Gender Sensitivity among Political Parties in Indonesia and India

Abstract

In Indonesia and India the participation of women in politics is influenced by their traditional social roles. This implies that gender ideology, cultural patterns, and previously determined conceptions of suitable social roles dictate the roles of men and women. Although there is a quota system for ensuring that the representation of women in democratic representation reaches the ‘critical minimum of 30%, it is a sad fact that gender sensitivity towards women as a political class is still severely lacking among the political parties both in Indonesia and in India. This is caused by the patriarchal gender bias against women that is inherent in political parties itself and also due to the lack of political education in gender sensitivity for both men and women. In Indonesia and India, the gender sensitivity of secular political parties is almost same but for the Muslim political parties, Indonesia has better condition than in India.
 Keywords: gender sensitivity, political parties, India, Indonesia