While women have played very visible and important roles at the higher echelons of power and at the grassroots level in social movements, they have been under-represented in political parties as officials and as members of key decision-making bodies. In electoral representation, India, for instance, has fallen several places in the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s global ranking of women’s parliamentary presence, from 117 after the 2014 election to 143 as of January 2020. India is currently behind Pakistan (106), Bangladesh (98) and Nepal (43) and ahead of Sri Lanka (182).

How it strengthens democracy

• Studies show higher numbers of women in parliament generally contribute to stronger attention to women’s issues.
• Women’s political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and genuine democracy.
• It facilitates women’s direct engagement in public decision-making and is a means of ensuring better accountability to women.
• Political accountability to women begins with increasing the number of women in decision-making positions, but it cannot stop there. What is required are gender-sensitive governance reforms that will make all elected officials more effective at promoting gender equality in public policy and ensuring their implementation.

Challenges

• Politics, like any other sector, is rife with rivalry. At the end of the day, female politicians are also their competitors. Many politicians are concerned that if women’s seats are reserved, their seats will be rotated to women candidates, therefore eliminating any prospect of their fighting from their seats.
• Women have historically been assigned the duty of managing domestic operations. Women should be encouraged to go beyond of their traditional positions and participate in the country’s decision-making process.
• Because of the unequal allocation of family care obligations, women spend significantly more time than males caring for the house and children. A woman’s time and effort are required not just during pregnancy and childbirth, but also until the kid is dependent on parents for care.
• Women are unable to gather resources and support for cultivating their political constituency due to their low share in India’s inner political party structure. Political parties do not provide appropriate financial assistance to women in order for them to run in elections.
• Women’s social mobility is influenced by education. Formal education, such as that given by educational institutions, creates chances for leadership and instils critical leadership abilities. They are unaware of their basic and political rights due to a lack of political knowledge
• The lack of transparency in political decision-making and undemocratic internal procedures constitute a barrier for all entrants, but especially for women, who lack insider information and political networks.

Previous efforts

• Reservation for Women in Panchayati Raj Institutions: Article 243D of the Constitution ensures women’s participation in Panchayati Raj Institutions by mandating at least one-third reservation for women out of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election and the number of offices of Panchayat Chairpersons.
• The Women’s Reservation Bill 2008 proposes amending the Indian Constitution to reserve one-third of all seats in India’s Lower House of Parliament, the Lok Sabha, and all state legislative assemblies for women.

Way forward

• The Gill formula: It is necessary to implement the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) proposal to make it mandatory for recognised political parties to ensure the inclusion of a minimum agreed-upon percentage of women in State Assembly and Parliamentary elections in order for them to retain their status as political parties with the Election Commission.
• All political parties must work together to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill, which demands for women to be given 33 percent of seats in Parliament and all state legislative assemblies.
• A fully democratic political party in which various posts such as president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and so on are filled through an election process will provide equal opportunity to all female members of the party.
• Society must dismantle the idea of women as being solely responsible for home tasks. All institutions (state, family, and society) must respond to women’s special demands, such as closing educational inequalities, renegotiating gender roles, gender division of work, and addressing prejudiced views.
• The growing turnout of women voters could influence political parties’ programmatic priorities and improve their responsiveness to women voters’ interests, preferences, and concerns, including sexual harassment and gender-based violence.

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/more-women-politics-strengthen-democracy-7805628

How to structure

1. Give an intro about current representation of women in politics.
2. Explain how women’s participation in politics strengthen democracy
3. Mention the challenges faced in improving the representation
4. Suggest measures in improving the representation
5. Conclude