Political parity law “a success” in Pacific

Political parity law “a success” in Pacific, say researchers

SPCheadquarters, Noumea, New Caledonia,ThursdayMay31, 2007: The 2000 French law that required political parties to field equal numbers of men and women for elections has been “a real success” in the French Pacific, according to ground-breaking new research.

Not only had the law allowed women to join the ranks of political decision-makers, women who were hesitant to join politics had received the encouragement they needed, said political science researcher Stephanie Guyon, presenting the results to the 10thTriennial Conference of Pacific Women today.

By March 2005, numbers of women in public decision-making positions had risen to 286 in New Caledonia (compared with 99 before the law was introduced) and 372 in French Polynesia (202 before 2000).

However, the impact had been minimal in Wallis and Futuna, with just two women in its Territorial Assembly - one more than in 2002.

“The law has enabled women to go into politics,” said Ms Guyon, who worked on the research with fellow researcher Lucie Bargel and social science doctoral student Isabelle Rettig. “I think it has been a real success for two of the three territories - but in Wallis and Futuna it did not succeed in getting women into the Territorial Assembly.”

Ms Rettig added that some women reported a gain in respect from their male colleagues. “There has also been an increase in solidarity and mutual respect between elected women … and the law has led to a reassessment of “traditional” political practice,” she said. “Women expressed themselves very firmly [in the political arena] against nepotism and chauvinism.”

There are no parity laws elsewhere in the Pacific, but Ms Guyon said that the French experience offered lessons for other countries in the region. “This law shows that it is not true that women are not ready to enter politics. When they are obliged to get involved, they do.”

One French Polynesian politician quoted in the research said that she had worked in political organising since the 1970s, but had rebuffed numerous requests to stand for election. “In 2001, with the arrival of the parity law, I could no longer refuse.”

The research, called Assessment of the Law on Parity, showed that the current crop of female politicians in the French Pacific tended to:
- Have fewer children than their male counterparts;
- Be younger than their male counterparts;
- Be less experienced in politics;
- Have held fewer elected posts in their lives than men.
They also tended to be allocated responsibilities often associated with women, such as health or education rather than economics or infrastructure.
The research also outlined the hurdles that the newly-elected women politicians had identified. They included:
- Difficulties getting to grips with highly technical subjects;
- Acquiring the confidence to take part in open debate, as they were not always encouraged to contribute by more experienced colleagues;
- The attitudes of men who could not come to terms with a female boss;
- Reconciling their public and private lives. Husbands were sometimes unwilling to provide more household help after their wives became public figures with heavier workloads.
The French parity law aimed to make politicians in France and her territories more representative of the population. There was some opposition, with male politicians in New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna trying to prevent its passage in the two territories.

The research into the impact of the parity law was funded by SPC and the Government of New Caledonia.

The 10thTriennial Conference of Pacific Women, which started on Sunday May 27, ends tonight.

ENDS

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