“Women don’t have to be battleaxes to win”

The inaugural Commonwealth Women’s Forum, the Parallel workshops on the five themes-; Women’s Political empowerment, Preventing and eliminating Child, Early and forced Marriages in the commonwealth, Women and enterprise development, Gender and Youth Leadership, Gender and Education got off to a flying start – it is the conclusive document from these five Groups that will be presented to the Commonwealth Heads of Government expected to convene in Malta for their 24th session.   

Since the writer was slotted into the workshop on Women’s Political Empowerment – today’s article will concentrate essentially on this subject and the progress made at the workshop. It is of all subjects very relevant to Sri Lanka being in the bottom three of Asian countries in terms of women’s representation, therefore an essential topic for coverage for Sri Lanka and its representation in the Group in particular. 

From a local to global level, women are under-represented in leadership and political participation, despite their proven abilities as leaders and their right to participate equally in democratic governance. There are many barriers to participation, such as educational and economic disadvantages, however the needs to accelerate change is increasingly recognised. Sustainable Development Goal 5 includes the target 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. 

In this workshop on Women’s Political Empowerment, speakers and participants considered four themes. One discussion considered the role of political parties in ensuring women candidates, who have adequate support, resources and training. The relationship between local government and national parliaments was considered, emphasising parallels in relevant experience and opportunities for networking and support. Effective women’s political leadership addressed the fact that discussions on women’s representation often focuses on numbers, rather than the quality of women’s leadership. Women’s leadership and civil society looked at the important role of civil society in supporting women’s political participation from the top down (advocacy, influence and scrutiny) and from bottom up (empowering women at the grassroots). 

The workshop has been designed to be inclusive and participatory. Each discussion was given a theme and asked to structure their discussion around formulating recommendations for Commonwealth governments. Delegates were allocated to participate in three discussions out of four themes. The delegates were requested to stay with the group they are allocated to throughout the workshop.  

The four Groups within the Women’s Political Empowerment discussed and deliberated on these sub themes and in the plenary sessions the discussion leaders summarised the discussions. And the outcomes of the this will next get absorbed to the single document that would include the conclusions of the other four Major group discussions taking place within closed doors elsewhere of the Intercontinental hotel. 

Margeret Wilson, Professor of Law and Public Policy, New Zealand (first woman Speaker of New Zealand Parliament) was the moderator of Group 1.  

Fiona Mactaggart Labour MP for Slough (United Kingdom) in her impressive address, slotted in at the very commencement spoke of what stops political parties from changing and how do we make them want to change (incentives)? In successful gender equality outcomes, what factors are in play? 

She said that it is the launch of the Labour Party Women Network that helped the party select more women. The Conservative party did something similar, and this method helped them immensely in winning elections. The thinking was that the party can win if you can ensure the party gets more women.  

She said political parties must be clear about what differences women make; what women bring to politics is a different mindset, makes it more humane, persuade the party that they get more votes. Women create value added politics and can more easily build alliances, networks.  

Every man thinks he is qualified for any job, if you give the same choice to a woman they don’t apply assuming they are not suitable for the job. 

She mentioned there is a notion that it is the female battleaxes that get into parliament. She said, “Women don’t have to be battleaxes to win. I count it to be a success if every woman invites another woman to have a go at being a representative of the people, by that alone you give them the confidence and the first start that will make the difference we need.” Every single woman in the room can make a difference to help other women. 

Fiona was the Founder and is the Secretary of the All Party Group on prostitution and Global Sex trade, and is the co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on human trafficking/modern day slavery. 

Fiona has served as member of the House of Commons Health Committee, the Children Schools and Families Committee, Public Accounts Committee and Public Administration Committee. She was also Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities. Fiona has also worked as the National Council for Voluntary Organisation and was an inner London primary school teacher and a university lecturer. 

You are invited to these columns tomorrow to read the outcomes of these and many more news on the welfare of women deliberated on here in Malta for the one billion women and how these discussions and outcomes are going to make a positive impact on their lives.