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The Issues and the Obstacles
In Chapter 1 we presented the case for why the issue of women's parliamentary participation and input is important, and why more research is needed in this area. The argument is straightforward: women comprise half of the world's population. Their perspective on issues and their active and equitable involvement in politics are an integral aspect of any democratic process.
In considering some of the obstacles women face in entering parliament and political life in general, we realize that there are many similarities in both the problems women face and in the aspirations that they have. Chapter 2 presented a broad overview of these obstacles, categorized into political, socio-economic and socio-cultural dimensions. Briefly, the main obstacles can be described as follows:
- Lack of political party support;
- Lack of co-ordination and support networks between
women MPs and other public organizations;
- Male-oriented norms and male-dominated structures
which mitigate against women's public participation
and can lead to low self-esteem and self-confidence;
- Insufficient mobilization of media support;
- Lack of leadership-oriented training and education
for women;
- An electoral system that is not conducive to
women's participation; and
- The lack of quota reservations.
The case studies on Russia and Egypt highlighted the common impediments to women's participation, despite cultural and geo-political differences. For women in both countries the prevalence of male-dominated political frameworks; a relatively low level of gender-awareness; lack of education; lack of party support and media support; and inadequate networking strategies with women's organizations, all constitute ongoing challenges for women's representation.
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