Background Document - Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy

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INTRODUCTION The issue is not whether women are able to and/or can perform an active role in transitional politics, because they can and are able to contribute at many levels. The issue is how women’s participation and voices can be translated into critical influences and decisions in political and transition processes and why is it that women perform visible and instrumental roles in certain contexts and stages of transitions, yet their participation is not matched with their presence and involvement in transitional decision making processes. There is global evidence that attest to the existence of various factors that are the drivers for the continued exclusion of women from the critical decisions that shape the outcomes of political transitions and subsequently their participation beyond the transitional uprisings. Ultimately, the critical area of concern is how to ensure that the ”gains” women make through their involvement and partcipation in the demands for political transformation is institutionalized and translates into changes of women’s status and position in society as well as into gender-sensitive changes in political systems and institutions. This paper highlights that women’s involvement and participation in political transition processes is not a guarantee for their inclusion and representation in the critical positions of power and decision making at the peak of transitions and in the established nation building institutions. The paper focuses on some of the prominent factors and dominant trends that perpetuate the marginalisation of women in many parts of the world including countries in political transitions. Four striking issues or factors across the different regions of the world, which are intricately connected and have significant impact on women in different countries and transitional processes and political contexts are presented. Being cognisant of the fact that there is no “one size fits all” approach as the magnitude of the issues varies within different country and regional contexts, the paper will also outline possible strategies that can be adapted to support women in transitions as well as address some of the obstacles encountered by women in these political processes leading to the formation of democratic governments. Before discussing the prominent issues, there is need to underscore the lessons learnt from the most recent political transitions that occurred in 2011 and are still underway in the Arab Spring. The most recent experiences from the Arab Spring attest to the deep-seated hurdles that women encounter in order to attain their fair share of participation and representation in positions of power and decision making at all levels, despite women’s contributions. LESSONS FROM THE ARAB SPRING In 2011 women in the Arab world demonstrated that women can often play important roles in revolutionary processes and events as women have done before in Africa, Latin America and Europe. For instance in Egypt and Tunisia they participated in the popular uprisings for democracy and changes in their societies. As elsewhere in the world, women in the Arab Spring countries in transition are struggling for their fair share of opportunities to access political power at the onset of transition processes, in view of the rules of the game that are clearly based on patriarchal values and still in flux. When participating in the revolutions across the transiting countries, women’s demands were not only calling for the change of the oppressive regimes, but also sought justice and greater empowerment of women in all spheres of life. Many women still have reason to hope that the “Arab Spring” will bring changes to the Middle East and help them realize their dreams and secure a better life for the next generation of women through the democratic transitions away from legacies of autocratic rule, social, economic and political marginalisation of women to collaboration between men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims, government and civilians. WOMEN IN POLITICS DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY PAGE 38
A year later, women in the Arab Spring countries in transition are beginning to ask why the benefits from the revolutions do not seem to be shared equally between men and women. Why are few women represented in key decision making positions and institutions across the countries in spite of women’s active participation alongside their male counterparts during the revolutions and uprisings to end the reign of dictatorships? Recently, the President of the Egyptian Feminist Union, Hoda Badran, stated that, “Now that the dust of revolution has begun to settle as the Arab spring countries begin their transition process towards democracy, women are finding themselves marginalised and excluded from decision-making. The many disturbing incidents that have occurred illustrate the extent to which, in spite of the new freedoms championed by revolution, women are still considered as subordinate to men. In Tunisia a mass protest called for all women to be veiled, which led to unveiled female professors of religion being hounded off campuses. Mobs shouted at Tunisian women demonstrators to go back to the kitchen “where they belong”. In Egypt, too, conservative thinking is on the rise and voices are growing louder in support of policies that would represent a backward step for women. A good example of this are the reforms being made to family legislation.” 1 The words of Tawakkol Karman, a Yemeni journalist and first Arab woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 aptly capture the reason for hope and expectations for change for women in Arab Spring countries, namely Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria and in other Arab countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Bahrain, Sudan, Saudi Arabia. In her speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, she stated that, “Millions of Yemeni women and men, children, young and old took to the streets in eighteen provinces demanding their right to freedom, justice and dignity, using non-violent but effective means to achieve their demands. I see the great number of Arab women, without whose hard struggles and quest to win their rights in a society dominated by the supremacy of men I wouldn’t be here. This supremacy has caused a lot of injustice to both men and women. To all those women, whom history and the severity of ruling systems have made unseen, to all women who made sacrifices for the sake of a healthy society with just relationships between women and men, to all those women who are still stumbling on the path of freedom in countries with no social justice or equal opportunities, to all of them I say: thank you ... this day wouldn’t have come true without you.” 2 BATTLES FOR RECOGNITION AND PARTICIPATION Most transitions towards democratic changes are motivated by expectations for greater social equity, improved political participation and representation in making decisions that impact on societies and the lives of many women and men. Yet around the world, women have found that, “participation is one thing and recognition and voice is another”. In past and present transitional processes, women’s meaningful participation can be illustrated by an analogy of a journey, which is best captured by expressions such as, “still have a long way to go”. As women’s participation in revolutionary transitions is evident, their demands for inclusion continue to rise. For example in Egypt, Dr. Omaima Kamel, a member of the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting Egypt’s 1 Article by Hoda Badran, The Arab Spring is looking like a great leap backwards for women, Summer 2012 2 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2011/karman-lecture_en.html WOMEN IN POLITICS DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY PAGE 39
Page 1 and 2: DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DE
Page 3 and 4: DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DE
Page 5 and 6: Of course this search will also bui
Page 7 and 8: CONTENTS 9 Young women in politics
Page 9 and 10: YOUNG WOMEN IN POLITICS From househ
Page 11 and 12: litical parties ‘rely on the stat
Page 13 and 14: ing able to keep up with and ‘bei
Page 15 and 16: youth population. Overall, it could
Page 17 and 18: dialogue across party lines. It als
Page 19 and 20: The program was broadly understood
Page 21 and 22: BIBLIOGRAPHY Ann, Teo Sue and Shuib
Page 23 and 24: WOMEN IN LOCAL LEVEL POLITICS Socia
Page 25 and 26: While contesting the post of an ele
Page 27 and 28: In fact training and capacity build
Page 29 and 30: enforcing these norms in ways that
Page 31 and 32: WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AT TH
Page 33 and 34: amidst a scenario where only 0.6% w
Page 35 and 36: Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2006. M
Page 37: WOMEN IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES Strug
Page 41 and 42: INSTITUTIONALISED MALE DOMINANCE AN
Page 43 and 44: OPENING SPACES AND INCREASING ACCES
Page 45 and 46: GENDER AND DEMOCRACY Danish democra
Page 47 and 48: ulation were now able to read about
Page 49 and 50: y American, French, German, and Bri
Page 51 and 52: THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN’S REPRESEN
Page 53 and 54: On the municipal level, development
Page 55 and 56: and set new standards of female cit
Page 57 and 58: NETWORKS AND TOOLKITS Some resource
Page 59 and 60: EMPOWERING WOMEN FOR STRONGER POLIT
Page 61: MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK FOR WOMEN: IN
Page 64: CHRISTIANSBORG SEMINAR The ’Chris

Background Document - Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy

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