Open letter to political parties and forums

Tirana, 31/05/2024

Political parties and forums must end, not only numerically, the gender gap in municipal councils

Political parties—in accordance with national legislation and commitments at the international level—have taken measures to promote gender equality at all levels of government. As a result of the measures, the numerical representation of women in municipal councils has increased significantly. In the local elections of 2023, women constituted 49.8% of the candidates. In the region—and beyond—Albania stands out for the high representation of women in municipal councils. But—if we look beyond the numbers—the situation in municipal councils is not so promising. In fact, based on the most recent study by the Albanian Women's Empowerment Network (AWEN*), the gender gap in municipal councils has deepened. Through this letter, AWEN seeks to inform political parties in the country—and forums within political parties—about the results of the study and to call on political parties to take steps to end—for real—the gender gap in politics. The study, based on the analysis of municipal council meetings and interviews with councilors, shows that:

1. The efforts of political representatives in municipal councils to improve the quality of governance—law enforcement, transparency, and impartiality—have weakened. In 2023—compared to 2018—councillors discussed law enforcement and transparency about 2 times less. Also, counselors were less concerned about inequalities or injustices.

2.      Men dominate discussions during city council meetings, and their dominance has been increasing. The frequency with which men took the floor in 2023 (74.33%) was higher than in 2018 (65.66%) and only slightly lower than in 2016 (76.09%).In some of the councils studied, men got the floor in more than 80% of cases.

3.      The dominance of men is also felt in the discussion of services. After taking the floor, men engage more intensively than women in discussing public services, social welfare, road and transport infrastructure, water supply, emergencies/disasters. The only area, out of the 6 areas analyzed, where women and men discuss with the same intensity is that of education.

4.      While interruptions occur constantly during municipal council meetings, it is women who are interrupted more often. Women are interrupted about 2.5 times more often than men.

5.      Numerical achievements hide a number of practices used within political parties as well as during council meetings, which aim at the opposite of gender equality reforms.

a. Weak democracy within political parties penalizes women, for example by discouraging re-election or competing on the basis of ideas and platforms.

b. Councilors' proposals during meetings are not taken into consideration, and they are dismissed or seen as temporary in politics.

c. Party leaders pressure women councilors to withdraw en masse from the council, making room for men.

d. Economic pressure—or the threat of dismissal—is used to ensure that counselors will toe the managers' "line."

e. Psychological violence, such as abuse of counselors, carries internalized biases that rely on the mistaken idea that women's opinions are less important than men's.

p. Numerical equality is being used by (men) councilors to prevent further advancement of women in politics. Councilors are using the numbers to justify opposing initiatives aimed at real equality in politics.

AWEN proposes that political parties and forums within them initiate a discussion about the findings and practices identified through the study. This discussion must be accompanied by concrete measures that must be taken so that gender equality in politics is not limited to numbers only.

The efforts of political parties should not end the moment they submit their lists of candidates to the Central Election Commission. Otherwise, the gender gap in municipal councils will continue to widen.

We invite you to read the full study report here: https://awenetwork.org/media/665858df0c2bc.pdf

* AWEN is a network of organizations that work to protect and promote the rights of women and girls. Our network consists of 10 organizations working together to empower girls and women socially, economically, and politically. Our network aims to strengthen cooperation between organizations to increase the impact of joint activities at the national level and to strengthen the feminist movement in Albania.