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IPU Report: Women Still Underrepresented in Parliaments Worldwide

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - A report coinciding with International Women's Day on Monday
   finds the number of women parliamentarians globally is increasing, but
   so slightly that it barely dents the global male-dominated system.

   The Inter-Parliamentary Union reports more than one quarter of the
   world's parliamentarians are women; however, at the current rate of
   progress, the IPU says it will take another 50 years to achieve gender
   parity.

   Rwanda, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates were the three top-ranked
   countries in 2020, accounting for 50% or more female members. The IPU
   attributes much of this success to gender quotas. On average, it notes
   parliaments with quotas have elected nearly 12% more women to lower
   chambers and 7.4% more women to upper chambers.

   IPU Secretary-General Martin Chungong said discrimination against women
   prevents them from becoming parliamentarians. In some cases, he said,
   governments have laws that prevent women from running for office.

   "We have in recent years brought to light the phenomenon of violence
   against women, and there is ample evidence out there that women are now
   refraining from entering the dangerous terrain of politics on account
   of harassment, sexism and outright violence, which is something we need
   to combat," he said.

   The IPU report finds progress has been made in all regions of the
   world. It says the Americas once again tops all other regions with
   women making up 32.4% of MPs. This, the report says, was despite
   political upheaval across Latin America. It notes women represented
   nearly 27% of membership in the U.S. Congress, the highest level in its
   history.

   In sub-Saharan Africa, the report finds Mali and Niger have made
   significant gains in women's representation, despite grave security
   risks. It says a few countries in Europe have achieved 30% female
   representation, while the Middle East and North Africa have lagged with
   17%.

   The worst-performing countries are in the Asia-Pacific region. The IPU
   says Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea have no female representation. IPU
   officials call this a matter of great concern.

   The report shows the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on
   elections last year, noting that national parliamentary elections were
   postponed in nearly 20 countries due to restrictions.