The gender gap in in power and politics
More people than ever are going to polls in 2024. A hope is that this will contribute to closing of the gender gap in power and politics. UN Women data shows that 113 countries have never had a woman at the helm, and only 26 countries are led by a woman today. The European Parliament says it stands for gender equality, but notes that there are still fewer women than men in politics and public life at local, national and European level.
The new European Parliament, that was elected in June, will shortly meet for the first time for a constitutive session with a line up of all 720 MEPs. They will elect their new president, vice-presidents and decide on the number of MEPs that will be sitting in each parliamentary committee.
Research on the influence of media coverage of women candidates and politicians, both globally and in Europe, shows that under- and misrepresentation of women in media has a negative impact on women’s aspirations and electoral success, but higher media visibility can help to get more women elected, the European Parliament argues in a compilation of gender data.
“Social media platforms can give women candidates and politicians a direct channel to reach the public and avoid gender-biased media coverage, but they can be far from ‘women-friendly”, the Parliament says..
However, an International Parliamentary Union survey of women parliamentarians also shows that ‘social media have become the number one place in which psychological violence – particularly in the form of sexist and misogynistic remarks, humiliating images, mobbing, intimidation and threats – is perpetrated against women parliamentarians.”
The UN Women data shows that as of 1 January 2024, only 23% of ministerial positions are held by women and in 141 countries, women make up less than a third of cabinet ministers. Seven countries have no women represented in their cabinets at all.
European Parliament says that over the years, the percentage of female MEPs has increased. Only 31 women were members from 1952 until the first elections in 1979. In the first directly-elected European Parliament representation of women was 15.9%.
The percentage of female members has gone up since then and In February 2024, 39.8% of MEPs were women.
As far as the representation of women in the European Parliament goes, it is above the world average for national parliaments and also above the EU average for national parliaments.
In 2019, two EU institutions broke the glass ceiling and got their first ever female president:
- Ursula von der Leyen became President of the European Commission; a further 12 Commissioners were women and 14 were men. She is now nominated for re-election.
- Christine Lagarde became President of the European Central Bank
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