Background Document - Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy

new Constitution, affirmed that, “we are working hard to write a Constitution that will
protect the dignity of all citizens, especially in the chapter on women’s rights. We are
also working to ensure the right of women to work and representation in important
positions in the state” 3 .
Political transitions to democracy are strengthened when genuine participation
and representation of women is included on the list of priorities for countries in transition.
Too often, this is generally seen as a luxury to be left aside until the other important
democratic values and objectives have been achieved. All kinds of women’s
participation and representation in transitional politics contain battles over rights,
recognition, participation and redistribution of power. The intensity of each battle is
determined by the extent to which consider themselves excluded and are conscious of
the degree to which the critical decisions are made by men only.
These battles are a manifestation of the many deeply entrenched obstacles (both
formal and informal/traditional) to women’s political, socio-cultural and economic
advancement of women across the world. In many parts of the world, these battles and
issues are varied and complex and the challenges for women are enormous. While the
participation of women in revolutionary uprisings in the Arab Spring provided opportunities
for the active presence of women, women are still battling for equality on
all fronts and an uphill climb still looms.
UNEQUAL POWER RELATIONS
Evidence abounds to attest that the continued marginalisation of women in decision
making processes in transition countries is in fact part of the broader gender discrimination
and the resulting inequalities that span the world from developed countries
such as the Gulf States to low income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The unequal power relations that impede the effective inclusion of women in transition
countries operate at many levels of society, from the most personal to the highly
public. In some countries the inequalities are clearly blatant in the legal frameworks,
such as constitutions, laws and policies.
Across the world, the attitudes about the superiority of men and inferiority of
women at the household and family level are still very common. Within each region
and within countries the magnitude of the attitudes differ reflecting factors such as
culture and religion, the rural-urban divide, the political and legal system. Due to patriarchal
notions of power, traditional practices and religious interpretations, men are
still widely considered the ‘head of the household’ with superior status and decisionmaking
authority and often greater rights and freedoms.
“ Participation
and representation of
women is too often seen as a luxury.”
The implications of family and household hierarchies and stereotyped roles for
men and women are many, including diminished access of women to economic and
political participation and violence against women. Transformed relations between
men and women’s at the household and family level is critical to their full participation
in and contribution in transition processes and outcomes in all spheres of society
and it will benefit men as well as women. Periods of transition provide opportunities
to create democratic societies by establishing principles of non-discrimination and
gender equality if the different needs and priorities for women and men are taken
into account during the transitional phases.
3 http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=30211
WOMEN IN POLITICS DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY PAGE 40