Analyzing the representation and roles of women in political organizations and public spaces, two observations become clear. Firstly, women are significantly under-represented in elected institutions and in the leadership of political organizations. In actuality, women make up 153 of the 540 voting and non-voting members of [US] Congress when both the House of Representatives and the Senate are taken into consideration. This represents 28% – less than one-third – of all congress(wo)men. And this observation is also true, and sometimes even more evident, in the global South. For example, in Guatemala 31 of the 160 elected representatives are women, which represents only 19% of all the country’s elected representatives. But, why is this the case?
