Women in Goa's politics: The need for fast tracking to achieve gender equality

Abstract

Goa depicts good socioeconomic parameters for women with low infant mortality rate, high literacy rate, and a better sex ratio as compared to the all-India levels. However, as this chapter discusses, these alone are no guarantee that women's condition is better in Goa compared to the rest of India. When it comes to women's participation in formal politics, Goa is no different from the other states. The high socioeconomic indicators for women have not resulted in achieving equal political participation for them in the politics of Goa. The chapter also discusses how past experience shows a negligible presence of women in the Goa's politics and provides answers to the question on whether women are less interested in political matters and consequently not interested in contesting elections? It also discusses the factors responsible for women's low representation in the state assembly and Parliament. While answering these questions the chapter argues that there is no co-relation between high socioeconomic parameters and women's entry into politics and makes a case for electoral quotas as an important step towards achieving women's equal participation in politics.