Indonesia

When Diah Pitaloka took over the youth wing of Indonesia’s third-biggest political party two years ago, her male colleagues addressed her as “Pak,” which in Indonesian means “Mr.”

The world’s most populous Muslim country will now penalize political parties that fail to meet a requirement for females to make up at least 30 percent of candidates in the elections as it seeks to halt a widening divide between the sexes.

Indonesia ranked 97th of 135 countries last year on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index, down from 90th in 2011.

The Democratic Party of Indonesia (DPI) is seeking to attract more women to participate in the upcoming presidential candidate convention.

Nova Riyanti Yusuf, member of the DPI, said: “Personally, I would like women to come forward at the convention especially to compete with other candidates, [so that] our politics will be more exciting"

“We once had a female president, Megawati Sukarnoputri. The names of female figures should be raised. If there are women who would like to participate, don’t be shy.”