By Roya Aboosaidi
The underrepresentation of women in politics has been an imminent problem that affects more than just their political interests. It influences the entire women population regardless of their occupation, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or race. Since one of the only means by which minorities can have their voices heard is through elected representatives that advocate on their behalf, the lack of women in elected office impacts a substantial percentage of the population. We understand that Equal Voice is a trailblazing organization whose initiatives have instilled hope and opportunities to women across Canada, however, this issue is one of worldwide prominence — even more so in less economically developed countries. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union Parline report, a developed country like Canada has 50% of women in the upper chamber of Parliament and a developing country like Yemen has only 2.7%. The reason women are underrepresented in politics is due to seemingly indirect factors such as the presence of gender inequality in educational opportunities, domestic violence, income inequality, and lack of civil rights in some cases; for example, in Iran where women need a man’s permission to leave the country. Unfortunately, this issue continues to persist due to the structural bottom-up injustices surrounding sexism. This organization has advocated on a political scale many times before, and since this issue is one heavily dependent on government policy changes, Equal Voice has a unique ability to truly initiate change.
When discussing women's representation in politics, it is evident through a study by Tolley (2019), that party gatekeepers tend to play a major role in both the presence and absence of recruitment concerning candidates from different marginalized groups. This is further proved in the conclusion made by Thomas and Bodet (2013) stating that those party gatekeepers which include Members of Parliament, Party Leaders, Riding Associations etc., have a great significance regarding the nomination of women in elected office. It has been concluded that as long as men dominate politics, women will continue to be underrepresented. The lack of incentives ensures the underrepresentation of women in politics as they are limited by many factors such as financial barriers due to pay inequity, low overall wealth, and systemic oppression, meaning that they will also require more incentives because there is more at stake for them than there is for men. Most women who are interested in politics are met with a large opportunity cost in making the decision to get involved in the first place. Opportunity cost is defined as the cost of the best alternative given up and, in this case, the aforementioned barriers make this a difficult decision for women. Most of the time we mistake the importance of equality with equity, however in this case equality is needed. Women are severely underrepresented because of unequal opportunities and for this, we need to incentivize women in order to allow them to make their own decisions and increase their chances to be in elected office, achieving the first step to solving this issue. Some even argue that the increased rates of factors such as domestic violence rates and other cultural barriers are the cause of this overarching stigma that prevents women from getting involved in politics.
By focusing on the root of this issue, we can rebuild the foundation that inequality stems from. This will result in women being represented in politics through other women constituents who have earned the education and been provided with the opportunities required. An increase in representation would provide them with an environment that assists in coming up with solutions to problems that are not addressed in usual contemporary politics, allowing them to portray the values and opinions that are common amongst the group such as abortion laws. Additionally, it would also provide them an opportunity to advocate for the discrimination they encounter in their everyday lives.
