#WomenLead turns four: Some reflections
On how the world has changed (or not) when it comes to women’s participation in politics
Dear friends and readers of #WomenLead,
This newsletter turned four years old yesterday.
Four years is a very short period -- often just (or less than) the full term for elected legislatures in most parts of the world. Yet, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that a lot has changed in this period, at least when it comes to women in politics. What do I mean?
Even though I had conceptualised this publication a few months earlier, I set it up and formally launched it only in May 2020 -- in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic when most countries of the world had implemented social restrictions to contain the spread of the new infectious disease.
Amidst all the anxiety and suffering, as the entire world shared the experience of a testing time of such scale, conversations and discussions inevitably turned to the role of good leadership. Among the few countries that seemed to be managing relatively better -- at least in those initial few months -- many were led by female Presidents and Prime Ministers, prompting conversation, research, even memes, on whether women did make better leaders. It also prompted interest and discussion on women’s representation in politics and leadership in general.
However, four years down the line the picture looks much different, and not necessarily very rosy.
We’ve seen some heartbreaking developments. Afghanistan, ranked 71st on IPU’s list of countries as of Jan 2021, became a country hostile to its women before the year ended.
The women who were members of its parliament before the Taliban seized control had to flee, and the ones who couldn't (or who chose to stay back) are in constant fear for their lives. Myanmar saw the junta stage a coup d’etat. In Iran, a young woman was killed for not wearing her headscarf right, and while it sparked an inspiring movement, the state came back heavily on those demanding basic human rights. And well, we don’t even know what to say about what is happening to Gaza and its people.
And in general, women’s political representation has been recording mixed progress. Women made up 24.9 percent of all MPs at the beginning of 2020, data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union shows. By Jan 01, 2021, this share had gone up to 25.5 percent, and it subsequently increased to 26.1 percent and 26.5 percent respectively. As of the beginning of this year, women’s share among MPs stood at 26.9 percent. While progress has been happening, it has also been slowing.
The averages, of course, hide heterogenous trends, including some positive ones. In these years, many countries have recorded notable improvement in women’s representation in politics, brought about often deliberately through carefully designed institutional and systemic reforms. Others have been taking steps towards making their parliaments and politics kinder for women. And yet, many other countries have seen women’s representation stay stagnant, and even declined. Still others have gone back on their promise of equality by doing away with laws and systems that were designed to help improve the gender skew in politics.
We’ve also seen many women quit politics in these years -- including several women at the top of the political ladders. Many of them cited burnout, fatigue, and the toll of toxicity as they announced their decision to step down from their positions and this field.
I’ll pause now.
The intent is not to overwhelm you with a list of disappointing news. Not at all. As I wrote, some of the larger trends hide pockets of hope -- and holding on to that hope is ever so important, not least because we are in currently the middle of a super-election year. But eternal vigilance is important too, and especially when it comes to tracking the progress made by groups that have traditionally been on the margins of any field, where every step forward is met with a push to go back two.
At #WomenLead, as we enter our milestone fifth year, we will continue to be the chronicler and archiver of all these developments just as we have strived to do in the past four years.
We will ensure that women’s political representation stays topical and relevant beyond particular events, and through the year. We hope you will continue to read, subscribe, share our work, and also write to us with your words of encouragement, support, but also critical and helpful feedback.
Thank you for signing up and staying with #WomenLead for all these years. Getting to this four-year mark would have been impossible but for the warm and kind support all of you have extended to this publication. While I may be the one writing this publication, I truly believe #WomenLead is all of ours – thank you very much for enabling that and getting us here.
I’ll see you soon with the regular monthly edition of #WomenLead,
Warmly,
Akshi