THE IMPACT OF INCREASING WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT ON SUPPORT FOR GENDER EQUALITY POLICIES A comparative analysis of advocacy for bills on violence against women in Rwanda from 1997 to 2008
Abstract
Certain theories of representation posit that policies that benefit women and promote gender
equality are much more likely when women are sufficiently represented in parliament. But does
descriptive representation lead to substantive representation as theorized, especially in African
countries? Studying Rwanda, where women and girls were once targeted for rape and sexual
violence, but now has a majority of women in the law-making position, I provide a new
empirical answer to this question. Analyzing the relationship between the relative size of
women in parliament and the advocacy for bills on violence against women, I find, through
comparing two periods in Rwanda (1997 – 2002 as opposed to 2003 – 2008), that women’s
ability to impact policies depends on the number of seats they occupy in decision-making
positions. These findings provide empirical validation to both the descriptive representation
theory and the critical mass theory, which postulates that women must be represented
numerically and reach a particular threshold to impact policies. Nevertheless, the findings show
that there are men who also support these agendas of women’s interest.
Degree
Master theses
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2024-07-30Author
Agbortanyi, Enowbachem
Keywords
Women’s representation, the parliament of Rwanda, advocacy for gender equality policies, gender-based violence
Language
eng