Women Disenfranchised disempowering in the realm of politics

Voter turnout is generally regarded as a barometer of political participation.  High turnout rates usually indicate popular interest and public confidence in the electoral system.  The 2008 polls were the second successive elections in Pakistan that saw an increase in voter turnouts – up to 45 per cent compared with 42 per cent in 2002. The recent national and international poll conducted in the country depicts dismal picture of low turnout ratio of women voter in the country.  It is very disappointing that the country’s half population comprises of women is disenfranchised on social, cultural, religious and political grounds. The observations of Election Commission Pakistan bear testimony to the fact that women voter turnout ratio in most of the countries specially Sindh and Baluchistan remained below par. Although the constitution of Pakistan guarantees to ensure women empowerment in the society, but Pakistan – a patriarchal society finds it difficult in implementing such constitutional provisions.

It is startling to mention here that mainstreamed political parties covertly concluded Agreement with Religious Parties to restrict women to caste vote in 2008 general election thus keeping chunk of woman of Northern Areas away from vote power. Moreover, during recent By-election 2012 held in Mianwali, Punjab, political parties also restricted women to cast their votes. According to sources, some Leaders held a Jirga for banning women votes cast and decided that women would not be allowed to cast their votes in Mianwali constituency.

The story of women suffrage is different in subcontinent and quite disturbing as well. Although the right of ‘women suffrage’ was given in 20th century across the Europe but  unfortunately   in subcontinent reserved seats were introduced  for women under Indian Act 1935.

The case with developing countries including Pakistan is different. In Pakistan, female are not allowed to vote in various constituencies. Pakistan currently has 38.8 million registered male voters compare to 32. 2 million female registered voters. Female voters face severe hurdles in casting their votes and getting themselves to the highest echelons of the power corridor.

Various reasons are assigned to disempowering women politically.  Deriving g the benefit of militancy in some disturbed part of the country many political pundits issue decree that women would be barred from the vote casting due to militancy. Whereas, the female voting turns-out in Pakistan has less to do with the war on terror and militancy. The issue of female voting turn-out has a cultural phenomenon and a question of honor in the areas where according to people bringing out women for voting would bring bad names to their honor.
Unless women is not empowered completely she cannot take bold steps.  In preference to facilitating direct participation of women by allotting the party tickets, the Pakistan has opted for reserve seats for women in both the upper houses and lower houses only to facilitate the selection of women belonging to powerful political and landlord backgrounds. In this way women parliamentarian are powerless. They even can’t bring any legislation in the favor of women unless she is given consent by male Chauvinists party leader.  Women protection Bill, Domestic violence bill and acid hurling bills are cases in point which were drafted by women parliamentarians but unfortunately all the bills have fallen prey to male dominant leadership.

It’s a high time that ECP takes up the issue seriously. In order to empower half of the population politically and socially. General election is approaching  in  2013 is approaching  but  NADRA ( authority to issue  Identity Cards ) has failed to identify pockets  where women have no Identification  card  to cast their vote . This seems conspiracy to keep marginalized segment of the country disenfranchised .The ECP must devise stringent   policies to ensure maximum participation of women in the realm of politics. It should ask political parties to allot tickets to its female workers in a certain proportion. The political parties not issuing tickets must be penalized. Moreover, the clergies and tribal elders opposing women voting must be trailed under constitutions. Election commission of Pakistan (ECP) recommended suggestion to parliamentarians that if any constituency having less than 10% of women voting turn out should have its result postponed and provisions of re-elections in all such all constituencies must be made.

All political parties must muster their resources and identify pockets where women turnout ratio is less than 10% and set up camps in their constituencies. Pakistan can’t afford to continue the half population captive to the tribal lords and male chauvinists. Political awareness and political education in conjunction with civil-society organization should have a priority among the various objectives ECP has designed. National Assembly has passed various important bills during past few years including Anti-harassment laws, but has ignored the basic right of voting for female population. Until such timely decisions are not made, Pakistan’s half population will face the suppression in the hands of its male law-makers and would be denied of their basic rights.

By Ashfak Siyal

A Second Term for Obama Means a Safer World for Women

As someone who has always been quite passionate about America’s politics, I have often been asked why I am ‘so bothered’. As many people already know or at least suspect, what happens in the White House has a broad impact on the rest of the world. Unbeknown to many, this impact extends into the delicate issues that surround women’s health, thanks to something known as ‘The Global Gag Rule’.

The Global Gag Rule was introduced by President Reagan in the 80s. It stated that any international NGO in receipt of US financial aid had two options regarding abortion:

1. They would either have to stay absolutely clear of the issue. This would mean no advice for women seeking one, no research into the effects, and no assistance for those who needed, or had had one.
2. Alternatively, continue working on such issues, and face losing any aid received from the US.

Clearly, this would place any NGO between a rock and a hard place. The two options above translate to either risking the lives of women while operating, or risking the funds required to execute other services, such as maternal care during pregnancy, and family planning advice pertaining to contraceptives.

Technically, the rule was beyond pointless for hard line Republicans wanting to stop abortions worldwide. It has been illegal for US federal funds to be used for such services since the 70s, which means US aid would not contribute to the pro-choice activities of any organisation anyway. However, this has not satisfied presidents like Reagan and Bush; despite NGOs using only their own money for abortion services, and a combination of US aid and other funding sources for other life saving treatments, the Republicans wanted to ‘gag’ them anyway. Fundamentally, this was a breach of their right to freedom of speech: they were not using US funds illegally, they were only using their own for abortion services, yet the Republicans wanted to hold them over a barrell anyway.

Naturally, this had quite an effect. Under George Bush Jnr, clinics across Africa were closed, most notably in Kenya--where many services suffered. This left women facing the perils associated with pregnancy without the care they required. In Nigeria, over 3000 women a year die due to not being able to access safe abortion services. The Global Gag Rule silenced those who were willing to advocate on their behalf and bring the changes that could save their lives.

After Bush was out of office, Obama brought change. It was estimated that his repeal of this rule meant that 32,000 less women died as a result of pregnancy and childbirth. That’s tens of thousands of children who now have mothers to care for them and help them flourish.

During the 2012 presidential election, both Romney and Ryan made it very clear that reinstating the Global Gag Rule would be high on their agenda. Not only that, but they also wanted to make it legislation rather than a presidential preference. This would have dire consequences for years to come, as any subsequent president would be faced with the task of picking this legislation apart. However, now that Obama has four more years, we can breathe a sigh of relief for those women who rely on US funds to contribute to the NGOs that will save their lives. In those four years, it is the responsibility of campaigners and activists at a grassroots level, as well as governments and organisations like the UN, to bring the changes required to make sure women no longer have to suffer and anticipate harmful policies by men like Reagan, Bush, and Romney.

By Laura McKeever

USING THE GLASS CEILING ANALOGY TO UNDERSTAND BARRIERS FACING WOMEN IN POLITICS

While recently pondering about the limitations women face in attaining high level managerial positions in the workplace, I came across the popular phrase ‘Glass Ceiling Effects’-  Which can be defined as an  invisible upper limit in corporations and other organizations, above which it is difficult or impossible for women to rise in the ranks.

In trying to understand this term and skimming over several literature, and looking at the recent political challenges facing women in Egypt my thought patterns seem to be timely. I began to develop an opinion that there is a possibility that we can use the glass ceiling theory to understand and explain the challenges, barriers and difficulties women encounter towards being represented politically in parliament, ministerial, presidential or top government positions. An Inter- Parliamentary Union survey of 187 women politicians from 65 countries examined the difficulties faced by women in politics.

• One of the women’s primary concerns was to reconcile political life with family commitments. Almost all of the respondents admitted to having difficulties balancing family responsibilities with a useful and effective political life. The report noted that although day care for small children was widely available to women parliamentarians in Nordic countries, this was not always the case in other parts of the world.
• Eighty per cent of the respondent’s considered that the increasing representation of women in politics had renewed public trust in politics, and that the public recognized that women worked hard and wanted to achieve concrete results.
• As of October 2003, the global average for women representatives in national parliaments stood at 15.2 per cent, with 15.5 per cent in the single or lower house and 13.9 percent in the upper house or senate compared with 13 per cent, 13.4 per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively in 1999.
• Regionally, women held 17.7 per cent of seats in Europe, 15.5 per cent in Asia, 18.4 per cent in America, 14.9 per cent in Sub- Saharan Africa, 12.1 per cent in the Pacific, and 6.0 per cent in the Arab States.
• Scandinavian countered still led the world with the highest share of women holding lower house parliamentary seats. In Sweden, women hold 45 per cent, in Denmark 38 per cent, in Finland 37 per cent and in Norway 36 per cent.
• Increasingly, women are filling cabinet posts in what have been considered male domains. As of November 2003, there were 20 women ministers in foreign affairs, nine in defence and security, and 19 in finance.
• The quota system is an affirmative action tool intended to ensure that women constitute a critical minority of at least 30 to 40 per cent on decision – making bodies.

Having read some materials, I particularly found it interesting that in the United States of America Congress, women experienced barriers and felt that they were not well integrated. For a country that would normally boast to be a liberal democracy, I considered this weighty- and almost meaning that there is still a long way to go in this journey. Hence I began to appreciate that the current challenges facing women in Islamic countries such as Egypt, although in a worse condition- are not peculiar to them alone- this is a global anomaly. Although I am sympathetic to the protesting, injuries and the death of some innocent women in Egypt, I do not believe that these protests may necessarily solve the problem or avail any dramatic changes.  I do understand that their statistics in this regard is considerably lower than most regions.

Hence, putting my thoughts into perspective, the recent challenges encountered by women in Egypt should awaken us (gender focused groups, international organisations, authorities in government etc) to the fact that women all over the world continue to be under – represented, marginalized and relegated. I would suggest a more scholarly approach to understanding why women in Nordic Countries have experienced a higher measure of success in this area than other countries and why countries that have professed liberal doctrines have not achieve an equal representation- are these problems of religious or traditional origin or is it the women who are actually reluctant to support other women or even take up these positions? Maybe the glass ceiling theory would help to further understand the barriers women face in politics.

On another note, although statistics would show that in Nordic countries, women make up about half of the cabinet member, 25 percent in the UK and about a third of top European Union commissioners are women (Alvesson and Billing, 2009), these are all positive numbers, but the reality still remains that there is a low representation, so I would describe these numbers as a pacifier and a form of false hope to create a sense of progress.  Making up about half is not half, 25 per cent should not be celebrated, let alone one third. Is it ambitious to expect a 50/ 50?

In conclusion, some materials have always noted that societies hold with high regard and value more representation of women in top political positions. Despite the favourable disposition why then are achieving an equal equation between men and women a challenging, complex, non-straight forward mission and objective to achieve. We may want to also consider the use of the ‘Glass Ceiling ‘analogy to understand these challenges.  May be we can gain more insight that would provide more solutions and save more lives.

By: Ulari Maduekwe

References:

Palmer, Barbara and Simon, Dennis (2011) Breaking the Political Glass Ceiling – Women and Congressional Elections (2ND Editionnd

Alvesson, Mats and Billing Due Yvonne (2009) Understanding Gender and Organizations

http://www.forbes.com/2006/03/07/glass-ceiling-opportunities--cx_hc_0308glass.html

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/gender/docs/RES/292/f267981337  http://www.completecampaigns.com/article.asp?articleid=102