Women in politics facing more online hostility
Women in politics face more hostility and intimidation from the public, both online and offline. 76% of women parliamentarians say they are intimidated by the public compared with 68% of men – a trend that deters women from seeking office and slows progress toward equal political power, according to new data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women.
“Across the world, women remain vastly under-represented in political leadership, with the most powerful decisions still overwhelmingly made by men”, the organisations say in a report.
In 2026, only 28 countries are led by a woman Head of State or Government, while 101 countries have never had a woman leader, according to the data. Image
“The new global data reveals stagnation, and in some cases regression, in women’s political leadership, particularly in executive government.”
Key findings:
- Women hold just 22.4% of cabinet minister positions globally, down from 23.3% in 2024, marking a reversal after years of gradual progress.
- 14 countries have achieved gender parity in cabinets, demonstrating that equal representation is possible, yet eight countries still have no women ministers at all.
- Women hold 27.5% of parliamentary seats worldwide, up slightly from 27.2% in 2025. The increase of 0.3 percentage points marks the second consecutive year of the slowest growth recorded since 2017.
- Women are also losing ground in parliamentary leadership. As of January 2026, 54 women serve as Speakers of Parliament globally, representing 19.9% of all Speakers. This represents a nearly four-percentage-point decline from the previous year and the first drop in women Speakers in 21 years.
- Even when women reach leadership positions, they are often concentrated in a narrow range of portfolios traditionally linked to social sectors.
- Women lead 90% of gender-equality ministries and 73% of ministries responsible for family and children’s affairs, reinforcing long-standing gender stereotypes in political leadership.
- Men continue to lead almost exclusively ministries like defence, home affairs, justice, economic affairs, governance, health, and education.
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