Bolivia is one of the few countries in the world where roughly 50% of lawmakers at every level of government are women. However, there are still many barriers to overcome, from harassment and violence to the unequal distribution of house and care work.
Bolivia is one of the few countries in the world where roughly 50% of lawmakers at every level of government are women.
This is no accident, but the result of an electoral law which requires half of all party nominees must be female. Quotas were introduced in 1997 when just 9% of Bolivia’s national parliament were women. Later on it was made part of the constitution.
“Lately we’ve seen certain countries backslide on women’s rights,” said Adriana Salvatierra, who was a senator from 2015 to 2019, and became the youngest ever president of Bolivia’s Senate.
“Putting it in the constitution makes it harder to undo. And that assures change in the longterm.”
Bolivia is near the top in global terms as well, according to figures from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
‘Laws are not enough’
In Bolivia, the reality of political participation for women is more complicated than the headline figure suggests.
“Arithmetic parity serves as reparation for a historic injustice,” said Erika Brockmann, who helped introduce the first quotas and served in parliament from 1997 to 2006. “But it does not mean that we have dismantled the true power relations.”
For the women that enter politics, there are still many barriers to overcome, from harassment and violence to the unequal distribution of house and care work.
At the local level particularly, there have been cases of intimidation and violence.
The increase in women’s political participation does not extend to executive roles, which continue to be dominated by men.
This starts at the top, where there have been just four female candidates for the presidency in the history of Bolivia, and not a single elected female president.
And it goes all the way through the system, from the nine departmental leaders – all of whom are men – to the 336 mayors, of which 22 are women.
In total, 9% of executive roles in Bolivian politics are held by women.
In Bolivian society more broadly, there have been significant advances for women in recent decades – for example in education and in the increase in land titling under women’s names, and the economic empowerment that implies.
But in the vast informal economy, labour rights are hard to enforce and women are vulnerable to abuse. The gender wage gap is prevalent.
‘Politics can no longer be imagined without women’
Sexual and reproductive rights are limited, with only a few instances where one can legally access abortion. There are many adolescent pregnancies.
And, in spite of progressive legislation, gender violence remains high.
“Laws help, but alone are not enough,” said Brockmann. “It needs a cultural transformation – and that will take a long time.
“But politics can no longer be imagined without women,” she added. “That’s now common sense.”