WOMEN LEADERS IN PARLIAMENT
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT
The Chairperson of the CPA’s Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians argues that more and sustained action is required if Commonwealth countries are to meet the target of 30 per cent female representation in Parliament by 2015 or, for most, as soon as possible thereafter.
Hon. Alix Boyd Knights, MHA, in Roseau.
Ms Boyd Knights is the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians. An attorney, she has been the Speaker of the Dominica House of Assembly since 2000. This article is based on her presentation at the Annual Consultation of National Women’s Machineries in March 2013 in New York.
• Gender, Democracy, Peace and Conflict; • Gender, Human Rights and Law; • Gender, Poverty Eradication and Economic Empowerment; and • Gender and HIV/Aids.
And by these points, therefore, the setting and ambit of this consultation have been defined.
Hon. Alix Boyd Knights, MHA
This subject is anchored within the context of Millennium Development Goal 3: Promoting Gender, Equality and Empowering Women. The Commonwealth’s commitment to gender equality is demonstrated by a plan of action (PoA) for gender equality to cover the period 2005 – 2015 which was adopted by member governments in 2005. In this PoA, four critical areas for Commonwealth Action have been set out. They are:
114 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Two
It has always intrigued me that great men, even from ancient times, who determined that the concept of democracy was (and is) the ideal, have had difficulty in accepting women as being part of the democratic process. And so I ask: What could be more democratic than the two genders that equally share the space on this planet, to equally share its governance as well? So why then did it take over 2,600 years for women in governance to become “standard”?
And I use the word “standard”
advisedly, since we have not yet arrived where we need or desire to be. Because the impediments to women becoming involved in politics are well known, they bear repeating here and include:
• Religious, Social and cultural barriers; • Preservation of the male status quo and old boys network; • The cut and thrust of political mud-slinging and smear campaigns; • Lack of finance; • Little or no family support; • Women constituents supporting men candidates over women; • Prevailing political, party structures that present obstructions; • Women being less inclined to use unethical and dubious campaigning strategies; • Requiring the ability to multitask, juggling home and work (long hours); and • Media phobia.
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