Britain is setting a new standard for #Gender Equality with a #Record Number of #women occupying key offices in their parliament. Women account for 30% of their legislative arm. The United State maintains a below average number, with only 19.4% of the House of representative being women, and only 21% in the Senate, according to the Center for American Progress.
The Center for American Progress reports also shows a decline in the number of political offices occupied by women at the state level, with less than 25% of state legislative arm being women, about 19% in mayoral offices and 10% holding governorship positions in major cities across the country.
Over fifteen thousand female potential candidates
However, with the thousands of women looking to run for political offices following President Trump’s election, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
According to a spokeswoman for Emily’s list -- an American Political action committee which supports Democratic female candidates vying for office-- the total number of women interested in running has increased by fifteen thousand since Trump’s election.
Emerge America, another Democratic women empowerment group claimed to have trained a thousand women since late last year.
The Associate Director of the Center for American Women and Politics, a nonpartisan group, said they recorded a whopping number of 270 women who attended their “Ready to Run” seminar for aspiring candidates this year.
She said 140 of the lot claimed to be Democrats, 70 claimed to be Republicans, while the rest did not pledge allegiance to any political party.
High school students are not exempt
According to Anne Moses, the founder and president of IGNITE-- another nonpartisan women empowerment and enlightenment group which concentrates on young ladies-- the IGNITE group has discovered a substantial number of young girls from high schools who have indicated interest to contest for their school elections.
Moses said they have gotten offers from 500 women across the nation who want to introduce IGNITE into their school’s program. She said the group has been forced to relocate their meetings due to shortages in the capacity of their previous venues.
The movement was pivoted by what many women claim was a neglect and oversight of their fundamental human right during the just concluded elections. Moses says her team will put in their best to present more female political candidates, but acknowledges that the chances of winning actually depend on the individual.
