UWI lecturer suggests gender quota for Senate

An academic is proposing that a new-look Barbados Senate should have a gender quota to ensure at least 40 per cent female representation.

Lecturer in Government and Politics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill campus, Dr Sandra Ochieng-Springer who made the recommendation said she believed a deliberate effort should be made to ensure gender equality in Parliament.

“We have to deliberately create opportunities for women to participate in political parties,” she said at Thursday night’s Parliamentary Reform Commission town hall meeting at The Alexandra School. “I want us to consider maybe legislating quotas within the Senate, which is a little easier to me, and I think that we can maintain the threshold that we have arrived at so far, at about 40 per cent.”

Of the 21 current senators, nine are female, representing approximately 43 per cent.

Ochieng-Springer argued that while the gap has been narrowing in relation to gender inequality in politics and in Parliament, there is still work to be done since the selection of members of the Senate is still left to the discretion of the Prime Minister, President and Opposition Leader.

“My opinion is that we should be thinking about a critical mass that we would want to see in the Senate, and I think that the Senate is much easier for us to try to make workable in relation to this issue of gender equality,” she said.

Pointing out that more than 130 countries have gender quotas within their political system at varying levels, with some having a quota of 30 per cent for female representation, the university lecturer said she believed it should be even higher for Barbados to encourage more women to get involved in politics.

“I would like us to think above the 30 per cent because I don’t think there is a dearth of women who are experienced enough or capable to serve in Barbados. If we do not think about the issues of critical mass, it means that in this election cycle, we might have 40 per cent, but in the next election cycle, depending on who wins and depending on the inclination of who is the prime minister or the president, the number might dip to two, three or four or it might increase, but we are leaving it to chance.

“So that is why I am saying, how do we consciously put things in place so that we do not rely on the inclinations of leaders and structures that are not stable, in creating spaces that are encouraging for women that want to serve?” she said.

Ochieng-Springer contended that despite Barbados having its first female prime minister, a female president and a female deputy prime minister, politics in Barbados was still considered “very male-centric”.

“So the optics of it might seem encouraging and that is well and good, but how do we systematically and consciously put things in place that allow us to maybe provide some type of balance in our political landscape?” she said.

To encourage wider female participation in politics, the UWI lecturer recommended the development and implementation of public education campaigns to create change; having females who are in political office engage communities and speak about the challenges and opportunities in politics; ensuring that consistent gender diversity is reflected in outreach activities; and that learning and developmental institutions are encouraged to incorporate gender topics to build confidence in girls who may want to venture in politics.

(MM)