In person icon Gender Mainstreaming: The Role of Specialised Parliamentary Bodies 2

Abstract

This panel will contribute to the comparative study of specialised parliamentary bodies and their formal or informal role in gender mainstreaming. To a varied extent, gender-focused parliamentary bodies may serve as a channel for community participation in the parliamentary process, as a platform for gender-based discourse and as a support base for ‘critical acts’ promoting gender equality and institutional change. Papers will theorise the different types of specialised parliamentary body that have appeared in different regions of the world, how they fit into broader gender equality architecture and what contributes to their success or failure. The second set of papers will explore, in particular, the role of more formal standing committees in gender mainstreaming and the substantive representation of women.