive budget formulation, execution, and evaluation. As a result of their interventions, the budget process can be...

New Zealand’s Parliament becomes majority female — "about blimmin’ time"

New Zealand made history — or herstory — this week as female lawmakers became the majority, narrowly outnumbering their male counterparts in Parliament for the first time.On Tuesday, Soraya Peke-Mason was sworn in as a lawmaker for the Labour Party, tipping the country’s legislative body to 60...

President of Inter-Parliamentary Union, Duarte Pacheco delivers remarks at the 145th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union that is underway in Kigali from October 11 to 15. Village Urugwiro (The New Times)

Gender-sensitive parliaments can help end conflicts – IPU president

More women parliamentarians can play a major role in addressing global security conflicts, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) president, Duarte Pacheco, has said.Speaking Monday October 11, at a press conference on the side-lines of the ongoing IPU’s 145th assembly taking place in Kigali,...

How did Rwanda become no.1 for gender equality?

In 2008, the Rwanda Chamber of Deputies was the first elected national parliament where women were the majority. The proportion of MPs who are women is at 61.25% today, way above the current global average of 26.4%. Rwanda has been at the top of the IPU’s monthly ranking of women in national...

Effective and inclusive parliaments

Ensuring GSP principles are embedded in political institutions is vital for a healthy democracy. It highlights that women’s inclusion and equality does not just stop at the ballot box. All groups must be able to fully participate within our elected institutions for our democracies to work...

Between Westminster and Brussels: Putting the “Parliament” in parliamentary ethnography

Gender and politics scholars are increasingly making appeals to ethnographic methodology to bring important contributions to understand the reproduction of gender, gender hierarchies, gendered relations, and their redress in parliamentary settings. This article draws upon fieldwork conducted in the...

Combatting sexual harassment in Canada’s legislative assemblies

This report highlights the key findings from research conducted by Equal Voice on sexual harassment in Canada’s legislative Assemblies.Click here to access the report.

USA: Women in state legislatures 2022

Number and Percentage of Women in State Legislatures, 1980-2022[[{"fid":"20338","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Number and Percentage of Women in State Legislatures, 1980-2022","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value...

Rhoda Sikilabu, Premier for Isabel Province and the first female Premier in the Solomon Islands (Melanesian Women Today/Facebook)

Solomon Islands’ first female premier: lessons learned

In late March 2022, 16 years after she was first elected to the Isabel Provincial Assembly in Solomon Islands, Rhoda Sikilabu became the country’s first female premier. The four-time MPA and former Deputy Premier replaced Leslie Kikolo who resigned a day before he faced a motion of no confidence....

Women In Politics Study - Abacus/ Equal Voice

Canada: Women in politics study

This document presents the result of a series of surveys conducted by Abacus Data in January 2022, about women in politics and the future of women in politics.Click here to access the report.