Women lawmakers highlight important role in politics at IPU assembly

Women parliamentarians from around the world stressed their role as important not only in achieving equal footing with men on political rights, but also for instilling democracy.
This came in speeches given at a meeting specifically dedicated to discussing the accomplishments and aspirations of female lawmakers on Sunday as part of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly talks.
Attendees underlined the notion that democracy is incomplete without the clear participation of women in the decision-making process across all levels.
Despite the success made due to calls for a larger female representation across women parliaments, which has reached 22 percent worldwide, there remains consensus that the matter is not related to empowering women as much as it is related to empowering them to receive their rights on equality in wages and in respecting their right to motherhood while being employed.
To successfully enable this political role this requires quadrilateral cooperation amongst women seeking office, civil society organisations, political parties and government bodies tasked with the order of the political landscape, they added.
They also urged the need to deal seriously with acts of violence against women - prevalent around the world in various forms - through forming legislations that tackle the matter abruptly in order to safeguard their dignity, along with the society's status and the family's cohesion.
The aim is not to provide women with a compulsory admission into parliament, but rather through them being chosen for representation by a base of voters.
They also proposed the formation of a network of women parliamentarians, which would be linked with civil society organisations of an international dimension, which represent an important source of information on the state of human rights across the world.
These bodies would intervene and offer assistance at the appropriate time, it was mentioned.
The session went on to showcase several success stories made in several African and Latin American nations, through laws aimed at ensuring the rights of women in day-to-day life, which would not have been made possible without endorsement from parliaments.
Some of these stories revealed, in some instances, a positive impact on lawmaking which ensures women's rights after their viewpoints were addressed and their affairs supported.
The talks also formed a number of sub-committees of varied party representation aimed at ensuring female exclusivity when proposing new legislations or amending former laws.
The IPU Assembly talks will resume until Thursday and are being attended by over 740 lawmakers from 141 nations, including Kuwait.