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Electoral Systems and Women’s Political Rights Debated at the OAS

Experts and leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean met today, on their third and last day, at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC to debate on the current state of women’s political rights in the continent’s electoral systems within the framework of the Forum on “Women’s Leadership for a Citizens’ Democracy,” co-organized by the OAS, through the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), alongside UN Women and the Ibero-American General Secretariat.

The panel was moderated by the Director of the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation of the OAS, Pablo Gutierrez, and featured the participation of Ana Maria Yañez, an expert in women’s political rights and a member of the Movimiento Manuela Ramos de Peru; Cynthia Barrow-Giles, a political scientist and member of Saint Lucia’s Committee for Constitutional Reform, as well as professor of political science at the University of the West Indies; and Marcela Rios, a specialist on governance and gender issues at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Chile and a researcher on electoral systems and women.

During the debate, Ana Maria Yañez asserted that today a “profound change in society” is needed so that the women can rise to positions of power and parliamentary representation. “We must create different conditions so that our gender can be part of the entire institutional reform, and we need other paradigms and models to faithfully represent the interests of women,” she said.

She also noted that, while the system of quotas creates “access and ascendance” of women to high positions, that “does not ensure a representation of quality” that influences “the perspective of gender, political ethics and the commitment with the interests of women.”

For her part, Cynthia Barrow-Giles centered her presentation on the experience of the Caribbean, and recognized that, while it’s been more than half a century since women were given the right to vote, they still have “tremendous hurdles to overcome” in order to achieve full representation in circles of power. “I also want to make the point that I do not believe that it is only electoral reform that is required for substantial changes, it requires substantial systematic reform.”

The Saint Lucia representative recalled that in the Caribbean it is especially hard for women, within political parties, to run for office and obtain financing in public service. “The default in leadership positions in the Caribbean, political in many cases is in fact still male,” she said, explaining that many times they must seek financing personally for their candidacies. That is why she called on looking for ways to get the State to “support political parties with respect to financing for if we do that then I think we may be able to bring some discipline” and demand equality.

Finally, Marcela Ríos said the presence of women in circles of power “is not the same as the political representation of the interests of gender.” “The fact that they are elected women does not answer or resolve the subject of what are the interests, within a political agenda, that permit the destructuring of gender inequalities present in society,” she added.

The Chilean specialist underlined that the presence of the female gender in electoral circles “is a basic right of citizenship,” which is why, for as long as its absence continues, “there will be a structural weakness in democratic principles.”

A gallery of photos of the event will be available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-603/11