Indicators
The Gender Equality Observatory publishes a set of relevant indicators to monitor progress toward gender equality and the economic, physical, and decision-making autonomy of women and girls in all their diversity in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Observatory's indicators are constructed from official statistical information, both that which is publicly available on official websites and that which countries provide through specific requests.
Each indicator has its own definition, links to the CEPALSTAT database, where the information can be disaggregated according to different variables to delve deeper into the metadata and sources, and links to publications that provide further analysis.
Women in Legislative Power
About this Indicator
Despite the increasing participation of women in public life, gender-equal democracy, which includes gender parity (50/50) in elected positions worldwide, is far from being achieved, both at the national and local government levels. While most seats are still occupied by men globally, the region leads the way toward parliamentary parity. Women legislators in lower or single chambers have gradually increased in recent years in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, considering the variation in results across countries with recent elections, it is estimated that it will take more than 40 years to achieve parity in national parliaments. This indicator is part of the global framework for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the set of prioritized indicators for monitoring the SDG in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Definition
It corresponds to the proportion of seats occupied by women in the national parliament, derived by dividing the total number of seats occupied by women by the total number of seats in the parliament. The result is expressed in percentages. The indicator is obtained from databases of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which is updated annually on January 1. Data is available from the year 2000 to the latest year.
Related Publications
