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Jelena Drenjanin: Developing a global approach for fair representation of women and men in politics

"Achieving equality between men and women in political representation is key to the functioning of representative democracy", said Jelena Drenjanin (EPP/CCE, Sweden) thematic spokesperson of the Congress on gender equality, when speaking at the 18th meeting of the Council of Europe's Gender Equality Commission (GEC), held online on 22 October 2020. While welcoming the progress achieved, the spokesperson gave a reminder of the many obstacles that still stood in the way of full participation for women: sexism, violence, hate speech, cyberbullying, difficulties in reconciling private and professional life, stereotyping and negative attitudes.

"Political leadership plays a key role in achieving balanced representation of women and men in decision-making", stressed Ms Drenjanin, referring to the work of the Congress in this field. "We place emphasis on the participation of women at all levels of governance, including in executive bodies, within both the Congress itself and the 150 000 local and regional authorities represented in it", explained Ms Drenjanin. "The introduction of a quota system has proven to be a highly effective measure for increasing their participation", she added.

The spokesperson presented the report on "Fighting sexism against women in politics at local and regional level" adopted by the Current Affairs Committee of the Congress in 2020, which calls for a set of measures to protect and support women holding political office as well as female candidates prior to and during elections, raise awareness among political parties and the public of violence against women in politics, collect and share good practices to that end and foster cooperation with civil society organisations, academia and the private sector.

The spokesperson pointed out that there is no one single measure but a global approach that is needed to open the way for more women in politics. "Changes to laws are not enough. We need concrete measures to fight sexism and sexist violence", concluded Ms Drenjanin.

See also:

Council of Europe's Gender Equality Commission (GEC) Strasbourg, France 22 October 2020
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