women leaders

Four decades after the election that shattered the glass ceiling for women in the Minnesota Legislature, gender equality is still elusive at the state Capitol.

Women hold 34 percent of the 201 seats in the Legislature, giving Minnesota the fourth-highest share of female state lawmakers in the nation.

But as the candidate recruiting season intensifies a year before the 2014 election, more men than women step forward to run, and female candidates still face more barriers than their male counterparts.

In a state infamously governed by “three men in a room,” three women want to take the helm of upstate cities.

Rochester and Albany can elect their first female mayors in November, when Lovely Warren and Kathy Sheehan will lead the Democratic ticket in the respective cities. In Syracuse, Stephanie Miner became that city’s first woman mayor four years ago and is seeking re-election without a major-party opponent.

If they’re elected, it would mark a historic first for New York: Three of its six largest cities would have women in the mayor’s office.

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare Mary Clara Makungwa has called on the media in the country to promote women aspirants in politics in order to achieve the 50-50 women representation campaign.

The newly appointed Minister said this in Blantyre on Friday during a media conversation for 50-50 campaign and conflict sensitive reporting with the editor's forum.

Makungwa said government recognizes how media shapes the views of the masses and as such the media should create a space for women to express their views.

Even though Kyrgyzstan has had a female president and women hold 23 percent of the seats in its 120-member parliament, women are still struggling to carve out leadership roles in the legislature and political parties.

But a local women’s group is trying to change that. Formed shortly after the 2005 Tulip Revolution, the Women’s Discussion Club of Kyrgyzstan has played a major role in promoting public policies that benefit women.

For the fourth year, a campaign school to encourage women to consider a role in municipal politics will be run in Brantford.

The event — which generally attracts up to 100 women — is aimed at getting more women to run for public office or to support the campaigns of other women running for office.

“We want to provide information and enlightenment about the demands of the role,” said Helen Mulligan, one of the organizers.

Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill will host town hall meetings this month to examine barriers that face women as they struggle to reach professional goals.

The meetings stem from LR295, introduced by McGill to study the income gap between men and women.

The town halls will give women a chance to share their experiences on wage disparity; balancing work and family; the lack of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields; and roadblocks to self-confidence.