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Recommendation 1899 (2010) Final version
Increasing women’s representation in politics through the electoral system
1. The Parliamentary Assembly, referring
to its Resolution 1706
(2010) on increasing women’s representation in politics
through the electoral system, welcomes the Committee of Ministers’
commitment to making equal participation of women and men in political
life and in decision making in all spheres a reality, as evidenced
by its Recommendation Rec(2003)3 on balanced participation of women
and men in political and public decision making, and its Declaration:
Making gender equality a reality, of 12 May 2009.
2. The Assembly calls on the Committee of Ministers to continue
its work in this field, and to encourage the member states of the
Council of Europe to take the necessary measures in order to increase
women’s representation in politics by:
2.1. reforming their electoral system to one more favourable
to women’s representation:
2.1.1. in countries with a proportional
representation list system, consider introducing a mandatory quota
which provides not only for a high proportion of female candidates
(ideally at least 40%), but also for strict rank-order rule (for
example, a “zipper” system of alternating male/female candidates),
and effective sanctions (preferably not financial, but rather the
non-acceptance of candidatures/candidate lists) for non-compliance,
ideally in combination with closed lists in a large constituency
and/or a nationwide district;
2.1.2. in countries with majority or plurality systems, consider
introducing the principle of each party choosing a candidate amongst
at least one female and one male nominee in each party district,
or find other ways of ensuring increased representation of women
in politics, such as applying innovative mandatory gender quotas
within political parties, or “all-women shortlists” or “twinned”
constituencies, again accompanied by effective sanctions for non-compliance;
2.2. associating the gender equality and anti-discrimination
provisions in their constitutions and their electoral laws with
the necessary exception allowing positive discrimination measures
for the under-represented sex, if they have not already done so;
2.3. accompanying these changes with measures such as gender-sensitive
civic education and the elimination of gender stereotypes and “built-in”
bias against women candidates, in particular within political parties,
but also the media.
3. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers instruct
the competent committee to consider drafting an additional protocol
to the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) in order
to enshrine the right to equality for women and men therein, as
well as the necessary exception allowing positive discrimination
measures for the under-represented sex.