By Lori Youmshajekian
Women’s representation in the upper levels of Armenia’s government has improved significantly in recent years. In less than a decade, the percentage of female lawmakers has doubled, rising from 18% in 2017 to 36% today. But these numbers only tell part of the story, experts say.
On the surface, Armenia has made meaningful strides in closing the gender gap, rising from 102nd to 64th in the Global Gender Gap Index, a World Economic Forum indicator that assesses gender disparities in education, economic participation, and political empowerment in 146 countries. This was driven largely by the growing number of women lawmakers in parliament.
Meanwhile, just two of the country’s 15 ministerial positions are held by women: the education minister and health minister. And only eight out of 47 deputy ministers are women. There are also persistent gaps at the local and regional levels of government. No regional governors — a position that is appointed, not elected — are women. And at the community-level, women represent fewer than 6% of leaders, heading only four out of 71 communities. Many women are still kept at an arm’s length from power, even though they often comprise an equal number of the staff in political offices.
“There are many women working, but we do not see many women who are in leadership positions,” says Greta Gevorgyan, a senior program officer at the National Democratic Institute.
Still, this marks a step forward, says Zhanna Harutyunyan, leader of the gender equality portfolio at the United Nations Development Program in Armenia, noting that women have traditionally held only 1-2% of village leadership positions in Armenia.
“The numbers can definitely be better, but it’s much better than before,” Harutyunyan says, adding that representation on community councils has increased from 12% to 30% today.
“It’s great to see more women, but I think overall, it’s probably a bit artificial,” says Gohar Shahnazaryan, co-founder and co-director of Women’s Fund Armenia, a local grant-making organization. “There still remains a lot to be improved.”
Shahnazaryan notes that the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and COVID-19 pandemic have hampered progress on increasing women’s representation, saying, “This topic of women’s political representation is not so much the priority.”
The Council on Women’s Affairs, an internal government group that was created to support women’s involvement in the democratic process, has also “not been able to achieve many of its established goals,” because of these setbacks, according to a European Union-funded assessment of Armenia’s gender gap published in February.
Where the numbers of women have grown, those improvements can be attributed to quotas, and to the switch to a proportional electoral system, says Harutyunyan. In this system, parties present lists of candidates, and seats are allocated based on the percentage of votes the parties receive. The rule has parties list a third person of a different gender after listing two people of the same gender.
But while legislative reforms exist, the political will to hold parties accountable to the quotas is lacking, says Gevorgyan. There have been instances where women put their names as candidates, but then withdraw after they are elected. This phenomenon is not well studied, says Shahnazaryan.
As they increasingly enter politics, women also face a unique set of challenges not typically experienced by their male counterparts. Shahnazaryan recalls speaking to a female lawmaker who, despite not smoking, would join her male colleagues outside during breaks with a cigarette to engage in crucial discussions.
“The way [men] socialize, it’s very different,” Shahnazaryan says. “Women are not fitting in.”
Social barriers also persist, especially in areas outside of Yerevan.
“It’s a widespread idea that women should take care of the family,” says Gevorgyan.
A 2021 survey found that most Armenians attribute women’s underrepresentation in politics to their roles in childcare and household duties.
“These positions require more engagement and more time,” says Harutyunyan. “Women still have roles as mothers, daughters, sisters.” Government institutions need to create more family-friendly practices, she adds, so women can advance their career.
When a woman has a family, she might be out of the workforce for several years.
“It decreases confidence, they feel outdated in the market,” Harutyunyan says.
Research has shown that men tend to believe they make better political leaders, while women think there is no difference. That is often cited as one of the reasons why women limit their involvement in community leadership. Other reasons include women’s fear of expressing themselves and a lack of self-confidence.
But Harutyunyan says her own research questions the hypothesis that men don’t see women as leaders.
“Mostly, women don’t see themselves as leaders,” she says. “Women themselves don’t feel comfortable or confident enough to go for these roles.”
A few years ago, she tallied the number of male and female candidates who ran in elections. About 75% of men who ran were elected, roughly the same proportion as women who ran and were elected.
“(That) means that if more women ran, they would have the same opportunity to be elected as men,” Harutyunyan says. “That’s why leadership programs developing skills in negotiation and persuasion are so important.”
Although Armenia has made clear strides towards promoting gender equality, Shahnazaryan says she worries about the sustainability of these gains, saying, “You don’t know how the next political power will rearrange things.”
Harutyunyan echoes this sentiment: “We have to use this momentum to go as much and as far as possible when the window of opportunity is there. That opportunity may come and go with the political winds.”
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