More women presence needed

TIRANA, March 10 – Lawmakers, youth parliamentarians from across the country and the United Nations gathered Monday to discuss and debate the findings of a survey focusing on public perceptions of women’s participation in elections in Albania.
The survey focused on people’s perceptions of how and why men and women vote; quotas and special measures for Women in elections; and what obstacles exist which prevent women from holding the highest positions in decision-making.
Through UNIFEM support, the survey implemented by 2A Consortium – made up of the Albanian Centre for Economic Research and the Albanian Social Economic Think Tank – was conducted in 10 regions of the country, with a sample group of approximately 1200 people. The survey – which looks at people’s perception of women as voters, candidates and leaders – revealed a number of key issues.
While it is clear from the responses that men are more likely to vote than women, the ratio of male to female voters is not widely divergent. However, where gender differences come out more strongly is in the reasons behind not voting. For women, the main reason for not voting was that they were not registered in the Voter’s List (24.90%); whereas only 17.40% of the male respondents cited this reason.
Of those who did not vote, 23.10% of women and 10.40% of men did so because their families did not vote. These figures clearly indicate that women are much less likely than men to be politically engaged if their families choose to remain uninvolved.
Respondents also clearly indicate that female officials (elected and appointed) are perceived as being less corrupt, and more likely to improve the overall human rights, access to basic services (health, education, social welfare), and increase Albania’s chances for integration into the EU.
The majority of men 38%) and women (34%) indicated that the candidate’s sex would be neither a deterrent nor an incentive to vote.
Respondents listed the main reasons for this being that women a) have a better understanding of social and family-related issues; b) are perceived to be less corrupt; c) if she was the best candidate for the job; and d) she would be more likely to keep her promises. For those who would not vote for women, the main reasons are as follows: For men: a) the political arena is too aggressive for a woman; a woman would not have enough time to deal with government issues given her responsibilities in the home; c) and women are not experienced or politically connected enough to get the job done. For women respondents, the reasons were that: a) due to household duties, a woman would not have the time; b) she is not well connected politically, nor could she make decision-makers listen to her, as she would not be aggressive enough.
The majority of respondents (45.6%) stated that they perceive there to be a number of obstacles preventing her election to office. It is particularly notable that the main obstacles listed were lack of support from male politicians (38.6%) and lack of support from the political parties (21.6%). This finding correlates with many global studies on women and politics, which indicate that the parties are the main mechanism which can alternatively support or restrict women’s increased engagement in political and public life.
Lawmakers shared with the youth the realities and challenges facing women when running in elections, and also the opportunities which have emerged in recent years.
Klosi stressed the importance of increasing women’s access not only to politics, but to all aspects of public life, so as to ensure their voices are heard and their needs met.
Pernaska stressed that the quotas recently adopted should not be perceived as “gifts” by male politicians, as some respondents of the survey indicated, but rather measures necessary for Albania to overcome the societal and systematic barriers restricting women’s involvement in decision-making.
Both MPs strongly emphasized the need for youth to become engaged – as voters and as leaders – in the democratic processes shaping their lives and their communities.