Senegal is taking women’s political representation to a new level with a record proportion of female MPs in the recently elected parliament. They are 73 out of a total of 165 deputies. They only gain two additional seats compared to the previous legislature, but that counts. the West African countries thus rank among the best for gender parity in politics. For the rest, there is still a long way to go on the road to equality.
More than 44% of the seats in the National Assembly elected in July 2022 are now held by women. All of this is now possible thanks in particular to a 2010 law requiring the “absolute parity” in all elective institutions, with lists of candidates alternating between men and women. This law made it possible to double the number of women deputies in Parliament in ten years.
Despite this significant increase, female representation remains below 50%. The heads of lists are almost always men and the number of candidates elected on the same list is often odd, as explained by a spokesperson for the National Assembly. If we are not yet perfect parity, this is good news since Senegal ranks fourth in Africa and 18th in the world for gender parity in Parliament, far ahead of France, Britain, Switzerland and the United States, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an organization based in Geneva. Rwanda remains the best student in this ranking.
Beyond political representation, Senegal ranks 130th out of 189 in a United Nations ranking on gender equality. Not enough to discourage the elected officials of the Republic. Aminata Touré, who held the post of Prime Minister and that of President of the Economic and Social Council, confided to AFP that the strong presence of women in the Assembly allows them to “have their say” on the budget and their various concerns.
The law criminalizing rape, passed in 2020, has “widely been pushed” by women MPs, said Maimouna Yade, head of the women’s organization JGEN.
However, other subjects remain unresolved: for example, the widening of access to abortion or even the age of marriage for girls. Many associations demand that the minimum age for marriage (16 years old today) be raised to 18 as for boys so that girls can complete their schooling.
Although much remains to be done for women’s rights, the organizations are delighted with the progress made in recent years. Among them, the law on parity or that allowing Senegalese women married to foreigners to transmit their nationality to their children. There are many voices advocating for parity to be applied in government and the private sector.