Wright State University CORE Scholar Browse all Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2013 Rwanda: (Limited) Effects of the First Female Parliamentary Majority in the World Charlene Anita Raman-Preston Wright State University Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all Part of the International Relations Commons Repository Citation Raman-Preston, Charlene Anita, "Rwanda: (Limited) Effects of the First Female Parliamentary Majority in the World" (2013). Browse all Theses and Dissertations. 1173. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all/1173 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Browse all Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RWANDA: (LIMITED) EFFECTS OF THE FIRST FEMALE PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY IN THE WORLD A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By CHARLENE ANITA RAMAN-PRESTON B.A. International Studies, Wright State University, 2009 2013 Wright State University WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL December 11, 2013 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY Charlene Anita Raman-Preston ENTITLED Rwanda: (Limited) Effects of the First Female Parliamentary Majority in the World BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts. ______________________________ December Green, Ph.D. Thesis Director ______________________________ Laura M. Luehrmann, Ph.D. Director, Master of Arts Program in International and Comparative Politics Committee on Final Examination: ___________________________________ December Green, Ph.D. Department of Political Science ___________________________________ Laura M. Luehrmann, Ph.D. Department of Political Science ___________________________________ Donna Schlagheck, Ph.D. Department of Political Science ______________________________ R. William Ayres, Ph.D. Interim Dean, Graduate School ABSTRACT Raman-Preston, Charlene A. M.A., Department of Political Science, Wright State University 2013. Rwanda: (Limited) Effects of the First Female Parliamentary Majority in the World. The case of Rwanda provides a laboratory to explore a unique set of circumstances. This thesis builds upon feminist theory, the literature on post-conflict situations and failed states. It finds that although Rwanda's post-conflict situation provided unexpected and historic opportunities for women to enter politics (a record 64 percent of the members of parliament are female), more women in parliament does not mean the end of patriarchy. Since 1994, Rwanda has experienced significant yet limited progress toward gender equality in employment and education. However, much remains to be done and gender dynamics have not changed substantively. Rather, increasing the numbers of women in parliament has been politically expedient for the governing Rwandan Patriot Front, which has not done all it can to empower women. Therefore, Rwandan women are in a precarious position; they owe their opportunity to participate in democratic institutions to a political party that runs an authoritarian state. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Research Question................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Literature Review: Effects of Women in Parliament .................................................. 3 Descriptive Representation .................................................................................... 5 Substantive Representation .................................................................................. 10 Analysis of the Literature ..................................................................................... 13 1.3 Case Selection: Why Rwanda? .................................................................................. 14 1.4 Research Design: Independent and Dependent Variables ......................................... 16 1.5 Research Methodology .............................................................................................. 18 2. Economic Participation and Opportunity ........................................................................ 19 2.1 Occupational Segregation .......................................................................................... 20 2.2 Female Entrepreneurship ........................................................................................... 32 2.3 Access to Credit: Microfinance ................................................................................. 37 2.4 Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 43 3. Education and Literacy Rates among Women and Girls ................................................. 48 3.1 Rwanda: Education Background ................................................................................ 51 3.2 Primary Education ..................................................................................................... 53 3.3 Secondary Education: Lower and Upper Secondary Levels ..................................... 57 3.4 Tertiary Education ..................................................................................................... 62 3.5 Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 70 4. Reproductive Health ....................................................................................................... 74 4.1 Maternal Mortality and Safe Motherhood ................................................................ 76 iv 4.2 Reproductive Rights: Access to Contraception, Abortion, and Total Fertility Rates ......................................................................................................... 81 4.3 Contraceptive Prevalence ........................................................................................... 81 4.4 Access to Legal Abortion ........................................................................................... 89 4.5 Total Fertility (TFR) ................................................................................................. 93 4.6 HIV/AIDS and Sex Education ................................................................................... 96 4.7 Analysis .................................................................................................................... 103 5. Analysis of Findings ...................................................................................................... 105 5.1 Discussion ................................................................................................................ 111 5.2 Impact on the Literature ........................................................................................... 117 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................... 121 Works Consulted ....................................................................................................................... 143 v LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 .................................................................................................................................... 23 Table 2.2 .................................................................................................................................... 23 Table 2.3 .................................................................................................................................... 27 Table 2.4 .................................................................................................................................... 28 Table 2.5 .................................................................................................................................... 29 Table 2.6 .................................................................................................................................... 30 Table 2.7 .................................................................................................................................... 40 Table 3.1 .................................................................................................................................... 50 Table 3.2 .................................................................................................................................... 57 Table 3.3 .................................................................................................................................... 67 Table 3.4 .................................................................................................................................... 68 Table 4.1 .................................................................................................................................... 78 Table 4.2 .................................................................................................................................... 83 vi LIST OF ACRONYMS AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AMIR Association of Microfinance Institution in Rwanda ART Antiretroviral Therapy ARV Antiretroviral CAPMER Centre d'Appui à la Petite Moyenne Entreprise CEDAW Convention