What is the situation in Latin America in terms of female representation in popularly elected positions?
MARCELA RÍOS: In Latin America, in the legislative branch, women hold just over 20 percent of the seats on average. That is slightly above the global average of 18 percent, and we are one of the regions, after Europe, best-positioned in that sense. Significant, but uneven, progress has been made. Women’s representation has not grown at the same pace throughout the region. There are countries that have made impressive progress over the last decade, and that has driven up the regional average. IPS: What factors stand in the way of continued improvement? MR: There is a mix of factors. What we observe is that everything that has to do with the electoral regulatory framework plays a key role: the kinds of electoral systems, the kinds of lists of candidates, the existence or not of quotas. All of that has a strong influence on opening up or closing off possibilities for women. The other key factor is the role of political parties. In those countries where parties have effectively opened thei
