Beyond the status quo, centring women in the Westminster system in the Commonwealth Caribbean: a preliminary analysis

Abstract

Globally women form a small minority of national parliaments and continue to face a number of obstacles in their struggle for greater political equality and indeed the Commonwealth Caribbean is no different. I argue that the culture of political parties and Westminster institutional arrangements not only fail to create the political opportunity structure that would enable women to participate more fully in political life but also constrain their ability to change the agenda setting. The article begins with a cursory discussion of the state of democracy in the Commonwealth Caribbean, reviews the debate on the need for gender equality and sets the context of the Commonwealth Caribbean by way of a brief discussion of the participation of women in politics. It acknowledges the persistence of male-dominated political institutions and the continuation of a political culture within political parties that does little to encourage women's political participation. The final section of the paper reviews the attempts to bring legislative reform on such issues as domestic violence and sexual harassment.

Keywords:

• Westminster model
• representational politics
• women
• political opportunity structure
• agenda setting
• political presence
• democracy

Acknowledgements

The Author acknowledges the support of Professor Brian Meeks, Mona campus, UWI, Dr Kate Quinn, Institute of the Americas, UCL and the research assistance of Ms Ayodele Harper, Department of Government, Sociology and Social Work, Cave Hill campus, UWI.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Exceptions include Antigua and Barbuda, Belize and Grenada.

2. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association provides an important channel through which legislators in Commonwealth countries can consult each other on a regular basis, foster cooperation and mutual understanding, and promote good parliamentary practice.

3. These include strengthening the opportunities for post-primary education for girls while meeting commitments to universal primary education; guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health and rights; investing in infrastructure to reduce women's and girls’ time burden; guaranteeing women's and girls’ property and inheritance rights; increasing women's share of seats in national parliaments and local government bodies; and combating violence against girls and women.

4. Accordingly, Commonwealth governments committed themselves to five principles namely: democracy; the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary; just and honest government; fundamental human rights, including equal rights and opportunities for all citizens regardless of race, colour, creed or political belief; and equality for women, so that they may exercise their full and equal rights.

5. The other five countries to have achieved what is considered to be above a critical mass for women's representation are Cuba, Argentina, Iceland and the Netherlands. According to the Report, four out of nine countries in Southern Asia have introduced quotas to boost female representation at the level of the national parliament (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan).

6. Dame Billie Miller's contribution to discussion on political parties and election campaign spending workshop organised by the Organisation of American States, Christ Church, Barbados, May 2013.

7. While women in Grenada currently occupy one-third of the elected seats in the House of Assembly, it may well have been as a direct result of the clean sweep of the New National Party headed by Prime Minister Keith Mitchell. In 1999, the New National Party also made a clean sweep winning all 15 parliamentary seats with five women on the slate of candidates. This feat was repeated in the 19 February 2013 general elections with Alexandra Otway-Noel, Clarice Modeste, Emmanlin Pierre, Delma Thomas and Yolande Bain-Horsford all securing victories. See Cynthia Barrow-Giles and Tennyson S. D. Joseph, (2006) and Caribbean Elections Today (2013, February 19). LANDSLIDE: NNP sweeps Grenada 2013 Election winning all 15 seats. Retrieved from http://www.caribbeanelections.com/blog/?p=2145.

8. Cynthia Barrow-Giles, email Interview with Wendy Grenade, 13 August 2014, Barbados.

9. Cynthia Barrow-Giles, telephone Interview Judith Soares, then Head of WAND, University of the West Indies, 29 April 2013, Barbados.

10. See Report No. 37820, Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in the Caribbean. (2007). A Joint Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Latin America and the Caribbean Region of the World Bank. See also, Griffith (1997) and Tang Nain and Bailey (2003). Pargass and Clarke (2003) have argued that there is significant under-reporting of intra-family violence in the Caribbean which makes it difficult to provide a complete picture of the incidence of violence against woman. They attribute this to feelings of shame, intimidation and acceptance on the part of victims of such violence.

11. Change Centre (NGO: Domestic Violence-related), Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=Change+Centre+%28NGO%3a+Domestic+Violence-Related&ie=UTF-. They point out that since the passing of the Domestic Violence Bill, awareness has been heightened and people are more likely to speak out. However, perpetrators are generally being released. Charges may be brought against some, but of those, few come to the court because there is either some kind of bribery within the family, cover-ups, etc.

12. Red Thread is an organisation that defends the rights of women, speaks out against violence against women and attends to the basic needs of grassroots women. The organisation brings together low-income Guyanese women across race divides, develops their skills and provides information and other resources.