During the past 30 years, great strides have been made to advance the role and position of women in politics in the Americas. The 1990s in particular witnessed impressive advances in women’s political leadership in this region, mainly due to the use of quotas, a shift in political will and international encouragement.

In Latin America, the political involvement of women has increased significantly over the past 15 years. While there is tremendous variation in the successes of individual quota laws, most have been extremely successful in raising the number of women in legislatures. This is particularly evident in Argentina and Costa Rica, where women members make up 37 and 39 percent of their respective governing bodies. In addition to achievements in the legislative branch, women in Latin America have demonstrated considerable success in becoming heads of state; for example, in 2006, Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria became the first female president of Chile.

Women’s political activism in the Caribbean has been slower, but it has gained ground in recent years. In Grenada, the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago, women members now make up 29, 27 and 25 percent of their respective legislatures. In addition to inspiring numbers of women parliamentarians and ministry heads, a notable number of women have risen to become heads of state. The first female prime minister in the Caribbean, Dame Eugenia Charles, served as the Prime Minister of Dominica from 1980 to 1995. More recently, Portia Simpson Miller became the Prime Minister of Jamaica in 2006, and Emily de Jongh-Elhage is the current Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles.

In North America, women have a strong and growing foothold in the political arena. Although Canadian women were not allowed to fully stand for election until 1960, the number of women elected to the House of Commons and the Senate has increased steadily since 1972. Currently, 21 percent of the members of Canada’s House of Commons are women, and women Senate members constitute 32 percent of that body. In addition, Kim Campbell served as the first woman Prime Minister of Canada in 1993.

In the United States of America, 1992 was hailed as ‘the Year of the Woman’, when a record 30 women won public office; however, in 2006, women made up only 16 percent in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Despite relatively low numbers of women in the American legislature, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to be sworn in as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007. Women also have a history of leading political parties in Mexico: In 2000, women led two of the three strongest political parties and in 2006 made up 23 percent of the Congress.

Currently, women participate in all types of political institutions, representing nearly 20 percent of legislatures in the Americas. Although women have made impressive strides over the last decades, the region still poses formidable challenges in the areas of economic and political inequality, domestic violence, machismo, ethnic marginalization and the limited mechanisms for effective citizen representation and participation. Women in politics and their supporters must work to empower women to have equal and ample opportunities to run for political office, as well as to encourage women to enter the political sphere. In particular, political parties must actively recruit, train and support women candidates. In order for true democracy to take hold in the Americas, governments must be representative of both sexes and all ethnicities.

Countries of the Americas
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
United States of America
Uruguay
Venezuela