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Women in Politics
While
women form the majority
of the Canadian population, they have only begun to
exercise the political roles and power that should come with
gender equality.
The National Library of Canada provides some interesting information about women
who have made political history in Then
& Now: Women in Canadian Legislatures. See also an interesting site that
provides biographies of Canadian
Heroines. An alternative view of history can be found at Herstory.
More resources on women in
Canadian history are available from About.com.
Visit Canadian Elections
for information about women in Canadian federal elections, and about gender differences
in voting behaviour. In the June 2004 elections, 65 of the 308 MPs (21.1%) elected
were women; 391 of the 1685 candidates (23.2%) were women. In the November 2000
elections, 375 women ran for office and 62 were elected; these figures represent
21% of the total of both candidates and MPs elected. A total of 62 of the
301 MPs elected to the House of Commons in 1997 were also women. Overall, 24.4%
of candidates in the 1997 election were women, compared with 22% in 1993.
In 1993, 53 women were elected, which represented only 18% of the 295 MPs at that
time. Look up:
Read a speech by Jocelyn Bourgon, the former Clerk of the Privy Council, on
The
Road to Gender Equality: Progress & Challenges.
Connect to the federal Status
of Women Canada site and find some on-line
publications that deal with gender issues.
You can find more information related to women's issues in the Gender, Sexuality & Politics
section of Nelson's Government & Politics on the
Web.
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
One of the earliest treatises arguing for women's rights is
Mary
Wollstonecraft's book,
A Vindication of the Rights
of Woman, published in 1792.
International documents protecting the rights of women now include:
To access a wide range of material on women's rights, connect to the United Nations
WomenWatch
site.
INTERNET RESOURCES FOR WOMEN
Canadian Sites
Angus Reid and Homemaker's Magazine provide the results of a survey of Women
at Work released in September 1997.
Canadian
Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies - an organization that deals with
women who experience trouble with the legal system
CANWIN
- The Canadian Women's Issues Network - information about women in politics
from Cynthia Alexander at Acadia
Canadian
Women's Studies On-Line - resources from the University of Toronto
Women'space Feminist
e-zine & Women's Internet Campaign
United States Sites
Center
for the American Woman and Politics has some useful fact sheets about American
women in politics, including Women
in Elective Office. (Compare these with the Canadian numbers provided at
the top of this page.)
femina:
Web Search for Women - an enormous index of Internet resources for women
Feminist
Majority Foundation - a site with many political and activist links, from
an organization dedicated to empowering women
League
of Women Voters is "a multi-issue organization whose mission is to encourage
the informed and active participation of citizens in government and to influence
public policy through education and advocacy."
Women
& Politics - a journal devoted to women and the political system
Women
Leaders Online - "WLO is the first and largest women's advocacy group created
on the Internet."
Women's
Campaign School - "The Women's Campaign School, co-sponsored by Yale Law
School and the Women's Studies Program at Yale, is dedicated to educating women
from all backgrounds in the key elements of political campaign skills."
WWWomen!
- index and searching of material on the Internet of interest to women
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