Scotland is the third best country in the world for women’s political representation, according to figures compiled by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).
The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2017 measures political empowerment by the number of women in parliament, in ministerial office and as head of government over time – with the UK ranking 17th in the world.
New analysis by SPICe has confirmed that, if Scotland were included in the rankings, we would be ranked as 3rd in the world for women’s political empowerment – behind only Iceland and Nicaragua.
Commenting, SNP Spokesperson for women Angela Crawley said:
“100 years after some women gained the right to vote, women are still fighting for equal representation in politics.
“But this new analysis shows that Scotland is leading the way on women’s representation – with Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s first female First Minister leading a gender balanced Cabinet.
“However, despite the huge progress made in the last century, we still need to go further to achieve true equality.
“The SNP will continue to work towards a Scotland where every girl and woman can reach her full potential and we will always use every power at our disposal to reach that goal.”