The Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum is pleased to announce the release of the CPPF Working Papers on Women in Politics series edited by our Associate Director Renata Segura. The second in the series, Women in Politics in Latin America and the Caribbean, was written by Mala Htun and Jennifer M. Piscopo. The paper examines the numbers of women in parliament, cabinet positions, gubernatorial, and presidential positions across the region, as well as quota systems in place for women’s political participation in political parties and/or in public office. The paper shows that women’s participation in politics in Latin America and the Caribbean has steadily grown in the past 10 years, supported by increasingly favorable public opinions about women’s ability to hold office. According to the researchers, the existence of gender quotas -where they are implemented- is a key factor in explaining the growing number of women in politics, although there are variations at regional and national levels.  What is less clear is whether the larger presence of women in politics has had any impact on the promotion of a “women’s agenda” in terms of equal rights, protection from domestic violence and, most significantly in the region, the right to abortion.

Please find the entire working paper series here:

http://www.ssrc.org/pages/cppf-working-papers-on-women-in-politics/ 

Publication Details

Title
Women in Politics and Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean
Authors
Htun, Mala Nani
Publisher
Social Science Research Council
Citation
Htun, Mala Nani, Women in Politics and Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean (Social Science Research Council, ).
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