WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT: MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Although women remain significantly under-represented in today’s parliaments, they are now looking beyond the numbers to focus on what they can actually do while in parliament, how they can make an impact, whatever their numbers may be. They are learning the rules of the game and using this knowledge and understanding to promote women’s issues and concerns from inside the world’s legislatures. In so doing, they are not only increasing the chances of their own success, but they are also paving the way for a new generation of women to enter the legislative process.  

Women MPs often use the power their representative status gives them to support the improvement of political opportunities for women in their parties, as well as organizing to support women for higher office.

For women to be effective parliamentarians, they must clearly understand the functions of the legislature and they must learn the rules of the game, both the written and unwritten codes, and the procedures and mechanisms for getting things done in parliament. They must first learn the internal practices of parliament in order to equip themselves to utilize these rules better and to devise effective strategies to change the rules to advance women’s interests and goals.

The first step is for women MPs to understand how the legislature works in order to be able to use this knowledge to operate more effectively within the legislature. MPs can acquire this knowledge in a variety of ways, including specific training and orientation programmes as well as more general socialization processes. For example, it is common for legislative leaders and other officials to offer orientation to new members on how the assembly works. Often, political parties also provide such training.  Training by political parties is particularly useful since it offers insight into how the MP’s party understands the procedures and how the party itself fits into the procedures. Since the organization of legislative work often depends on party composition, parties have a significant influence on procedures.

Networking is a crucial training and socialization mechanism for women MPs. Networking provides quick access to knowledge that may otherwise take years of experience to acquire and enables women MPs to come together to discuss their concerns and share their knowledge and expertise, thus greatly enhancing their potential for effectiveness.

The fact that these women are able to get together across party lines, across professional areas and support each other not only personally, but also seek to do so professionally, is invaluable’. Mentoring (i.e. supervising, befriending and giving advice and guidance) by more experienced women MPs is another important way of providing special training for women MPs.

In addition to information about both the written and the unwritten rules and procedures of parliament, women may also find training in voice and image projection and public speaking particularly helpful. Many women have difficulty speaking authoritatively and arguing convincingly, and some find it difficult to make themselves heard in large legislative chambers.

Women in key positions not only enhance their own ability to make an impact; they also facilitate opportunities for other women to speak out.

MPs need to have knowledge and understanding of both women’s issues and women’s perspectives, if only,to see the other half of reality in order to produce output that has a favourable impact on women. The kind of impact MPs will wish to have will inevitably vary by party.

Women’s experiences in a variety of parliamentary roles will build up political capital which can be used to secure further advancement, to help change existing rules and structures, and to assist new generations of women politicians. Networks of women MPs have been successful in changing candidate selection rules to assist women’s access to political office.

Political parties have been at the centre of most of the effective strategies to enhance women’s representative capacities. Parties have developed strategies to promote women internally into decision-making positions in the party organization and externally into elected assemblies and public appointments. Generally they have been more radical, committed and imaginative in devising policies to bring women into internal party positions than to nominate women as candidates for elected office. As the numbers of women grow we should expect increased participation by women in all aspects of parliamentary life, including interventions in debate, the proposing and sponsoring of legislation, access to parliamentary resources and occupancy of leading positions.

With women’s growing effectiveness, and enhanced representation, all legislation will increasingly take women’s perspectives into account as a matter of course. An especially telling indication of women’s impact will be an increase both in men raising women’s issues and in men’s deferring to women’s voices on all legislative debates which would exhibit a concern for women’s perspectives.

An important facet of success will involve interaction between the different agents of change : governments, women MPs, women’s organizations and other members of civil society, locally, regionally and internationally.

It should always be remembered that partnership between women and men is a key ingredient in the process of change and impact. Many women MPs openly acknowledge that to attempt to work alone, without men, is not feasible.

Key is the enlargement of the pool of eligible, aspirant women. This means enhancing women’s interest in becoming politicians as well as increasing their involvement in politics. Eligibility for and involvement in politics are partly a matter of access to general resources such as education, income and time, and partly a matter of specific resources such as knowledge and information about politics and political experience. Policies to enhance women’s access to higher education, to paid employment and to various social and economic organizations provide a context for political participation that is increasingly hospitable to women. However, even where they lack adequate resources to participate politically, women are devising creative strategies to mobilize resources that would facilitate their access.

In much the same way as men’s political input is in constant need of improvement, women should not be complacent about their contributions to the political process; nor should they take whatever gains are achieved for granted. Political participation is a process that is evolving and developing. The actors involved in this process should be prepared always to strive to keep ahead of the changes. The women and men involved in this process should work together to be agents of change, constantly aware that obstacles are but means to realize new and evolving strategies. Women and men politicians have achieved a great deal in the area of women’s participation.