Political Representation of Women in Romania

During the last 30 years the presence of women in elected office in Romania has displayed a steady, but disappointingly slow increase, reaching in 2016 a meager 19.1% of elected positions in parliament. Women in Romania face difficulties even standing for office in elections, not to mention the even greater difficulty of actually occupying eligible positions. It is troubling that the most recent elections 2019-2020, for the first time since Romania's accession to the EU, saw a decrease in political representation of women, both at na-tional and European levels.

A new FES study “Political Representation of Women in Romania” by Ionela Băluță and Claudiu Tufiș explores some of the causes and structural factors that may explain the current situation. Questions such as the extent and nature of legal provisions, the role of women’s organisations in political parties, as well as the organizational culture that shape how the parties establish their lists of candidates are particularly relevant. Of equal importance are societal perceptions about gender roles, feminism, and gender equality.

The Bucharest Office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung would like to invite you to a debate to discuss about how this influences the quality of the Romanian democracy and what can be done to improve the participation of women in politics as well as to encourage a political agenda that represents the interests of women. During this debate, we will also look at the situation in Germany and at the EU context and exchange best practices.

Political Representation of Women in Romania
Bucharest, 9 February 2022, 16:00-17:30h EEST (Bucharest time)
Online format – ZOOM

To join our online event prior registration is required: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkduqpqzIqGNIh12ZZoAim0nkLLV81stNQ

The FES study “Political Representation of Women in Romania” by Ionela Băluță and Claudiu Tufiș is available for download here:

• English version: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/bukarest/18817.pdf
• Romanian version: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/bukarest/18818.pdf