It is your first day at your new job. You have spent the last 12 months getting yourself nominated and running and election campaign. You feel indebted to the people who helped and the people who elected you and are ready to get to work on the issues you have been pushing for in the last months. Handbag over your shoulder, briefcase in your hand the guard stops you at the entrance. You explain that you are a member of parliament. "Terribly sorry, ma’am, I thought you were a visitor." Your male peers are talking in small groups and their voices drop as you walk past. As they stare at your legs their attention wanders from political gossip, to which lucky fellow has you as a secretary. They laugh with shame as you introduce yourself. Welcome to your new job!

This scenario is taking place from South Africa to Canada and from Belgium to Hong Kong. And it is not just the attitude of your colleagues, it is the working hours, the timing of the recesses and the rules of order. A woman making her way through a male-dominated environment and an institution which was created by men for men is a job in itself. "Political life," explains Margaret Dongo, member of parliament in Zimbabwe, "is organized for male norms and values, and in many cases, even male life-styles, but this must and will change."

The Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) has begun a series of studies on women’s political impact in parliament, local government, judicial institutions and the media. Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers is the first and focuses on the political impact women have made through parliaments. It analyses the strategies they have used and the procedures they have changed.

At the end of the 18th century women in the United States were allowed to run for election, but it was not before 1920 that they could vote. In New Zealand women could vote in 1893, but they could not stand for election until 1919. In this century most democracies have given women the right to stand for elections and vote. The result: today 11 per cent of the more than 40,000 parliamentarians are women. The Nordic countries, with their long tradition of gender equality, top the league with 36 per cent female representation in parliament, compared to 11 per cent in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, 13 per cent in the Americas, almost 10 per cent in Asia and three per cent in Arab States.

"Women’s participation in politics can no longer be seen as a favour granted them by institutions still largely dominated by men, but as a responsibility and an obligation to creating a more egalitarian and democratic world," says Bengt Säve-Söderbergh, Secretary-General of International IDEA.

According to the report, numerous problems face women entering politics. Among them are lack of party support (including limited financial assistance for women candidates), the absence of quality education and leadership training, and the "masculine model" of political life. Poverty is a major obstacle. According to the United Nations, 70 per cent of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty are women.

Says Raiza Faiz, former MP of Bangladesh: "The two most overwhelming obstacles for women entering parliament are lack of constituents and lack of financial resources. Women move from their father’s home to their husband’s home to their in-laws home. They are like refugees...they have no money of their own, the money belongs to their fathers, husbands or in-laws. Given the rising cost of running an effective campaign, this poses a serious hurdle for women in the developing world."

Another reason keeping women away from politics is that they often consider it as a male realm, and are often daunted by the hypocrisy and "dirty game" of politics. "Corruption is...having an impact on women’s attitudes about political career," says the IDEA handbook, citing a report by Transparency International illustrating that countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh which are perceived to be most corrupt also have a very low female representation in parliament (three to nine per cent). In the Scandinavian countries and New Zealand, on the other hand, which are perceived to be less corrupt, women MPs comprise from three per cent to 40 per cent.

But there are ways to break the "glass ceiling" and boost women’s representation in parliament: Changing a country’s electoral system is one effective way of promoting women. Proportional Representation, where voters choose candidates from party lists according to the percentage of the total vote they receive, is presently the most advantageous for women. Of the 10 highest-ranking countries in terms of women’s representation, all of them use proportional systems. Also, adopting quotas can have significant consequences, whether by law or by political parties. In some of the Nordic countries, such as Sweden and Norway, political parties adopt rules which force them to have a certain percentage of women on the list. Once one party does this, the rule itself becomes a political issue, and often other parties follow suit. In Norway two small political parties adopted such a rule in 1977, and today five of the seven parties represented in parliament have such rules. Furthermore, a law in Argentina now requires that at least 30 per cent of political candidates be women, while in Egypt, 30 seats have been reserved for women according to a presidential decree of 1979. And in India 33 per cent of the seats in local municipal bodies are kept for women.

"One cannot deal with the problem of female representation by a quota system alone," says Birgitta Dahl, Speaker of Parliament, Sweden. "Political parties, the educational system, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, churches -- all must take responsibility within their own organization to systematically promote women’s participation, from the bottom up. This will take time. It will not happen overnight, or in one year or five years, it will take one or two generations to realize significant change."

Women in Sweden, for example, did not just decide 30 years ago that they were going to close the gender gap in the Riksdagen. Women were given (legislatively) equal access to education in 1842. Non-governmental organizations developed adult education programmes to which women had access. In the 1970s women in Sweden were made economically independent from their husbands and families, they could work as much as men, have their own pensions and health insurance and they were expected to have a career. A social welfare system was developed which took care of young people, old people and sick people, making it possible for women to go to work. Maternity and paternity leave were introduced. All of these factors must be taken into account when looking at how to increase women’s participation and ability to impact.

Once women are in parliament they have, all around the world, introduced proportionality norms and formal and informal quotas so that women can be represented on all parliamentary committees. They have fought to change candidate selection rules in political parties, and they have found ways to monitor the rules. They have provided special incentives for initiatives outside of parliament which sponsor and support women's issues and women’s political participation.

"The bottom line is that getting more women into politics, creating a ‘critical mass’, is the most important step in clearing the way for more women to have easier access," explains Dr Azza Karam, the editor of the handbook.

The handbook advocates a strategy whereby women must first learn the rules, the written and unwritten codes, procedures and mechanisms on how to get things done. They must use these rules to advance issues of concern to women, including creating conditions that encourage women to participate, and they must change the rules so that they better reflect women’s needs and encourage women to participate and impact on the political debate.

"Women's experience in a variety of parliamentary roles will build up political capital which can be used to secure further advancement, to help change existing rules and structures and to assist new generations of women politicians," explains Dr Karam.

Case studies from South Africa, India, Norway, Costa Rica, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Russia highlight some of the main issues raised throughout the handbook. The Norwegian case study illustrate the extent to which the discourse on women in politics itself, that is the way of referring to women in general and women politicians in particular, has changed as a result of the activism of women MPs. The South African case illustrates how the creation of Office of the Status of Women significantly altered the power structures and enabled them to serve women’s concerns. In Costa Rica there is a law that assigns funds for political parties to promote women candidates and legislation is being worked on which would create female electoral districts. In India the use of quotas in local village councils has created a larger group of women who could move onto the national stage.

The book also includes an annex which describes what international legal instruments can be used by parliamentarians to promote women and their concerns. It describes the way that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has been used in South Africa and Sweden, and highlights the loopholes that make implementing treaties such as this one difficult.

The fact is that women have a different perspective on many issues, and some issues only effect them, such as breast cancer screening and reproductive rights. The more persuasively women bring their perspective into the public realm the greater the impact. The very presence of women in some committee meetings impacts on male colleagues. There are also examples of women rapidly changing ingrained male chauvinism by making it a political issue or a media issue. Through the media public opinion can be changed and new political debates developed. Even male journalists are less prone to treat a woman politician in a sexist manner.

So the next time a new parliamentarian arrives at work she may be safeguarded from some of the insipid chauvinism because her male colleagues will expect that the woman with the great legs is a parliamentarian, or could possibly be, and therefore they will automatically show respect. Perhaps this respect will be generated by a fear that their actions could become a political embarrassment, but sooner or later, once more and more women work with him as an equal, genuine respect will take root.

"In any society and situation it is those most affected who must act to bring about change. Those who are privileged benefit, even unconsciously from a system that marginalizes others. Hence they cannot be depended upon to make the changes that will remove their privileged status. It is up to us, the women," explains the Speaker of the South African National Assembly Frene Ginwala in the foreword.

Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers is available from International IDEA. The suggested price is $US 16.00 plus postage. An interactive Website where parliamentarians and activists can discuss issues that the book raises has also been created. (www.idea.int/women).

(ISSN: 1402-6759)

(ISBN: 91-89098-19-6)

To order: Website: www.idea.int/women

International IDEA Strömsborg S-103 34 Stockholm, Sweden

Tel. + 46-8-698 37 00, Fax. + 46-8-20 24 22 or by e-mail: info@idea.int