Background Document - Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy

YOUNG WOMEN
IN POLITICS
From household level to national politics
BY MARYSE HELBERT, AUSTRALIA
The aim of this background paper is to offer recommendations as to
how to increase the participation of young women in politics through
party assistance, based on an analysis of positive and negative experiences
from around the world.
They will show how these experiences attempt to answer the triple
challenge that political parties are facing in engaging more young
women in politics.
Indeed, there is an overall decline in political participation and engagement
among voters and members in political parties generally.
Additionally, women overall have experienced difficulty in fully participating
in politics due to structural constraints. And lastly, research
shows that young people tend to be more interested in informal political
action rather than formal political participation.
Getting more young women into politics can only be achieved if action
is being taken from the household level right through to national
politics.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maryse Helbert has been an advocate for, and researcher on, women’s participation in politics
and decision-making for over a decade. After completing a Master’s thesis on the comparative
strengths and weaknesses of the French and Finnish political systems in encouraging and increasing
women’s political participation, she became actively involved in the movement to institute
the so-called ‘Parity Law’ in France (1999-2000). She has since broadened her research to include
women’s involvement in decision-making processes related to development, specifically in the
context of resource exploitation and climate change, where evidence shows that women are
being sidelined.
ABOUT THE PHOTO
Excited supporters of the Peace, Unity and Development Party (KULMIYE) during an election rally
in the city of Hargeisa, Somaliland. (Photo by Petterik Wiggers/Panos Pictures).
WOMEN IN POLITICS DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY PAGE 9