Gates alumna co-authors brief on women in politics

  • January 25, 2011

Jennifer Piscopo co-authors report on women in Caribbean and Latin America.

The Gates Scholars Alumni Association chair has co-authored a policy brief on women’s empowerment in Latin America at the Global Institute for Gender Research.

Jennifer Piscopo [2002]co-presented the brief, Presence without empowerment – women in politics in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was commissioned by the United Nations and the Social Sciences Research Council, at the SSRC’s Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum in December.

The brief talks about how effective quota laws, which include sanctions for non-compliance, have led to a rise in the number of women who have made inroads into executive and legislative power in local and national governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It says that for women’s gains to be sustainable party leaders must support initiatives which help more women become involved in party politics.

This includes support for policy changes on women’s rights, such as the formalisation of women’s caucuses and commissions in congress.

The paper concludes: “The connection between women’s presence and their empowerment depends not only on having a “critical mass” in political office but also on the social beliefs and institutional arrangements that structure their opportunities to act effectively. Policies have changed when domestic and international actors worked together to hold political leaders – male and female – accountable for advancing women’s rights.”

Piscopo studied for an MPhil in Latin American Studies at the University of Cambridge in 2002. She is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of California, San Diego, studying gender, social justice and human rights. From 2009-2010, she was a visiting fellow at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego.

 

 

Latest News

A mission to improve the effectiveness of mental health services

Poor mental health is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide and is linked to poor educational and professional outcomes and serious psychological distress. Over 75% of mental illnesses […]

Scholar named New Generation Thinker

Gates Cambridge Scholar Reetika Subramanian has been selected as one of six early years researchers in the 2025 New Generation Thinkers cohort. The scheme, which is supported by the UKRI […]

Scholar wins competition to find UK’s best science communicator

A Gates Cambridge Scholar has won the UK final of Famelab in the science communication competition’s 20th anniversary year. Spatika Jayaram was crowned UK winner at the ceremony in early […]

New book investigates history of US Patriot movement

A Gates Cambridge Scholar is preparing to publish her first book which examines the British political origins of the Patriot movement that inspired the American Revolution. Patriots Before Revolution: The […]