Reserved seats for women: Encouraging female political participation in the Pacific

Reserved seats for women: Encouraging female political participation in the Pacific

Women’s political representation in the Pacific remains an ongoing issue for Parliaments in the Region. While some would argue that the issue of reserved seats for women has helped to increase female political participation, the Chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Pacific Region Steering Committee, Hon Elizabeth Burain (MP from Autonomous Region of Bougainville, PNG), suggests it could in fact be having the opposite effect, leaving many women to be regarded as second class citizens.