The Women’s Debate 2016: More Women in Parliament

In a democratic and gender equal society, we should expect that 50% of MPs would be women. The introduction of MMP in 1996 increased the number of women MPs to 35%; in 2008 it was 41% and by the 2014 election, the number had declined to 38%. So there is clearly still some way to go before half of our elected representatives are women, and the level is flat-lined. What will shift it upwards to 50%?

Other countries - some with legislated quotas; some with voluntary political party quotas; some with active and progressive social policy and programmes that support women’s participation in political life and in the workforce; some with no special measures - are doing much better than New Zealand in terms of women’s representation in Parliament.

This debate asks representatives of major political parties to say what their views are on the representation of women in Parliament, and whether they think the number should increase. And if they do, what is their party proposing to do in 2017 and 2020?

The event details are:

Date: Wednesday, 17th August 2016
Time: 5.30pm to 7.00pm, start time of 5.45pm
Venue: Royal Society of New Zealand, 11 Turnbull Street, Thorndon, Wellington

This can be shared on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1050089485088762/

Graduate Women Wellington, NCW Wellington, Zonta Club Wellington

ENDS

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