Journeys from Exclusion to Inclusion: Marginalized women’s successes in overcoming political exclusion Journeys from Exclusion to Inclusion: Marginalized Women’s Successes in Overcoming Political Exclusion identifies critical factors preventing marginalized women’s inclusion in customary and democratic decision-making structures and describes how women have worked in overcoming barriers to their participation. The report’s ten case studies gather knowledge and practical experience from around the world, drawing upon reform efforts to identify ways in which women can impact on political processes through their participation in customary and democratic politics. The report details specific strategies marginalized women and their supporters have adopted, ranging from direct action strategies in Somaliland to ‘soft’ advocacy strategies in Cambodia. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance International IDEA Strömsborg, SE-103 34 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: +46 8 698 37 00, fax: +46 8 20 24 22 E-mail: [email protected], website: www.idea.int ISBN: 978-91-86565-93-0 Journeys from Exclusion to Inclusion Marginalized women’s successes in overcoming political exclusion Journeys from Exclusion to Inclusion Marginalized women’s successes in overcoming political exclusion Contributors: Oussematou Dameni Sue Gollifer Jenny Hedström Lisa Heemann Nicholas Henry Naomi Johnstone Leah Kimathi Julius Lambi Vasu Mohan Julian Smith Suraiya Tabassum Janine Ubink Michael Walls International IDEA © International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2013 International IDEA publications are independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA, its Board or its Council members. The electronic version of this publication is available under a Creative CommonsLicence Copyright (CCl) – Creative Commons Attribute-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Licence. You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the publication as well as to remix and adapt it, provided it is for non-commercial purposes, that you appropriately attribute the publication, and that you distribute it only under a licence identical to this one. For the full conditions of this CCl, see: <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/>. Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or any part of this publication should be made to: International IDEA Strömsborg SE -103 34 Stockholm Sweden Graphic design by: Turbo Design, Ramallah Cover Design by: Turbo Design, Ramallah Cover illustration: © Jeanne McMenemy ISBN: 978-91-86565-93-0 Contents Preface ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Vidar Helgesen Introduction: Journeys from exclusion to inclusion ............................... 10 Julian Smith PART I: Overcoming marginalization in customary governance Chapter 1: The intervention of PEACE during ‘the Crisis’: promoting the inclusion of women in customary systems in Bougainville ................................................................................................................. 38 Naomi Johnstone Chapter 2: Breaking through the confines of traditions: the Wajir Peace and Development Committee in northern Kenya .................................................................................................... 72 Leah Kimathi Chapter 3: The successful road towards inclusion of women in traditional governance institutions: the case of Namibia’s Uukwambi Traditional Authority ............................................................... 102 Janine Ubink Chapter 4: Living customary law in South Africa: a space for women to overcome exclusion ................................................................... 132 Lisa Heemann PART II: The intersection of gender and religion Chapter 5: Women’s political participation in Somaliland .... 164 Michael Walls Chapter 6: The inclusion of Muslim women in Indian democratic governance structures and processes ...................... 198 Vasu Mohan and Dr Suraiya Tabassum International IDEA 5 PART III: Women’s stories from Myanmar Chapter 7: Solidarity in exile? The influence of gender politics on the pro-democracy struggle in Myanmar .................................... 234 Jenny Hedström Chapter 8: A place on the platform: the participation of women in Karen community organizations ......................................................... 266 Nicholas Henry PART IV: Including women in local decision-making processes Chapter 9: ‘Beyond almost all politicians there are women in the shadows’: Cambodian women’s experiences of local governance ........... 294 Sue Gollifer Chapter 10: Making decentralization meaningful for marginalized communities: lessons from the Integrated Development Foundation in Cameroon ............................................... 326 Julius Lambi and Oussematou Dameni Conclusion: Learning from the stories of marginalized women .................................................................................................... 356 Julian Smith 6 International IDEA Preface Increasing women’s participation in politics and securing their access to political life is of particular importance to democratic development and sustainability. In order to achieve this, we need to understand the barriers preventing women’s inclusion in both customary and democratic governance and identify effective measures based on successful examples in overcoming their exclusion from participation and representation. The literature examining ways in which non-customary decision-making structures and institutions are biased against women’s equal participation has tended to focus on the Global North rather than the Global South, while very few studies identifying barriers working against women’s participation in customary governance have emerged that provide conclusive lessons. Even fewer studies have identified and described positive examples of women succeeding in moving from decision-making exclusion to inclusion in either customary or non-customary political systems. It is particularly important for effective governance that political institutions are inclusive and responsive, benefiting a wide spectrum of social groups. In this context, International IDEA is committed to promoting the participation and representation of women in political life and specifically, their engagement in local, national and international political institutions, particularly the many women who have been marginalized from political decision-making. To this end, Journeys from Exclusion to Inclusion: Marginalized Women’s Successes in Overcoming Political Exclusion identifies critical factors preventing marginalized women’s inclusion in customary and democratic decision- making structures and describes how women have worked with other stakeholders in overcoming barriers to their participation. The report details the specific strategies marginalized women and their supporters have adopted ranging from direct action strategies in Somaliland International IDEA 7 to ‘soft’ advocacy strategies in Cambodia, and from these identifies lessons that other groups engaged in overcoming similar obstacles to inclusion reforms can consider adopting. The report’s ten case studies gathers together knowledge and practical experience from the global South, drawing upon women’s reform efforts to identify the ways in which women can impact on political processes through their participation in campaigns for gender equality in customary and democratic politics. Our thanks go to the case study authors—Naomi Johnstone, Leah Kimathi, Janine Ubink, Lisa Heemann, Michael Walls, Vasu Mohan and Dr. Suraiya Tabassum, Jenny Hedström, Nicholas Henry, Sue Gollifer, Julius Lambi and Oussematou Dameni—for their rigorous research yielding a very rich, insightful and varied collection of lessons for democratic cooperation and reform practitioners and policy makers. Special acknowledgement goes to Julian Smith who was the key editor of this report. We also acknowledge the additional authors whose case studies were commissioned but not included in this report but whose research has also contributed to our understanding of reform strategies and whose work will be used to compile an additional paper of insights into how marginalized groups are moving from political exclusion to inclusion and the lessons we have gained from these experiences. Additional thanks go to David Prater for his professional input in editing this publication. Finally, we thank our Member States without whose support this publication would not have been possible. We trust that all our readers, including those involved in the practical work of democracy cooperation and support and through this, advancing women’s political participation, will find this an illuminating and insightful collection of case studies. International IDEA 8 International IDEA Introduction: Journeys from exclusion to inclusion Introduction: Journeys from exclusion to inclusion JULIAN SMITH The ten case studies in this report span themes ranging from gender equality challenges with customary local governance to political isolation arising from geographical remoteness. The report also includes case studies examining political exclusion due to the intersection of gender with ethnicity and with religion, reflecting how women and girls from different ethnic and religious backgrounds often confront multiple challenges in their quests to overcome