Gender mainstreaming in Latin American parliaments a work in progress

The past decade has seen a significant rise in the number of women participating in national parliaments in the region, although results vary by country. The enactment of women’s or gender quota laws in 12 Latin American countries has played a key role in this increase. Given the positive results of these laws, efforts to establish gender quotas should be promoted in countries that have not adopted gender legislation. In addition, the results achieved to date underscore the need for the establishment of parity-based quotas. The laws enacted recently in Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador are particularly interesting in this regard.