Belgium introduced gender quotas for political parties in elections in 1994, becoming one of the first countries in the world to introduce such legislation.
The move is believed to be due to a strong women’s movement in the country seeking to reverse the previously highly unrepresentative nature of politics.
Belgium was one of the last European countries to introduce full and equal voting rights to women in 1948, and in 1991 less than 10 percent of members of the House of Representatives were women.
Further gender quotas followed. Since 2002, Belgian political parties have been required to field an equal number of men and women on their list of candidates in each constituency during elections. The top two candidates on the list, the ones most likely to be selected, must be a man and a woman.
More equal representation in politics took time to take effect, but it worked.
[ Should more politicians step aside to ‘make way for the next generation’? ]
Belgium currently ranks fifth in the EU for gender balance in parliament, with 42.7 per cent of parliamentarians being women. According to the latest figures from the European Institute for Gender Equality, Sweden has the highest rate at 46.6%, followed by Finland, Spain and Denmark.
The current Belgian cabinet, which came to power in 2020 under Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, has a 50-50 ratio of men to women, making it the most gender-balanced cabinet in the country’s history. The event also broke new ground with the participation of Belgium’s first openly transgender minister, Petra de Sutter.
Since then, reshuffles have tilted the balance further, with the cabinet now including 11 women and nine men, and a general election is scheduled to be held in June this year.
Decroo recently told reporters he downplayed the role of quotas, saying the most important factor was political will. “It’s just something you have to do. I don’t think it even needs to be legislated,” the Prime Minister said.
[ Problems facing women need to be viewed as urgent rather than ‘tokenistic’, Dáil told ]
The government, also known as the “Vivaldi” coalition, is made up of seven different political parties, including the Liberals, Socialists, Greens and Christian Democrats. Gender balance was part of the negotiations when the coalition government was formed.
“The government did not have a strict rule of 50/50 women,” explains Energy Minister Tinne van der Straeten of the Flemish Green Party. “But the prime minister was very clear from the beginning what he expected from each of the seven parties. He expected half the government to be women.”
While symbolically important, some say the number of ministers alone does not reflect the true balance of power. There are seven deputy prime ministers, all but one of whom are male.
The gender balance achieved by the federal government is not reflected in local politics, says Caroline Genes, Minister for Development Cooperation and Urban Policy from the Socialist Party.
“If you look at all levels of government and local government…gender equality is still not there,” Genes said. According to Belgian political research center Crisp, only 15.8% of mayors are women.
As in many countries, women are sometimes treated more harshly in the public eye than men, especially when it comes to their appearance. But Genes insists this should not be a deterrent. “I think we need to change the system from within,” she says. “That is why I want to call on as many young girls and women as possible to get involved in politics, because it is the main driver of change.”
She credits gender quotas with getting her start. “In my own political career, when I was in politics as a young woman, she became an MP because of quotas.”
[ A Woman’s Place review: Too few women in politics? Must be their own fault ]
How does it compare to Ireland?
Since the 2016 general election, Irish political parties have had to field at least 30 per cent women and 30 per cent men as Dáil candidates or lose half of their public funding.
Despite this, Ireland remains the sixth worst country in the EU for gender equality in national politics, with women holding just 23.5 per cent of Dáil seats. This is well below the EU average of 33%, and only Slovakia, Greece, Romania, Cyprus and Hungary are lower.
The general election scheduled for 2025 will see the representation of men and women in Irish political parties increase to 40%.
There is no guarantee that you will win at this rate. Political parties can adhere to quotas while favoring men in constituencies where they are most likely to win.
The Belgian experience suggests that gender quotas are working, but it may take a generation to have their full effect.