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BARBADOS: 
Women selling themselves short

By Betty Holford, 
The Barbados Advocate

ALTHOUGH Barbadian women have made inroads into most areas of governance in the island, the arena of elective politics has not yet been frilly explored. Some of the reasons proffered include the prohibitive cost of electioneering: fear of character assassination and ridicule tile of natural emotional and physiological feminine functions on political platforms; and the conflict that might arise between domestic life and public service.

An aspiring female politico is however adamant that there is a more disturbing timbre to the situation. She insists that although a few women have penetrate the hermetic core of legislative representation, most female party “faithfuls” are still regarded as foot soldiers instead of serious contenders for parliamentary seats. “The old boys club is dying a slow death,” she mused.

One of her counterparts disagrees, maintaining that some of the women who can play a vital role in national leadership seem content to be immersed in party activism and fund-raising. “Perhaps they need to wake up and take their rightful place alongside the men? she retorted.

In our May 21st elections, nine women and fifty-three men will be facing the polls.

At the international, level women’s groups are also agitating for the greater participation of women in all areas of governance, but particularly in elective politics. They argue that since some of the chief issues plaguing our societies, such as poverty and HIV/AIDS, impact heaviest on women, it is imperative that women bring their own analyses, informed by their own experiences to the policy-making tables.

In a riveting report just released by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), titled ‘Women’s Progress 2002’, it was revealed that women accounted for fourteen per cent of all parliamentarians worldwide by the end of 2002. According to the document, Europe led the way in promoting political gender equality in 2002.

Seven European nations are numbered among the eleven countries to reach a 1995 goal of having at least 30 per cent of parliamentary seats taken by women. It is also interesting to note that thirteen developing states in the poorest region on earth boosted higher proportions of female parliamentarians than the United States which stands at 12 per cent, France at 11.8 per cent, and Japan at ten per cent. 

In the Gulf States of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, women still do not have the right to vote or stand for elections The countries were measured against the target set by the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women for parliamentary representation. Sweden. Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands, and Germany had all reached the 30 per cent goal by the end of 2002, along with Argentina, Costa. Rica, South Africa and Mozambique. UNIFEM noted that those states had reached the goal through quota systems.

The United Nations organization also reported success in helping to promote women’s issues during the 2002 parliamentary election in Kenya. This resulted in an increase in the number of women MPs and the appointment of six women cabinet ministers, the first ever to take office, as well as the establishment of a ministry of gender, sports and culture.

In an attempt to reach the 1995 quota, Indonesia recently passed a bill, which stipulates that 30 per cent of all candidates in the next parliamentary election due in 2004 should be female. At present, out of four hundred and sixty two parliamentarians only forty-five are women, despite the fact that President Megwati Karnoputri is a woman. Initially, Megwati was prohibited from assuming the presidency on the grounds that a woman should not head a Muslim nation.

Increasing women’s share of seats in parliament is not a panacea, UNIFEM advises, it can only level the playing field on which women battle for equality. Executive director Noeleen Heyzer, asserts that there is much to be done to ensure that women are accepted as equal partners in key decision-making processes. Real progress towards gender equality will be seen when women have more to say in decision that affect their lives, she affirms.