Paper short abstract:

Uganda has had an uneven history around gender equity legislative reforms since the 1990s. While some reforms succeeded, other legislative initiatives faced intense resistance. Using two policy cases, the paper raises critical questions on how women emerge as game changers in promoting gender change

Paper long abstract:

Uganda has had an uneven history and experience around gender equity policy reforms especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s to-date. These range from countrywide constitutional review processes of the early 1990s, transformative legislative reforms around land/property rights, legislative activism on domestic relations, in particular, the recent passing of the Domestic Violence Bill into an Act of Parliament in 2010. While some of these gender reforms (commonly promoted through women's collective mobilisation) were successful, other legislative initiatives faced intense resistance. This paper compares two policy cases - the 1998 legislative reform around spousal co-ownership of land, commonly referred to as the "lost clause" in the Land Act, and the 2010 Domestic Violence Act - to explore contexts that enable and/or constrain gender-transformative policy change. The paper raises critical questions regarding ways in which women emerge as critical actors in securing and consolidating gender change, the strategies they draw upon to negotiate resistance and whether the nature of policy reform influences the kind of resistance and (in effect) counter-strategies used to negotiate resistance to gender change. We also assess the implications these legislative processes have for activism around gender equity reforms. Findings indicate creative ways through which women draw on informal networks and networking practices to influence gender-equitable change, often revealing the micro, subtle gendered dynamics that animate success or failure of particular policy reform. We argue that the nature of policy reform e.g. gender status policies or doctrinal policies determines the nature of policy adoption.

Paper short abstract:

This paper looks at three national laws/policies that have contributed to closing the gender gap between men and women in Nepal, looking at the major obstacles faced by women activists and their allies in different sectors of life, and the strategies adopted to overcome them.

Paper long abstract:

This paper looks at three national laws/policies that have contributed to closing the gender gap between men and women in Nepal, namely, the School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP), the Domestic Violence (Crime and Punishment) Act 2009 (hereafter, DV Act), and ensuring inheritance rights for women in the national code. It looks at the major obstacles faced by women activists and their allies in different sectors of life, and the strategies adopted to overcome them, including changing the mindsets of those in authority.

The three cases examined represent policies with very different outcomes with regard to gender relations. The SSRP was an ameliorative policy that did not challenge existing gender norms; the DV Act, although challenging women's subordinate status and the exercise of male power, did not challenge any doctrinal positions; and the law on female inheritance, which required changes in family law as well as changes in customary practices, was gender-transformative, challenged notions of womanhood and societal relations, and required the redistribution of resources within the family.

The paper uses the feminist institutionalist framework to examine how women's rights activists and women politicians shared information, and made use of their personal and institutional relationships to lobby for their agenda. It focuses particularly on the efforts by a group of cross-party women parliamentarians to forge consensus among themselves for one-third representation in the parliament, an endeavor that eventually became successful.

Paper short abstract:

How do powerful women and their networks matter in making gender equitable policy change happen? We focus on three policy areas in Bangladesh, and explore the role of critical female actors, how they used personal relations and networks, and the limits of the strategies for sustaining gains.

Paper long abstract:

Since 1991, Bangladesh has had a female prime minister, their presence in the parliament and cabinet has increased. Bangladesh has a long history of women's movement and policy activism.

are used by these women to promote change.

In this paper we examine three policy areas to explore the role played by powerful women - political leaders, femocrats and activists to promote gender equitable change. We also explore how these leaders used informal networks, and contested sticky institutional norms or contained opposition. The paper also explores the challenges of replying on the informal relations and the gendered barriers that these specific strategies raise towards fostering leadership. The paper raises questions about whether gains made using these strategies are sustainable in the long run.

Paper short abstract:

130 million girls are still denied their right to school. Interviews with women leaders identify their role in changing social norms holding back girls' education and highlight the importance of coalitions to support collective voice and learning on what works for girls' education.

Paper long abstract:

The benefits of girls' education are clear, yet 130 million girls are still denied their right to school and many are not learning the basics. A growing evidence base shows what works to support marginalised girls' education. However, this is not sufficiently translating into action. We interviewed ten senior women political leaders who have championed girls' education to explore their motivations to act and experiences of promoting gender equality in education. The interviews identified that motivations were often grounded in women leaders' own experiences of education and gender inequality. Importantly, their involvement in coalitions for girls' education (notably the Forum for African Women Educationalists) support their ability to mobilise and to become game changers. These coalitions also enable cross-context learning from successful programmes to challenge gender discrimination in education. Women leaders also highlighted the importance of having stronger accountability structures to hold all aspects of political leadership to account, including elected politicians as well as senior civil servants. They further noted the need to work closely with grassroots leaders to ensure policies are in line with community needs and have their support in implementation. The role of women leaders specifically was recognised as being important to enable a change in perception about the roles that girls and women can play in society. Based on these findings, we present a framework that demonstrates the importance of collective action to ensure progress towards quality education for all girls.

Paper short abstract:

This paper presents an overview of the development of the women's movements in South Africa and Sudan, highlighting the role of women leaders in both countries in promoting gender equality and policy change and the challenges influencing their political role.

Paper long abstract:

South Africa was rated number 17 out of 136 countries in the world to achieve gender disparity and empower women in all levels of education (MDG 3) in 2015. Furthermore, rated number 8th in the world to have a ratio of women in the parliament, South African women female cadres with their history of bravery in the abolishment of apartheid rule; became an integral part of growth and development in the society which till date has led to effective gender cohesion. Women leaders have increased gender emancipation in social, economic and political sector of the environment with a positive impact on the human and economic development of the country. The women of Sudan on their part, have astounded the world with their strength and resilience during the 2018 revolution. Despite a dominant patriarchal culture, Sudanese women played an integral role in putting an end to the thirty-year of Islamist authoritarian rule. However, despite their success in securing more participation and representation of women in key decision-making bodies in Sudan, a number of legal and contextual factors still hinder their full inclusion. Sudanese women may have won the political rights battle, but their fight is far from over.

This paper aims to present an overview of the development of the women's movements in South Africa and Sudan, highlighting the role of women leaders in both countries, in promoting gender equality and policy change. Using data collected from journal and online, the paper concludes that promoting women participation facilitates gender equitable change.

Paper short abstract:

This paper is a qualitative study of women's leadership, strategies and achievements during five gendered contentions in Pakistan.

Paper long abstract:

This is a qualitative study of five gendered contentions underway in Pakistan, involving claims-making for rights and entitlements related to employment, security, sexuality, citizenship, and justice. The contentions primarily address their grievances to the state, although there is a growing feminist voice from across episodes to resist gendered norms that perpetuate inequality. We find distinct feminist principles of leadership and organizing strategizing that co-exist with variations in leadership styles across gendered contentions. There is an oscillation between women's involvement in protest and formal politics, indicating each domain is engaged with viewing its potential effect on claims-making in the other domain. Women activists in episodes of contention are engaged in multiple protest mobilizations across typology. The relatively few numbers of women who protest in the public domain may be consolidating onto a platform, in response to the impact of closing civic spaces on bringing rights-based claims-making.

Paper short abstract:

In Peru, education reform triggered fundamentalist mobilisations against gender equality, but women's rights activists ensured the inclusion of the gender approach. They forged a solid alliance with the highest authorities in government and mobilised the public opinion in favour of gender equality.

Paper long abstract:

In Peru, the inclusion of the gender equality approach in the new basic education curriculum in 2017 represented a milestone for opposition actors to become a large social movement. With a great capacity to mobilise resources, fundamentalist groups developed a triple strategy against gender equality: massive public demonstrations, a judicial process against the State, and an intense legislative advocacy through fujimoristas members in Congress.

Despite the initial advancement of the fundamentalist agenda, the feminist movement ensured the inclusion of gender equality in the curricular reform. I argue that women's rights activists played a crucial role in this process and explain the main strategies they used.

With limited organisational resources, feminist activists took advantage of the political confrontation between the legislative and the executive branch, forging a solid alliance with the highest authorities in government. In my analysis of newspaper records, I find a pattern that suggests a coordinated response. Gender equality is constantly equated with a better Peru and quality education, while the lack of it is explaining the high rates of sexual violence in the country.

Also, feminists politically appropriated the identity of 'mothers' to defend the gender approach in education. They gained the support of journalists, opinion leaders, scholars and regional governments, who created, for the first time in Peruvian history, a great civil society platform willing to support gender equality.

The action of feminist leaders as 'creative agents' and critical actors was crucial to resist the pushback and ensure the gender approach in the curriculum.

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the concept of 'discourse capture' in the context of global anti-feminist and anti-queer politics.

Paper long abstract:

Contemporary politics has been characterised by a widening gap between formal institutional politics and protest politics, with less people engaging in elections and more in non-violent mass movements. This shift has also seen a well-documented systematic attack on feminism and democracy, often accompanied by not only elements of 'state capture', but also what I term 'discourse capture'. The former where state processes are manipulated by private firms or individuals for their gain, and the latter, where progressive discourse is co-opted and manipulated to serve right wing agendas. This 'discourse capture' is particularly evident in 'anti-gender' and anti-feminist politics, where the language of 'rights' and 'freedom' traditionally associated with a liberal agenda, is being used by right-wing actors to undermine and rollback progressive legal statutes such as abortion rights, or constitutional protections for LGBTQI people. Within this context, we need to look beyond stated political objectives, and be particularly vigilant to who is driving specific change agendas and why, if we wish to avoid ceding institutional power to the right.