Women-led countries had a more gender-sensitive response to the pandemic, shows new research, and other stories

#WomenLead (Issue 112): Your weekly round-up on women in politics

Hello, and welcome to Issue 112!

A very warm welcome to all new subscribers who have signed up in recent days! We are always so elated to have new readers join our community. We hope you will find reading #WomenLead worth your time. Do feel free to write in to us with feedback and comments. You can do so simply by replying to this email!

In today’s edition, we bring you updates from Finland (you know what we’re talking about, don’t you?), and Israel, and the spotlight is on the global response to the Covid-19 crisis. In case you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here.

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Quick Updates 

⛰️ A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL: We don’t think there’s much you all don’t know about this already. Finland’s PM Sanna Marin partied with her friends, and a leaked video of the gang dancing, singing and partying seems to have opened up a Pandora's box.

Opposition parties have been critical, with some alleging that Marin possibly took drugs, and some questioning her ability to handle a potential crisis. Marin has clarified that while she partied "in a boisterous way", she did nothing illegal. She has taken a drug test to reassure people as well. 

We are baffled by the amount of conversation the incident has provoked, not only in Finland but around the world. Marin is receiving a lot of support for her ‘right to party’, and women have been sharing videos of themselves dancing with the hashtag #DanceWithSanna to show their solidarity. 

Good to see all the support Marin is getting, and also the conversation spanning a range of topics - sexism, political leadership, security risks, work-life balance, and the right to party. Now only if the world paid as much attention to women leaders for the work they do, (and the work they are obstructed from doing), we’d be an even happier bunch.