A great blog by a young woman about women in this election; enjoy...
Out of the 87 candidates running for elections on November 4 2015, only 11 are women. Women in politics across the country and indiscriminate of political parties face similar issues and struggles that determine their success in the political field, as is evident by the separate, yet overlapping responses by women candidates.
The Current Situation
While women in leadership positions has become more common over the past ten years with women comprising the majority of Public Servants and Educators, and females graduating from university at a two to one ratio to their male counterparts, when it comes to the political arena, women still sit at the back.
The number of women running for this elections, in an unprecedented number. Yet the participation of women in politics is still strikingly low and has been a concern of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for more than ten years. In 2001 the UNDP emphasized the necessity of meeting the Millennium Goals for 2015 of reaching a 30 percent female representation in government. However, in this election the percentage is underachieved at 11.5 percent. This is just the percentage of women that are running. There is no guarantee of actual representation.
A release from the UNDP states�"Thirty years after independence, the majority of women in Belize continue to face significant challenges in moving towards parity with men at almost every level of political leadership and decision-making." The Global Gender Gap reports of 2010 place Belize in joint last place (131st) on the Gender Gap Index for the empowerment of women, along countries like Saudi Arabia.
Four women Yasmin Showman, Dolores Balderamos, Dorla Vaughn and Dr. Leslie Guerra are running with the People's United Party (PUP). Four women, Beverly Castillo, Dr. Carla Barrett, Tracy Teagar Panton and Guadalupe Magana-Dyck are running with the United Democratic Party (UDP). Two women, Edna Diaz and Elizabeth Dina are running with the Belize Progressive Party (BPP).�One woman, Samantha Carlos, is running as the only independent candidate in this elections.
The History�
Although many take it for granted, women's representation is a right that has taken decades and continuous struggle to manifest.�The struggle for women to claim an equal place in society and government marked most of the twentieth century. After many movements and dialogues, 'the second gender' may have claim it won the rights to be recognized. However it did not take long to realize that social recognition did not translate into equal participation in government.
Women's movements that started in the early part of the twentieth century, focused its efforts on giving suffragettes the right to vote. In the latter part of the century, the grass roots problems were identified, and leaders realized that without women taking part in political governance, the glass ceiling was impenetrable. It means that as long as men are making the decisions, that directly affect how and where women develop their lives, women do not achieving much by having the right to vote men into power.
In a centralized government and small economy like Belize, the government has access to all resources and responsibility to negotiate most of the products and services that we depend on, from basic services such as communication, water and electricity to the most important such as education and medical health. It is imperative that whoever has the opportunity to utilize our resources and responsibility to negotiate the regularization of these products have a holistic approach to all of society.
Why is it important to have women in government?
Entering politics for a woman is an undertaking that resonates much deeper than it seems. The study: 'Toward Equality of Opportunity for Equality of Results, A Situation Analysis of Gender and Politics in Belize', published by the National Women's Commission with the support of the UNDP, cites "the right to take part in government as a key manifestation of human rights."�Therefore, the more equal gender representation there is in government, the more it will enhance the human rights of both genders.
Ann-Marie Williams in her capacity as Executive Director of the National Women's Commission, comments that having women in government is important because "no society will ever prosper by leaving 50 percent of its population behind" said Williams. She assures that "everything would change" if women were in government" because "when women thrive, all the society thrives" said Williams.
Tracy Teagar Panton and Edna Diaz share Williams opinion that it is essential to have women in government because "Our government has to be representative of its population" said Teagar Panton. "Only then will we have representation of the whole population" said Diaz.
Carlos and Teagar Panton believe that with women in government the kind of governance will change and that kind of governance will better benefit the country. They qualify women with attributes such as kindness and compassion and believe that these are currently lacking in government. "Imagine a woman, who is kind hearted by nature, running the country, she would have the best interest of the people at heart" said Carlos. "Women bring a sense of compassion, we have a motherly instinct by nature. There's a certain level of compassion and empathy that women bring to the table" said Teagar Panton
Diaz believes that it is important to have women governing the country because women bring a different perspective to the government. "Although genders have common basic needs, we have different point of views on how to deal with them correctly" said Diaz.
A concern of the latter part of the women movement was that men did not understand issues affecting women, as women do. Running for the area of Collet in Belize City, Yasmin Shoman, is a believer of that principle. She believes that “They [women] understand the needs and the problems of other women and they can bring forward the solutions." Diaz and Carlos believe that discrimination, especially against, single parent mothers is something affecting women in their constituencies.
What hinders women from�political involvement?
It was an objective of the UNDP analysis “to study the economic, cultural and political context that hinder women participation in politics." They felt that by understanding the problems the solutions can be derived.
Time
Williams, explains that for women to have the time and mental state to perform well in a field as demanding as politics, men must accept the shared responsibility of the home. She advocates the importance that men be educated in regards to the fundamental part they play in supporting their spouses.�"We have to raise men who are confident" she explains stating that in our society men still have a superiority complex.
She states that "a great hindrance for women is their triple roles as mother, homemakers, and employees."
Showman and Diaz, agree that the responsibility of the home falls on the woman alone limiting her capabilities in the work force. Diaz believes that "it is more difficult for a woman to get the support of �her spouse and family, to travel and be away from her home to represent her division nationally."�Showman explains "many times women are the head of the household and they have to be concerned about who will take care of their children, and who will provide an income"
Political leaders have given many speeches encouraging and welcoming women to join their parties. Showman stated that her party's leader, Francis Fonseca continuously mentions that "he would like to see more women join the party." At a conference held by the BPP, party leader Patrick Rogers commended the two women running in the party and made similar encouragements.
However, Williams explains that by men taking a more active role in the house verses verbal encouragements, which she cites as "lip service" it will provide much more equality to women. Basically, what men can do that will have a direct impact on political equality and better governance for the country is wash the dishes and watch the kids.
In her speech at the inaugural ceremony of the New Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), a project spearheaded by Kim Simplis Barrow, wife of the Prime Minister, she acknowledged her husband's support in her achievement. Attributing that without his support in the home her achievement would not have been possible. She cited his discipline to make time to drop their daughter at school and check her homework as instrumental for her to have peace of mind to carry out her work.
Finance
William states that the political field is an uneven field for women because "political rules are not friendly to women." She explains that when it comes to campaigns men are better funded than women and have better connections. Candidates Teagar Panton and Diaz agree that lack of finance and resources are main hindrances in their campaigns. "we have challenges in terms of fundraising and having the same access to resources to mobilize your campaign" said Teagar Panton. "lack of funding/finance especially if you come from a rural area and are not of a wealthy family" said Diaz.
The harsh 'man's world' of politics
Tracy Teagar Panton believes that politics presents "a unique set of challenges" for women in particular. She explains "If you look at the history of Belize, politics has been dominated by men. It's almost like a boy's club, and we have to break through those barriers." Yasmin showman, Carlos and Diaz agree with her "Politics is seen as a man’s domain." Said Diaz. "I think that women shy away from politics because it is still a male dominated field" said Showman. Carlos believes that women stay away from politics because "it has been embedded in their brain that politics is for men" said Carlos.
Yasmin Showman believes that politics poses a harsh environment for women. "I think that for most part women, shy away from it for fear of personal attacks." Carlos agrees with her stating "Not many women can stand being slandered, or have their names dragged through mud" said Carlos.
William differs in opinion stating that the political field is not as traitorous as it is made out to be and that "women are not afraid" of slanders and personal attacks.
Double Standard
The candidates believe that there is a double standard with which society judges women and men. The expectations from women and men are also different. They believed that women have to prove themselves and are demanded a proficient background to be acknowledged into politics. Teagar Panton believes that women are judged harsher in their behavior "There are certain things men candidates can get away with that women will never be able to get away with." "Our society can be very cruel sometimes, your private life, if you've made any mistake in the past they splash it all over the media" said Showman.
Old mentalities
In the eighteen hundreds, a woman's success or failure was important only because it reflected on their husbands. Their identity and sole existence was dependent on their husband's. It was believed that everything they did was to enhance their husband's position in life. Through subtle, unconscious and unplanned comments, it is evident that, that mentality is still alive today. On October 27 2015, after months of arduous labor Kim Simplis Barrow, special envoy for women and children, and wife of the Prime Minister achieved the goal of establishing a new PICU and NICU at the Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) that aims to reduce neonatal and child mortality rates by 50 percent. At the opening ceremony, many called the achievement "momentous" and even "miraculous". When asked what he felt about his wife's achievement Prime Minister Dean Borrow said "if as a consequence of that I will get some additional votes hallelujah."
What can the society do to encourage women to get involved in politics?
Another of the UNDP analysis' objectives was "to foster a national dialogue to create a better environment that will encourage women to participate in politics."
An initiatives launched by The National Women's Commission (NWC), Women In Politics (WIP), has seen success rates. Out of the three cohorts that the WIP has conducted, five participants have endeavored into a political career at the municipal level. This election the WIP is seeing its first participant, from its third cohort, Tracy Teagar Panton, undertake the candidacy for area representative. Teagar Panton shares that the WIP gave her "an opportunity to network with women from all over the country who have a vested interest in terms of seeking political office, it created a support network, to share ideas, to hear some of the unique concerns that women are facing in their lives and it really helped me to consider the opportunity to run for politics in a serious way" Teagar Panton said.
Williams, spearhead of the WIP, believes that the program has directly influence the change in the political landscape in the seven years of its operation "The commission is doing foundation work. If the commission would have been doing the work 20 years ago we would have already seen more changes."
Out of the 11 women candidates seven are from the Belize District, while only four are from other districts across Belize. The disparity between women's political involvement from the Belize district and from other districts is peculiar. Ann-Marie Williams believes that this is due to the environment that is fostered. According to Williams there needs to be an environment of exposure and awareness into leadership. Although most districts count with women groups, in some districts, women groups are centered around income generating objectives and other issues related to the home and not around leadership and governance. The more awareness and exposure to the political field the more women will be encouraged to take their place in government representation. Candidates believed that programs need to be decentralized from the cities, into towns and into villages.
Teagar Panton believes that more open dialogues educating people about the importance politics will encourage women to consider a political career. Showman advocates for bipartisan efforts to help girls take active leadership roles. Diaz believes that engendering a mentality of equality from as early as preschool will change the political landscape of the country. Carlos believes that by women taking a more outspoken approach about their equal position in society they will empower other women.
When will Belize have its first woman Prime Minister?
Teagar panton is hopeful that "It will be in my lifetime." Shoman assures that "In the next two or three terms we will see a woman as the face of Belize.” Diaz believes that "In reality we are not far from achieving our goal."�Carlos is confidently proclaims "I will be the first female Prime Minister."
Source
AmbergrisCaye.com 
