The Gender Quota Bill was introduced in Ireland in 2015 - some 12 years after our Rwandan counterparts. But, even though 30% of our party candidates in the General Election must now be women, that doesn’t guarantee any increase in the 16% of women who got the vote in 2011.
Like the smoking ban, people are apprehensive about change- it seems that giving women more seats in the Dáil doesn’t sit so well. It’s not so much the woman’s fault- it’s the quota’s. Quotas can inadvertently bring out the rebel in us. Irish people just don’t like being told what to do. But before you make your mark on Friday, it would be best to examine exactly what women can bring to the government table.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, recently made his cabinet equally balanced with 50/50 men and women members. He has given portfolios such as Justice, Employment, National Revenue, Health, and Environment to the female members of cabinet. And why? “Because it’s 2015”. So perhaps the voters of Ireland need to move with the times in 2016 and increase the number of female elected officials from 16% to a more equitable figure.
The need for women in government transcends any quota based function-they are needed for more than just making up the numbers. They are agents of necessary change. We don’t even need to look at the Nordic Model just yet. The African one is a much better starting point.
Rwanda, a country that has suffered the trauma of genocide, introduced the gender quota rule in 2003 and since then the number of female representatives in the Rwandan parliament has risen from 18% to making up two thirds of the Rwandan parliament in 2015. This new strength in female numbers brought about the introduction of the Gender Based Violence Bill in 2003. In 2006 this saw 803 of the 1,777 reported crimes of violence and rape against women resulting in convictions. By no means is a solution to the problem but in a country where 2 out of 5 women report Gender Based Violence by the age of 15 it a step on the road to tackling it.
In Sweden, where 44% of those elected to parliament are women, parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave with 90 of those days reserved for the father. Compare that with the 45 days maternity leave allotted in the UAE. In America, where 19% of its parliamentary seats are held by women, the pursuit of happiness is a constitutional right-paid maternity leave is not.
Angela Merkel has held the number one position on the Forbes ‘Most Powerful Women’ list for 10 consecutive years.
A soft touch?
The Federal National Council(FNC) in the UAE also recently amended the Child’s Rights Law by making breastfeeding mandatory for the first two years. Women who do not comply with this law could possibly be sued by their husbands. Four fifths of the FNC are men. Not so much ‘Nanny State’ but Daddy.
Why all the focus on maternity leave? Having children can impede a woman’s advancement in her political career just as much as in any other sector. A study published by Sarah Childs and Rosie Campbell in 2013 showed that 45% of all female MPs were childless compared to 28% of men. But, unlike other careers, women can affect change via electoral reform so that motherhood and career no longer has to be an either or option.
Perhaps some fear that a woman’s touch is too soft for the political world. Angela Merkel - the most powerful politician in the European Union-irrespective of gender - does much to dispel this myth. She has held the number one position on the Forbes ‘Most Powerful Women’ list for 10 consecutive years. She also ranks second on their list of the ‘World’s Most Powerful People’. US President Barack Obama is third.
And yes a woman’s hand isn’t always the softest one rocking the state’s cradle, but we can’t limit the number of women in politics on the back of Margaret Thatcher’s legacy. Instead let’s follow Trudeau’s and have faith in equity.
- Michelle McBride
