A bill to for a 30% quota for women in the Parliament

Despite representing 51% of the Lebanese population and 54% of university graduates, it is rare to find women in the Lebanese Parliament and public offices, of which men constitute 97%. “The dynamics of marginalisation [of women] within the parties were exacerbated in the context of the civil war,” (1)Beyond Reform and Development, “Patriarchy and Sectarianism Gendered Trap: Baseline of Women in Politics – the Case of Lebanon,” 2017, p.age 22, available at: https://www.beyondrd.com/assets/publications/Patriarchy%20and%20Sectarianism%20-%20A%20Gendered%20Trap%20-%20Part%20I%20-%20BRD.pdf (last accessed 28 December 2017) leading to a further exclusion of women from politics, confining their roles to charity. To end this exclusion, women’s organisations demanded a 30% quota for women in parliamentary seats, and a bill proposing a 30% quota for women in the Parliament was drafted by the National Commission on Electoral Law, combining the majoritarian and proportional systems. The bill did was not pass, however, and the efforts to instil a quota for women continue to be made.(2)Beyond Reform and Development, “Patriarchy and Sectarianism Gendered Trap: Baseline of Women in Politics – the Case of Lebanon,” 2017, p. 22, available at: https://www.beyondrd.com/assets/publications/Patriarchy%20and%20Sectarianism%20-%20A%20Gendered%20Trap%20-%20Part%20I%20-%20BRD.pdf (last accessed 28 December 2017).