Women empowerment

There's something missing from our political offices, and the answer is in the hormones. We need more estrogen.

Despite having successful female examples at the national level such as Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and Nancy Pelosi, the number of women in political office is staggeringly low. According to a 2013 study by the Center for American Women and Politics, women comprise only 18.3% of Congress; in other words, they hold only 98 of the 535 seats.

Seven local women announced the formation of the Institute for Women in Politics of Northwest Florida Inc. The nonprofit corporation will “provide ... training resources and counseling services to promote and fulfill the vital need for women to serve at all levels of government in the Florida counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa". Former Pensacola City Councilor Diane Mack is the organization’s first president. 

On a sunny day in early May, in Ndu, northwest Cameroon, a group of women, many of whom have taken the day off from work on their farms, are evaluating the performance of an aspiring politician. One suggests smiling more, another that the candidate project her voice more and not look at her feet while talking.The women are here in the Bishop Shanahan Centre to improve their public-speaking skills and learn more about electoral procedures.

Nova Peris has become the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the Federal Parliament. The Olympic hockey gold medal winner will take a place in the Senate representing the Northern Territory for Labor. She gave her victory speech immediately after Luke Gosling conceded in the Darwin-based Lower House seat of Solomon.

Freda Prempeh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North Constituency in the Brong Ahafo region has noted with worry that culture is still an obstacle hindering many qualified women to go into politics.

Ms Prempeh is one of the two female parliamentarians out of the twenty-nine MPs from her region.

Ms Prempeh said the situation is not encouraging women who are capable to go into politics even at the local level elections to represent the various electoral areas at the Metropolitan Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs).

Laura Boldrini, Cecile Kyenge and Emma Bonino are among those doing “far better than men”, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said during an interview with television channel Russian 24 ahead of the G20 summit, which gets underway in St Petersburg on Thursday.

The number of women who have entered the Italian government since Letta came on board has increased from 20 to 30 percent. “I wanted my government to have the largest number of women in Italian history”, he said.

Two months after Julia Gillard was ousted, feminist and sociologist Eva Cox looks back on the misogyny debate her time as Australia's prime minister sparked - and whether gender issues are on the election agenda as a result.

The question of female leadership still sits rather uncomfortably in discussions of power politics. The recent death of Margaret Thatcher reminded us of her politically successful tenure and re-elections, whether we agreed with her stance or not.

On Sunday night, Aminata Touré was named Prime Minister of Senegal. Whichever mineral flows through the veins of Aminata Touré, she has spent all of her adult life working as a human rights and women’s rights activist, who has worked in Senegal and around the world on women’s issues and, more generally, at the intersection of social and economic justice struggles.

State Sen. LeAnna Washington, D-4, was a high school dropout, had her first child at age 17, was a single mother, grew up in a tumultuous household, was a victim of domestic violence and received government assistance well into her adult years. However, these hardships did not stifle Washington — they motivated her to be a leader in her community.