CWP Workshop D: The Retention of Women in Parliaments: How to Keep Women in Politics?
About the Workshop
With many women leaving politics, how can Parliaments retain more women in senior and leadership positions?
[1] https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures#_edn11 |
Panellists
Hon. Nathalie Roy, MNA has been President of the Assemblée nationale du Québec since 2022. A lawyer by training, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in law from the Université de Sherbrooke in 1988 and graduated from the Québec École du Barreau in 1990. From 1990 to 2012, she worked in radio and television journalism. In 2010, she opened a private penal and criminal law practice while continuing to work in television production, before entering politics.
First elected to the Assemblée nationale du Québec on 4 September 2012, as Member for Montarville, under the Coalition Avenir Québec banner, she served as Second Opposition Group Critic for Education, Culture and Communications and the Charter of the French language.
Ms Roy was subsequently re-elected three times as Member for Montarville. During her second term, she served as Caucus Chair and Second Opposition Group Critic for Justice, the Status of Women, Immigration, Integrity and Laicity. On 18 October 2018, she was appointed Minister of Culture and Communications, a position she held for four years. Ms Roy was elected President of the National Assembly on 29 November 2022.
Dr Marilyn Bromberg is an Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia Law School, a practising criminal lawyer and an Advisor at the Butterfly Foundation. She will be a visiting scholar at Harvard University in the United States for part of 2025.
Her main research areas are Body Image Law, Health Law and social media and the law. Her PhD, which she graduated from in 2014, was one of the first in the world on social media and the law. Marilyn is originally from Toronto, Canada and moved to Perth, Australia in 2006. Some of the venues where Marilyn has spoken include: the Australian Federal Parliament, Harvard University, The Supreme Court of Canada, the Queensland Parliament, the Family Court of Western Australia, the University of Melbourne, the Western Australian Parliament and the Australian National University Law School.
Workshop Recommendation
The recommendation proposed for endorsement by workshop delegates is as follows:
- Parliaments should proactively explore all necessary measures, supports and infrastructure to allow duly elected Parliamentarians to undertake their term in office without undue and inappropriate influence.
Workshop Resources
General Resources
- CPA Resource | CWP Gender Sensitising Parliaments Guidelines: Standards and a Checklist for Parliamentary Change
- WFD | Women's Political Careers: Leadership in Practice
The Parliamentarian: Related Articles
- The Parliamentarian 2024 Issue Two: Advancing Inclusiveness: Enhancing Women's Representation in Commonwealth Parliaments
- The Parliamentarian 2024 Issue One: She Should Run: Inspiring Tools and Supports for WOmen Interested in Seeking Elected Positions
- The Parliamentarian 2023 Issue Four: Women’s representation remains inadequate across the Commonwealth – more action is needed for change
- The Parliamentarian 2022 Issue Three: CWP Workshop A: Empowering Women Parliamentarians and Promoting Diversity/Intersectionality