Gender inequality in women's political participation in Latin America and the Caribbean

Spanish version available in IDRC Digital Library: Desigualdad de género en la participación política de las mujeres en América Latina y el CaribeThroughout history, women’s political participation has been mainly in the exercise of their rights, rather than their direct participation in this manner. This has occurred due to multiple factors, among others, the existence of a patriarchal order, political parties’resistance to the entry of women, harassment and political violence towards them, and other multiple factors. This document is presented with a sufficiently documented example of the case of Ecuador where there is a program that expects women’s insertion in politics, showing its emerging results and also two more cases in order to consider factors that facilitate equality or inequality in this topic. Besides all efforts, it’s still needed to make this planning real, so that the gap in opportunities for political participation between men and women becomes smaller. Also the strong marginalization of indigenous and/or rural women is depriving the Latin American countries from their great contributions to regional development, since they have very clear demands, which could enrich their respective territories