Political empowerment of women is a critical gender equality indicator and is essential for policymaking aimed at advancing the well-being of women and girls.Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 5.5 aims to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. One of the major indicators of this target is the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments and local governments.On September 20, the Lok Sabha passed the Women’s Reservation Bill, 27 years after it was first introduced in parliament.The unanimous support received in both Houses of Parliament for the Bill, which seeks to reserve 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, underscores the potential impact of the Bill on improving women’s lives and their participation in public life.According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2023, India stands at a low 36.7% on gender parity related to ‘economic participation and opportunity.’ Despite achieving parity in enrollment across all levels of education, the same cannot be said for gender parity in health and survival.India ranks 142 out of 146 countries on the health and survival sub-index. India also performs poorly on the political empowerment sub-index. In this context, the passage of the Bill is significant, given that the share of women parliamentarians has never crossed the 15% mark in India’s 70-year-old electoral history.Also read: Lok Sabha Passes Women’s Reservation Bill, Amit Shah Confirms Implementation Not Before 2029How does India compare to the rest of the world on political empowerment?According to the United Nations (UN), as of January 1, 2023, women hold executive positions in 31 nations, and in 34 nations, women hold the titles of Head of State or Head of Government.The Global Gender Gap Index (GCCI) for 2023 highlights the largest gender gap in the ‘Political Empowerment’ sub-index, with only 22.1% of the gap closed and a significant variation in scores among countries.Among countries using reservation quotas, Rwanda leads with the highest percentage of women in its national legislative chamber, where women hold 61.3% of the seats. Cuba and Nicaragua follow closely at 55.7% and 51.7%, respectively. In contrast, India has achieved 25.3% parity in the political empowerment sub-indicator, with women representing only 15.1% of parliamentarians. While this marks the highest level for India since the inaugural 2006 edition of GGGI, it is disconcerting to note that, at the current rate of progress from 2006 to 2023, achieving political empowerment for women in India remains a distant dream for another 162 years.In this context, the Bill holds great promise for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.However, there are several challenges in this Bill. There is no linear pathway from having reserved quotas for women to achieving political decision-making and empowerment.This analysis aims to address the complexities of reserved quotas and the gendered dimensions of ministerial portfolios held. It will also cover the significant barriers faced by women in politics including the question of intersectionality and violence.Also read: The Women of the Women’s Reservation BillThe problem with reserved quotasSome women’s rights advocates argue that gender quotas can hinder women’s political empowerment by implying that they cannot succeed without special provisions. Concerns also exist about quotas diverting attention from the representation of other minority groups, potentially leading to similar demands for quotas from other marginalised communities. In this context, in India, the Women’s Reservation Bill faces challenges related to both horizontal and vertical reservations.Horizontal reservation reserves seats for women in parliament, emphasising gender equity and gender-conscious policymaking. Vertical reservation, specifically for Other Backward Classes within the women’s quota, raises concerns about the representation of marginalised communities, as was observed in the demands raised by opposition parties for a separate OBC sub-quota within the reserved quota for women. They argue that OBCs constitute nearly 40% of the population, but unlike Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), they have no separate reservation in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.A recent article in The Wire highlighted how Uttar Pradesh, the largest state legislature in the country, has elected more women from ‘upper’ castes as MLAs and MPs compared to OBCs, who are numerically more dominant.Thus, while gender quotas can be a tool for achieving representation, they come with complexities and potential unintended consequences that require careful consideration. The question of intersectionalities in a caste-ridden society cannot be overlooked, and the Women’s Reservation Bill should not end up disproportionately privileging upper-caste urban women.Why is political representation not enough?The Bill guarantees women’s representation in politics, but the challenge lies in establishing institutional arrangements that enable women to act independently, avoiding tokenism and patriarchal patronage.Societal norms still pose significant obstacles to women’s effective participation, with barriers like limited access to education, lack of childcare support, and financial constraints.Discriminatory tactics by political parties, voter and party leader bias against women, and concerns about female candidates’ ‘electability’ also persist. While the Bill shifts demand-side barriers in favour of women candidates, ensuring effective participation with the newly created critical mass of women in parliament is a challenge, given the lack of political education among them.There is also the additional problem of gender stereotypes that influence portfolio allocations, hindering women from holding key roles. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 2023 press release shows that women have high representation in portfolios like women and gender equality, family and children affairs, social inclusion and development, indigenous and minority affairs. However, critical policy areas such as economic, defence, justice, and home affairs are dominated by men.Illustration: Pariplab ChakrabortyPolitical violenceAccording to a recent study on Political Violence Targeting Women, women candidates for office globally experience up to 8% violence, while female politicians experience 12%. Political party supporters face 24% violence, women voters 2%, and government officials experience 16% of political violence attacks. Activists, human rights defenders, and social leaders experience the highest violence, accounting for 38% of political violence attacks.Ironically, the study notes that data on violence targeting women in politics are restricted to acts of physical violence against women in public settings during their engagement in the political process. It does not include acts of bullying or intimidation, cases of domestic violence, or virtual aggressive actions.A UN Women study on Violence against Women in Politics highlights how women who participate in politics and public life are perceived as a threat to the male superior status, resulting in violence against them. This serves as a significant barrier for women’s participation in the political process. It must also be noted that men with registered records of violence against women (as well as other types of criminal offences) are allowed to participate in politics.In this regard, it is disturbing to note that a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) revealed that a total of 113 MLAs and 21 MPs have declared cases of crimes against women, with the Bharatiya Janata Party leading the statistics followed by the Congress party. Such statistics demand stringent measures to be adopted toward the decriminalisation of politics in India.The Nari Shakti Vandana Adhiniyam Bill represents a crucial step towards enhancing women’s political representation in India. Quotas for women have been shown to improve public spending on services that matter to them, such as drinking water, sanitation, public health, primary education, and roads, as demonstrated in the case of gram panchayats. Studies have also indicated that a higher representation of women in parliament leads to the passing of more gender-sensitive laws on issues like sexual harassment, rape, and domestic violence.In India, local female leaders are more likely to advocate for gender-equal property inheritance laws.However, the Bill, by itself, cannot achieve significant progress in women’s empowerment unless efforts are made to address deep-rooted patriarchal norms that assign women low status in society, keep them out of the labour force, burden them disproportionately with unpaid domestic and care work, and use violence as a means of repression or discipline.The passage of the Bill is a beacon of hope, but realising its full potential requires concerted efforts to overcome these hurdles and create a more inclusive and equitable political landscape for women in India.Divya Pradeep and Roopa Patavardhan teach Economics at Christ University, Bengaluru.
