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Women's Rights and Political Representation: Past Achieve 2014 PRIO PAPER PRIO Timor Sharan Timor Wimpelmann Torunn Future Challenges Independent • International • Interdisciplinary • International • Independent Women’s Rightsand Political Achieve- Past Representation: ments and Background Brief for the Symposium Women’sEmpowerment Rights and in Afghanistan Oslo 23 November 2014 Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) www.prio.org Design: Medicineheads.com PO Box 9229 Grønland, NO-0134 Oslo, Norway ISBN: 978-82-7288-583-9 (print) Editors: Georgina Berry & Martin Tegnander Visiting Address: Hausmanns gate 7 978-82-7288-584-6 (online) Photo: Todd Huffman / Wikimedia Torunn Wimpelmann Torunn Timor Sharan Timor Text Title accusations that the numbers have been in- • How can female political participation and representation best flated as a result of fraud. Whatever the case be enhanced, in the next parliamentary elections and be- female participation in elections seems to have differed greatly alongside rural-urban yond? and provincial lines. For instance, a study by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Com- • What are the most important strategic issues related to gender mission and the UN assistance mission to Af- ghanistan reported that in 2009, in Daikundi equity, assuming that popular resonance and effective polit- province, 54.3 percent of the voters were women, whereas in Zabul province, the share ical alliances (including with male constituencies) are re- of voters who were female was only 11.8 per- quirements for success? cent. Executive power continues to be a male domain. In the 2014 presidential elections, • Are cases of prosecution of violence against women best un- only one female presidential candidate put her name forward as a candidate and she was dis- dertaken through specialized entitites or through reform qualified by the Independent Election Com- plaints Commission for failing to provide the of the entire justice system? necessary 100,000 ID cards in support of her • candidacy upon registration. However, three What is the political space for reform in family legislation, women ran as vice-presidential candidates and which reforms (marriage, divorce, custody or inher- and many other female politicians and activ- ists took an active role in the campaigns, more itance) would be most important for the status of Afghan so than in earlier presidential elections. Many of those interviewed for the present paper women? noted that women are increasingly defying conservative norms by making up part of the public face of the campaigns. In Ashraf These are key questions regarding women’s rights and politi- Ghani’s team prominent women, mostly members of parliament – including cal representation to be discussed at the Oslo Symposium. Farkhunda Zahra Nader, Heela Irshad and This paper summarizes the main achievements and chal- Shahgul Rezai – played an active role in the campaign leadership council, the highest deci- lenges for Afghan women’s participation in politics and their sion-making body. Similarly, well-known fe- male politicians – such as Habiba Sorabi, Na- access to justice. It also presents the most important reflec- hid Fareed, Mina Khashi, and Nasrin Gros – campaigned for Abdullah Abdullah. These tions amongst key stakeholders about possible ways forward, women regularly appeared in campaign gath- erings and engaged with the media. However, with the aim of facilitating further discussions in these areas. in both camps men dominated key working committees including the planning and pol- Following a set of concluding reflections, we will round off by icy, public outreach and finance committees. 1 detailing questions for further debate. It also seems that there is a new appreciation realize their political aspirations, having seen of the importance of the female constituency. Women in Afghan politics: For instance, the 2014 presidential candidates the first cadre of female leaders gaining prom- Participation and Substance engaged more systematically with women’s is- inence after the collapse of the Taliban regime The space for women to participate in politics in 2001. sues in their campaign and focused on women’s access to health and education, safe- in Afghanistan has opened up considerably guarding economic security for women and over the last 14 years. The nation-wide percep- The 2014 Presidential Elections tion surveys conducted by the Asia Founda- enhancing women’s political rights. This was According to the Independent Election Com- partly because women politicians and activists tion (2008 to 2013) found that almost 60 per- mission (IEC) more women voted in the 2014 were more organized and vocal in articulating cent of Afghans are happy with women elections than in the elections of 2009, alt- representing them in elected institutions, in- their demands, asking for specific verbal and hough the number of female voters has given written commitments from candidates. The cluding provincial councils. Younger women rise to some controversy, related to claims and Women Charter and the civil society Pledge in particular appear increasingly willing to take social and even security risks in order to Letter are examples of such initiatives. Whilst PRIO PAPER 2014 www.prio.org Year All candidates Female candidates Total seats Female council members many women who won seats did so with (none -quota in brackets) much higher margins than earlier, even if the total share of female-won seats decreased. 2005 3025 285 420 105 (24) More generally, there has been a tendency in 2009 3196 328 425 117 (20) both local and donor discourse to equate women’s presence in politics with the cham- 2014 2591 308 458 97 (18) pioning of women’s interest as a gender Table 1: Provincial elections and female candidates.3 group. As is now widely pointed out, this equation is problematic and can lead to mis- the latter was initiated and supported by candidates running for parliament has in- guided policies. For one, women are not insu- Counterpart Afghanistan, a USAID subcon- creased. In 2005, 12 percent of the Wolesi lated from the overall political dynamics in Af- tractor, the former was an initiative by Afghan Jirga candidates were female, whereas in 2010 ghanistan, which are often shaped by relations women civil society actors. The Women Char- the number had increased to 16 percent.2 The of patronage and personalized competition. ter specifically demanded guarantees for proportion of women amongst the candidates That women are not immune to such dynam- women in five key areas: law protection and running for seats in the provincial councils ics was made clear by personal divisions enforcement including the passing and imple- has also increased, from 5 percent in 2005 to amongst female MPs in the Wolesi Jirga over mentation of the Elimination of Violence 12 percent in 2014. attempts to introduce the Elimination of Vio- Against Women Law; improvements in As the table above shows, between 2010 and lence Against Women (EVAW) law to plenary women’s access to health; women’s access to 2014 there were 117 women councilors out of debate in parliament in 2013. Many women’s education; women’s economic security; and a total of 425. This has now dropped signifi- rights advocates believe that these divisions women’s political participation. The two run- cantly to 97 following the 2014 provincial caused the EVAW law, a piece of legislation off candidates pledged their commitment to council elections. A major reason for this was important to women, to lose some of its legiti- these demands. the 2013 election law that reduced the propor- macy. Some suggest that these dynamics are exacerbated by international donors who The Parliament and the Provincial tion of seats reserved for women from 25 to 20 percent. might pick their own champions, particularly Councils amongst English-speaking women MPs, and The 2004 Afghan Constitution introduced a “The quota system is a employ informal tactics to promote gender is- quota system to ensure a minimum level of sues instead of supporting formal channels female representation in the two houses of form of positive discrimina- such as the Women’s Commission. At the parliament. A minimum of two of the elected same time, even if women – like men – are members to the Lower House from each of tion which is good in the part of patronage politics, they are often more Afghanistan’s 34 provinces must be female. marginalized by such politics than their male This was clarified in later legislation to mean short run but it would lead counterparts. Women, for example, might be that 68 of 249, or 27 percent, of the seats in in office as protégées of male leaders (a prac- parliament are reserved for women, given that to laziness and lack of as- tice aided by the quota system) or they find it the number of total seats in each province var- piration in the long-run.” difficult to exercise influence due to the lack ies significantly according to population lev- of access to informal networks and finances. els. In addition 50 percent of the presidential A Male MP from Herat In the 2005 Parliamentary election, the share appointees to the Upper House (1/3 of the of women who were elected to the Wolesi Jirga without requiring the quota was approxi- Upper House seats) must be female. Subse- Overall, there seems to be a consensus, at mately 30 percent of the total.5 However, in quent electoral legislation has also put in least in pro-women circles, that the quota sys- 2010, in an election generally perceived to place quotas for women in the provincial tem has proven an effective entry point for have been dominated by strongmen and busi- councils. This quota was initially at 25 per- women in politics and that it is essential to nessmen-turned-politicians, the number of cent, but it was reduced to 20 percent in 2013 promote women’s political participation. women gaining seats without the aid of quo- although an attempt by some parliamentari- Nonetheless, the system has not been without tas in Wolesi Jirga decreased to 11, from 19 in ans to remove the provincial council quota al- its drawbacks.
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