ROLE OF CSOS IN ADDRESSING
GENDER GAP IN ELECTORAL
PARTICIPATION
Subhash Mendhapurkar
SUTRA
JAGJIT NAGAR H.P. 173225
sutrahp@gmail.com
 Traditionally CSOs have not engaged
themselves in mobilizing people to enhance
their electoral participation-The Agency for
this was the cadre of political party
contesting elections
 Now we are looking for newer agencies for
this purpose as inadequacy of this agency
has been proved as far as women’s
participation is concerned.
 The
whole electoral process should pass
3A tests if it wants to enhance the
participation of women with women’s
perception
Accessible
Affordable
Acceptable
Various Stages within the Electoral Process
Whether the pre-election environment is an
enabler for women or is it women friendly?
Whether the environment at polling booth is
women friendly? Does woman standing in
the queue feels empowered?
These are the questions that needs attention
of ECI and it needs to choose agencies who
would deliver answers for this.
•
•
•
To enhance women’s participation in State and
national level elections many CSOs in Himachal
Pradesh came together and devised a strategy
way back in 1989.
They organised meetings with Mahila Mandals
and developed a Women’s Manifesto and then
Mahila Mandals campaigned for the same
during election time
We found visible difference in women’s
participation
• Since then, during every elections the Mahila
Mandals and now the Ekal Naree Shakti Sangathans
bring out their Manifesto and campaign for the same
during elections.
• Preparations of Manifesto – is a process for not only
debating issues but also educating women about
importance of voting
• Getting `yes’ for their Manifesto from political
parties increases their own stakes in election results
 Many
CSOs now involve SHGs and Mahila
Sanghas to develop a Charter of Demand
and take it to the political party workers /
candidates and hold debates with them.
A responsive candidate gets their
support by and large.
 Political party workers also have
understood this and they get prepared
for such debates.
 Through
these processes large number
of women were accessed as well as
women also accessed large information
on electoral process, the importance of
vote
 These processes initiated by CSOs have
been more or less acceptable to women
as they know each other
 This is also affordable to women as they
could collect all the information within
their group meetings
On the Day of Election
Let us apply 3A Test for
Polling booth
Now a day, accessibility to the
polling booth is more or less
assured as number of booths
have been increased.
Can a woman afford to stand in
queue with young child/ren? Can
she afford to stand in queue
feeling `safe’
Can she afford to spend time away
from her `domestic duties’?
Ensuring Affordability
 Can we organise creches for young children-
play houses?
 Can we have adolescent boys and girls as
volunteers who can provide drinking water
to women and their children?
 Can we have functional toilets at booths?
 Will there be adequate training to police to
save women from `eyes’ of men?
 Is
she accepted in the
environment at polling booth as
`voter’ and not as `woman’?
 Her spending time at polling
booth- Is it acceptable to her
Family?
 Her independent stand on `vote’
Is it acceptable to Family
Acceptability
 To have affirmative answers to the above,
CSOs should organise preparatory meetings
between local election officers and reps of
CSOs and CBOs (women Sanghas) and
strategies need to be devised. There can not
be one strategy as there shall be diversity in
external environment.
 It
has been observed that there is no
problem in mobilizing women from
marginalized communities for
participation in electoral processes- Ms
Razia Patel’s study shows that maximum
Muslim women partake in electoral
process
 The
problem lies with educated upper
and Middles class women.
 There are very few CSOs who work with
these sections of women.
 Thus new ways need to find out to
mobilize these women-use of technology
(SMS)developing neighborhood
association, using school going children
as motivators
Many
CSOs are working with EWRs
of Gram Panchayat or small town
Municipal Bodies- can we use these
women as an Agency for mobilizing
and bridging the gender gap in
electoral participation – some
experiments in Karnataka have
shown very positive results
ECI
should write letter to all the
EWRs of Local Bodies inviting them
to become Agency to bridge the
gender gap
ECI may provide incentives for
them- like issuing letter of
appreciation at public functions after
the elections are over
Thank you