Weekend Studying on Girls’s Illustration: Making certain Honest Pay for Legislators; Alyia Gaskins Might Be Alexandria’s First Black Girl Mayor

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Weekend Studying on Girls’s Illustration is a compilation of tales about ladies’s illustration in politics, on boards, in sports activities and leisure, in judicial places of work and within the personal sector within the U.S. and world wide—with a bit of gardening and goodwill combined in for refreshment!

Making certain Honest Pay for Legislators

Our dedication to constructing ladies’s political energy continues as we discover sustainable options to systemic challenges. This week, we revealed “Salaries of State: Modernizing State Legislatures by way of Compensation Commissions,” a report analyzing the function of compensation commissions in managing legislative pay.

Girls throughout the nation report wage as a key consideration when deciding to run or stay in workplace. Establishing a compensation fee on the native stage is probably the most viable approach to make sure honest pay for state legislators, facilitate a various political atmosphere, and take away systemic obstacles ladies legislators face.  

(RepresentWomen)

The report focuses on 4 key metrics: 

  • State legislator compensation impacts who serves in workplace and the way lengthy. 
  • Larger compensation ranges for elected officers create extra alternatives for girls to run and keep in workplace. 
  • Fee energy and authority are pivotal in figuring out effectiveness. 
  • Educating voters straight is vital to establishing and sustaining a fee.

The Advantages of Ranked-Alternative Voting

Final week, I used to be excited to be in Ocean Metropolis, Md., on the Maryland Municipal League’s summer season convention the place I had the chance to signify Ranked Alternative Voting Maryland.

It was nice to talk with native elected officers together with city directors and their workers on the advantages of modernizing election methods by way of implementing ranked-choice voting!

What Is Ranked-Alternative Voting?


Racist Graffiti on Angela Alsobrooks’ Marketing campaign Signal Is a Reminder of the Threats Black Girls in Politics Face

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U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Angela Alsobrooks marketing campaign indicators have been defaced with hateful, threatening and racist messages final month. This assault is reflective of the rising hostility about half of native elected leaders face of their time in public service, analysis documented by CivicPulse

Girls, and particularly Black ladies, face much more critical threats when searching for or serving in elected or appointed political workplace. RepresentWomen’s CEO and founder Cynthia Richie Terrell and analysis affiliate Marvelous Maeze share

At RepresentWomen, we’re dedicated to uncovering the obstacles confronted by Black ladies in politics by way of assiduously researching how system reforms may end up in options to extend their illustration in authorities.

Our 2024 temporary, “Breaking Obstacles for Black Girls in Politics,” showcased the hurdles Black ladies are compelled to deal with, corresponding to biases, misogyny and flawed political practices. We proposed early investments by political events, adopting gender and race-based funding measures by donors and PACs, and ranked-choice voting (RCV). Now, the time has come for us to show our focus to the in-person and on-line assaults that some candidates face, not solely as a result of they’re ladies however as a result of they’re Black ladies.


Japan Ranks 118th in World Financial Discussion board Gender Equality Report, Exhibits Enchancment in Political Illustration

(RepresentWomen)

The World Financial Discussion board (WEF) ranked Japan 118th out of 146 international locations on gender equality in 2024. This rating is a slight enchancment from final 12 months when Japan ranked one hundred and twenty fifth.

This progress was pushed by a 1.7 proportion level enhance in ladies holding legislative, senior official, and administration roles from 2023 and a 4.6 proportion level enhance from 2006.

Regardless of these enhancements, Japan nonetheless faces vital gender disparities, with males occupying 5 out of 6 management roles. Our analysis library has a number of worldwide briefs and stories that present data-driven options to extend ladies’s illustration.

Francis Tang from The Japan Instances stories:

The share of ladies in legislative, senior official and administration roles elevated by 1.7 proportion factors from 2023 and 4.6 proportion factors from 2006, in response to the report.

Japan’s gender disparity in senior roles stays vital, with 5 out of six management roles within the nation occupied by males, in response to the report.

Within the International Gender Hole Index 2024, which is the general index, Japan was the lowest-ranked Group of Seven nation, 31 locations under Italy, the second-lowest ranked G7 member state… 

“Though there was an enchancment in each the rating and rating in contrast with final 12 months, it reveals that our nation’s efforts are nonetheless lagging behind different international locations. We should humbly settle for this actuality,” Hayashi stated, including that the federal government is asking political events to set targets to lift the share of feminine candidates standing in elections.


Alyia Gaskins Wins Democratic Nomination for Alexandria Mayor, Poised to Make Historical past as First Black Girl Mayor

The preliminary outcomes for the Alexandria mayoral elections and the Arlington County Board are in. Alyia Gaskins secured the Democratic nomination for mayor of Alexandria and is on observe to turn out to be the primary Black girl mayor within the metropolis. Gaskins, a first-term metropolis councilmember and senior program officer, emphasised neighborhood illustration and garnered vital endorsements. 

Within the metropolis council race, all 4 Democratic incumbents are projected to retain their seats. Ranked alternative voting continues for the Arlington county board seat, with candidates together with former NAACP president J.D. Spain and realtor Natalie Roy main.

Matt Blitz and Margerat Barthel from WAMU report

Alexandria voters selected Alyia Gaskins as their Democratic mayoral candidate in response to unofficial outcomes. Six seats Alexandria Metropolis Council seats have been additionally on the poll, 4 Democratic incumbents are projected win their primaries. In the meantime, in Arlington, election officers proceed to tabulate ranked-choice votes within the Democratic major, with 5 candidates on the poll for the one open county board seat…

Gaskins tells WAMU she hopes her victory encourages others to be a part of their neighborhood.

“What excites me most, as different little ladies who look similar to me or seem like my daughter Ellie, may have illustration that they’ve by no means seen earlier than,” Gaskins stated. “And I hope that it evokes them to know that their voice issues, that they’ve one thing to offer to our neighborhood, and in the event that they see an issue, they will step in and repair it.”

Gaskins additionally secured a number of vital endorsements, together with from outgoing Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson, three metropolis council members, and numerous elected officers in neighboring jurisdictions. She outraised each her opponents as properly.


Have Feminine Presidents in Latin America Improved Girls’s Lives?

(RepresentWomen)

Mexico simply elected Claudia Scheinbaum as its first president. On this dynamic interview, WBUR journalist Megna ChakrabartiJennifer Piscopo, professor of gender and politics on the Royal Holloway College of London, and Carmen Alanis, a advisor on ladies points in Mexico, converse on the function of feminine presidents in Latin America. Starting in 2002, the Mexican Congress established a legislative quota requiring {that a} sure proportion of candidates for elected workplace be ladies, with fines and penalties levied if that quota shouldn’t be met. 

RepresentWomen’s Fatma Tawfilk and Georgina De La Fuente study this matter additional in Girls on the Entrance and Middle of Mexican Politics: What Can the U.S. Study?

On June 2, over 60% of registered Mexican voters went to the polls for a historic election, with over 20,000 public places of work up for grabs on the federal and native ranges. This election was historic, as a girl will maintain the best workplace in Mexico for the primary time, greater than 70 years after ladies gained the proper to vote and stand for election. Over the previous few years, ladies in Mexico have gone from being fringe operatives within the political enviornment to taking heart stage. Nonetheless, this transformation took time and deliberate motion to attain. 


Document Variety of Girls Search Texas Home Seats in Upcoming November Election

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Over 100 ladies are on the November poll, aiming for seats within the Texas Home subsequent 12 months. At present, Democratic nominees for the Texas Home considerably outnumber Republican nominees. This discrepancy is partly because of the historically low variety of ladies representatives within the GOP, which can hinder their efforts to diversify and attraction to extra voters. A real democracy wants varied views to thrive, and efforts are underway to extend ladies’s illustration inside the GOP, together with monetary assist and coaching. 

Texas acquired a D letter grade in our 2023 Gender Parity Index. RepresentWomen is raring to see how these nominations will impression its rating.

Erin Davis from Spectrum Information 1 stories:

At present, simply 47 of 150 seats within the Home are held by ladies. 

“Nearly all of ladies officeholders in addition to candidates are Democrats,” stated Kelly Dittmar with the Middle for American Girls and Politics. 

This November there can be 65 Democratic nominees on the poll for a Texas Home seat and 26 Republican ladies, a document for the GOP.

“Girls are usually a bit of bit extra danger averse typically,” stated Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Texas Home District 19. 

Rep. Troxclair is without doubt one of the 11 Republican ladies incumbents in comparison with the 26 Democrats. She revealed a e-book, “Step Up: Learn how to Advocate Like a Girl,” so as to encourage different conservative ladies run for workplace. 

“Not simply because they’re ladies, however as a result of they’re certified leaders of their communities and their households,” she stated. 


Employees Suggestions: Summer time Studying 

Communications supervisor Arianna Conte recommends Each Time You Hear That Tune by Jenna Voris, “a queer coming-of-age story celebrating nation music, sophisticated ladies, and dwelling authentically.” This e-book is ideal for followers of highway journeys, Dolly Parton, novels advised from a number of views, and a thriller to unravel. Test it out at your native library or unbiased bookstore! What’s your favourite style to learn

Up subsequent:

U.S. democracy is at a harmful inflection level—from the demise of abortion rights, to an absence of pay fairness and parental depart, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and assaults on trans well being. Left unchecked, these crises will result in wider gaps in political participation and illustration. For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Modification, and centering the tales of these most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we’re redoubling our dedication for the subsequent 50 years. In flip, we’d like your assist, Help Ms. as we speak with a donation—any quantity that’s significant to you. For as little as $5 every month, you’ll obtain the print journal together with our e-newsletters, motion alerts, and invites to Ms. Studios occasions and podcasts. We’re grateful on your loyalty and ferocity.