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Gender Agenda Newsletter: The missing women in politics
Last week, the World Economic Forum released its Global Gender Gap Index Report 2025. While India's performance in three of the four dimensions — economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival — is either stable or has marginally improved, the significant lack of achievement in the fourth — political empowerment — 'weighs down the overall result,' says The Hindu editorial.
Last year, as this explainer pointed out, 40% of the MPs elected to the House of Commons in the U.K. were women, while the South African National Assembly has around 45% women representation. In India, however, representation of women in the Lok Sabha is only 14%. In State Legislative Assemblies, it is even lower with the national average being around 9%. Many women leaders, especially at the panchayat level, tend to be figure heads, with the power being wielded by their husbands or fathers.
At a glance, the data does seem odd given that India has had several powerful women politicians, including a Prime Minister. Today, the Union Finance Minister and the Chief Ministers of at least two large/politically significant States — Delhi and West Bengal — are women.
Women have also become an important vote bank over the years. Recognising this, political parties have been 'actively wooing' them by providing subsidies for gas connections, cash transfers, and income support schemes, pointed out Nistula Hebbar in this video, before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She said, 'Studies by CSTS (Centre for Studies of Tradition and Systems) and Axis India have shown that women are voting increasingly according to their individual and not family preferences.'
These are signs of empowerment. Why then are women, who are more educated than before and who are voting in larger numbers, not represented in politics? In a 2004 paper, professor Rajeshwari Deshpande wrote that political parties believe that women candidates have a lower winning ability than men; in 2018, former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said that this belief continues to be held even though it flies in the face of data. Also, elections are an expensive affair and many women continue to remain financially dependent on their families. The political scientist, Kanchan Chandra, wrote in a chapter in the 2016 book, Democratic Dynasties: State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics, that women, even when they are represented in politics, tend to be from political families. Structural barriers and societal bias are other widely cited factors as well.
The Women's Reservation Bill, which promises 33% reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, raises hope of greater political empowerment, but it will be implemented only after 2029. Until then, every small step counts in pushing women closer to decision-making positions in political bodies. In Tamil Nadu, panchayatars are increasingly compelled to consult women before taking major decisions, reported Nacchinarkkiniyan M. The IAS officer, Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta, wrote, 'One important way to improve women's participation in gram sabhas is with the involvement of women's self-help groups.' Last week, Telangana Jagruthi president K. Kavitha announced that the organisation will provide political training to youth, women, and students who do not have any political background.
At times, reel life stories could do the trick too. This March, Asli Pradhan Kaun? — a three-part web series, which is an extension of the popular show Panchayat — was made in collaboration with the Panchayati Raj Ministry. At the local body level, one-third of the seats are reserved for women, with 22 States reserving 50% of seats. In Asli Pradhan Kaun?, Manju Devi, the reluctant, submissive pradhan in Panchayat, was no longer shown as a titular head but as an assertive leader. Within 48 hours of its release, the series had three million views. The hope is that Manju Devis across India will come into their own.
Toolkit
On June 17, UN Women released the 2024 Afghanistan Gender Index, which it described as 'the most comprehensive assessment of women's empowerment and gender equality in Afghanistan since August 2021 [when the Taliban took power].' The findings of the report are stark. Afghanistan has the second-widest gender gap in the world, with a 76% disparity between outcomes for women and men across health, education, financial inclusion, and decision-making. It also has one of the largest gender gaps in labour force participation. Men are three times more likely than women to have a bank account or use mobile money services. No woman holds positions in the de facto Cabinet or in local offices.
Wordsworth
Gender-affirming care: According to the World Health Organization, this encompasses a range of social, psychological, behavioural, and medical interventions 'designed to support and affirm an individual's gender identity' when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth. The interventions fall along a continuum, from counselling to changes in social expression to medications such as hormone therapy. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming care for minors can stand.
Ouch!
A Nair woman took leave from the job given by the Kerala government to go abroad in search of a thing and she got what she deserved... Don't you know the history of Nair women?
K. Rajan, now-suspended Revenue Department official in Kerala, referring to a Malayali nurse who died in the Air India crash
People we met
Shasvathi Siva, a creative consultant and writer based in Mumbai, is the author of the book Divorce is Normal. Determined to de-stigmatise divorce, she started using social media platforms a few years ago to put out the message that people should be able to speak more freely about divorce. She says, 'It is extremely difficult for women to get a divorce in India. Divorced women are viewed differently from divorced men: it's harder for them to marry a second time, find a house, or travel since there is so much judgment attached to their relationship status. I feel women need more encouragement and support and should definitely not be feeling so guilty about obtaining a divorce.' Shasvathi's views have appealed to many women struggling in bad marriages. She says her messages have not only been received well by many on social media, but have also led to changes in the way her own extended family views divorce.
