Sex-disaggregated data
and statistics on electoral participation show that women are generally
under-represented in decision-making institutions at all levels. These data are
key to understand the obstacles that women face when exercising their political
rights. However, sex-disaggregated data is often unavailable, especially at the
global level. With the exception of women’s representation in national
parliaments (SDG indicator 5.5.1a) with well-established statistics through the
Inter-Parliamentary Union database[1],
data on women’s electoral participation is very limited, with no global base
line data for women candidates, women in local government, women in leadership
positions or senior staff in EMBs, women in voter lists and women’s voter
turnout currently available.
