Women In Politics
This article was written by Dartmouth College Sophomore Anyoko Sewavi. Anyoko interned with the Launch gURLs Marketing and Communications team this summer and was pivotal in launching our brand!
Women have come a long way from battling for the right to vote and in the past decades women have entered politics as world leaders. Today, more women are being elected for head-of-state positions than ever before. Johanna Sigurdardottir, former Prime Minister of Iceland, legalized gay marriage. Jacinda Arden, Prime Minister of New Zealand, successfully controlled the Coronavirus outbreak. Studies even show that countries with female leaders have responded best to the pandemic. Among those women is Ing Tsai, President of Taiwan, who also preserved many indingenous languages by recognizing them nationally.
Although the battle for equality in politics is far from over, now more than ever is a time to celebrate how far we’ve come. We’re highlighting some incredible women who have served as global leaders and set examples for future female leaders to come. They are not listed in any particular order and we celebrate all equally!.
Although Josefina was never elected the President of Mexico, she was the first female candidate of a major political party in Mexico and that makes her noteworthy. She didn’t start off as a politician, but instead as an economist and had initially gone into politics for her economic expertise as a representative. Josefina then went on to become the first female Secretary of Development, the first female Secretary of Public Education, and finally the first female candidate of the PAN organization.
Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica
Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Portia Simpson-Miller has a list of accomplishments as a politician that will make anyone pause. Before being elected as prime minister, she held many different seats in the People’s national Part of Jamaica for 28 years. Her work before and during office include reforming the Overseas Farm workers program, building national athletic support, and improving employment of youth and women.
You may have heard of her many times in the past few months, Jacinda Ardern is the current Prime Minister of New Zealand. She is known globally for how she led her country through the Coronavirus pandemic with minimal cases and deaths despite not having the same resources as bigger countries. As a national leader, Prime Minister Jacinda based her decisions off trusted scientists to eliminate the virus rather than simply reduce it. She has set a high example of what leadership during unprecedented times should look like.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia
Former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was not only the first female president in Liberia, but also in the continent of Africa. Ellen set the stage and became an example for other African countries to follow in appointing a female head-of-state. She first ran for President in 1997 but came in second place. But the loss did not deter her, and she ran again in 2005, won, and was even re-elected for a second term.
Ing Tsai is the current President of Taiwan as well as the first female President. So far during her presidency, one of her main actions was to preserve indigenous languages. President Ing Tsai did this by designating 16 indigenous languages as national languages. By recognizing these languages nationally, they can be taught in schools, used in legal documents, and recognized nationally.
Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland
She is the former and first female Prime Minister of Iceland. She is known for her stance on gender equality in all aspects of social and political life in the country. She also supports gay-rights and became the first same-sex married couple in Iceland after it was legalized in 2010.
These women have already and are currently making history. We know we missed a lot, who are some female leaders we should know about? Let us know in the comments!
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