Lok Sabha Elections 2014: The State Of Women’s Representation [Infographic]

Posted: April 28, 2014

The Lok Sabha elections 2014 will be coming to an end shortly, making it a good time to review the state of women’s representation in Indian politics, with this infographic.

With ideation and data compilation support from Skendha Singh

Six phases of the Lok Sabha elections are over, and come this time next month, we will know the shape of the government for the next 5 years. While there has been more noise than ever before on women’s safety, what is the state of women’s representation like in these elections? Are parties serious about becoming more inclusive, or is all the talk of women’s rights just so much noise?

To answer those questions, we compiled the available data on women’s representation in the Lok Sabha elections 2014, and looked at it by party and state. Then, we put some of the most interesting facts together in the form of this simple infographic.

Have a look, and draw your own conclusions!

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<p>Created by www.womensweb.in</p>
<p><a href="http://www.womensweb.in/2014/04/womens-representation-lok-sabha-elections-2014/">
<img src="http://i2.wp.com/www.womensweb.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/LOK-SABHA-2014.png?w=800" alt="Women's Representation in Lok Sabha 2014" border="0" />
</a></p>

Aparna

Founder, Editor of Women's Web, Aparna believes in the power of ideas and conversations

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Comments

4 Comments

Karuna - April 28, 2014 at 9:29 am

We should even see the number of woman who are involved into politics too.When very few number of woman are into politics then during the election time the party cannot just give tickets to run for election to the ones who have not been the party members or have any political process.So our debate should now be focused on bringing more woman into political mainstream.When there are more number of woman involved in the local political activities or when there are more woman member in the party then only we can see more number of candidates,

So,lets focus on ehancing woman participation in political process rather than directly claiming and blaming the party leaders for not providing tickets to woman in the elections.

Reply
- Aparna - April 28, 2014 at 11:37 am
  
  Thanks for the comment, Karuna. I agree with you, but partially. Participation has to increase at a local level, yes.
  
  But – women’s participation in politics at a grass-roots level is also a function of how inclusive and supportive the environment is. And political parties and party leaders have to take on the responsibility for creating that inclusive environment. Candidates who have committed major crimes against women are casually given tickets. Many party leaders are themselves highly sexist. In this environment, when coupled with the intrinsic social barriers women face to a career in politics, few women will venture into politics – and the cycle will continue.
  
  If leaders are serious about breaking this, they have to take the necessary steps. So, I would not give them a free pass on this.
Shruti - April 28, 2014 at 6:23 pm

While critics blame reservation for being tokenistic, the truth is women reservation at local level has brought more than 10million women in politics. Compared to this in assemblies women make for less than 10percent. The same women are being churned out in these institutions, thus leading to what is called the bahu biwi brigade. If political parties started voluntary quotas within their ranks it will create a space for women who would otherwise not participate

Reply
- Radha Viswanathan - April 28, 2014 at 9:30 pm
  
  Maybe so. But the malaise of quota is already evident in our system. The last decade has seen a lot happening to the economy than the past 60+ years. Growth and education has made so many families lead a better life today.
  
  Education will be the only long term solution, this might be what will drive men and women towards equality and personal independence. Anything else will just be what we are doing right now viz. fixing issues but not tackling the core problem.