Not Enough Women at the Table

I think that every single person has their own unique voice. One that is shaped by our experiences, environment, and identity. It is important for our voices to be heard and our experiences to be shared especially by our leaders. When it comes to creating the laws that govern us it is important to have diversity in the room where these decisions are made. Women make up almost half the population in the world, and yet we do not see that represented in politics. Now it is true that we have made great progress, especially in the last year where more women have “served as parliamentarians, ministers, and heads of state” ^[1]than ever before. Unfortunately, it is simply not enough.

According to the figures gathered by the UN Women Organization, as of September 2021:

There are only 26 women serving as Heads of State/Government in 24 countries.
Only 21% of government ministers are women.
Only 14 countries have achieved 50 percent of more women in cabinets.
Women make up only 25% of all national parliamentarians ^[2].

Now this year in the United States, according to the Center for American Women and Politics:

Out of the 535 members of Congress only 143 (26.7%) are women.
- Out of these 143 women only 49 (34.2%) are women of color.
Only 24 women (24%) serve in the U.S. Senate.
119 women (27.4%) serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
From 1917 to 2021, 388 women in total have served in the U.S. Congress.
- Out of those 388, only 86 (22.2%) have been women of color ^[3].

How can lawmakers and leaders make decisions for everyone when all people are not equally represented in the rooms where these decisions are made? They can’t. We saw this very recently with the Texas abortion ban. As of September 1, 2021, Texas abortion restriction law (SB 8) is in effect prohibiting abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity. Cardiac activity is usually detected around six weeks which is before some women even know they are pregnant. This bill makes no exceptions for rape or incest victims. Now looking at the Senate and House of Representative in Texas we can see the lack of diversity that is prevalent throughout all politics. The Texas Senate is composed of 31 members with only 10 (32.2%) of them being women. While the Texas House of Representative only has 38 (25.3%) women members out of a total of 150 members ^[4]. Again, not enough women and women of color at the table.

On the other side of things, in California the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021 (AB-367) has been signed in October 2021 by Governor Gavin Newsom. It builds on a 2017 law that requires schools in disadvantaged areas to provide affordable access to menstrual products. Starting in the 2022-23 school year, this bill has been expanded to include “grades 6 to 12, community colleges and the California State University and University of California systems” ^[5]. Now looking at the State Legislation of California we can see that while it is more diverse than Texas, it is not by much. Out of the 40 State Senators in California, only 15 (37.5%) are women and only 24 (30%) out of 80 members of California’s House of Representatives are women ^[4]. The main difference however is that California’s State Legislature has more women of color.

I know reading all these statistics has probably not been fun, it was not a great feeling to research these facts. It is true that we have made progress, but if laws like the Texas abortion ban can pass through without much difficulty, then how much progress have we really made? Obviously, it is not enough. The solution is of course simple. We need more diversity within our government. We need more women, more people of color, and more LGBTQ+ members in leadership positions in politics. And our current leaders need to listen to us.

Here is a list of a few organizations in Texas supporting abortion access and safety: