Citizenship: leading role for women in Finland

Article in BBC website celebrates one hundred years that Finnish women became the first in the world to have unrestricted rights both to vote and to stand for parliament. In the elections in the following year, that is, 1907, 19 female Members of Parliament (MP) were elected and women have continued to play a central role in the nation's politics ever since. But it would be only 22 years before the UK and 38 years before France gave women the vote and 65 years before Switzerland followed (in 1971, while some cantons only in the nineties!).

In Finland this year, Tarja Halonen was re-elected president and women play a central role in national politics and in government, they also have a high employment rate and an important participation in the economy. The same is valid for Norway and for the other Scandinavian countries. But this is only the result of a long-standing cultural tradition of gender equality.

Among the 6 top countries with higher percentage of women in the national parliaments in the world (or lower Houses) we find the four Scandinavian countries (Sweden 45.3%, Norway 37.9%, Finland 37.5% and Denmark 36.9%). The other two are Rwanda (48.8%) and Costa Rica (38.6%). Most European countries do quite well, in particular Spain has improved a lot (36%) in the most recent elections, but some countries are still shamelessly lagging behind, such as the UK (19.7%) Greece and Ireland (13%), France (only 12.2%!) and Italy, which is the worst performer in the EU, with only 11.5% of parliamentary seats filled by women. Portugal doesn't do too bad with 21.3%. Outside Europe, Argentina sets the example (35%) but the USA (15.2%) and Japan (9%) are among the worst performers.

This picture is similar for participation in governments (as well as for other areas of economic and social life) where women still have great difficulties in "imposing" themselves in the "men's world". However things have recently been changing also in other areas of the world (not only in Europe), like in Africa where women have become government leaders (Liberia, Mozambique) or in Southern America (Chile). Several countries have recently elected their first female leader - Liberia, Chile and Germany among them - and women in Kuwait are preparing to vote and stand in parliamentary elections for the first time later this month. This is quite important, knowing how difficult it usually is for women to participate activilely in economic and social life in arab cultures.

Some countries are also introducing "positive discrimination" rules, as Portugal has recently done, to ensure that more women come into politics, parliaments and governments. Following the trend, women should also come more to leading positions in firms, in the private sector.