State Minister Supports Call for More Female Parliamentarians

Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams, is supporting the call for more women parliamentarians in Jamaica.

Mrs. Ffolkes-Abrahams, who is a member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of Parliaments of the Americas (COPA), said the focus should be on increasing the democratic base for participation of women in politics in the country.

“Right now we are only 13 per cent of the Parliament, and that’s very low, as the standard that the world is looking on is 40 per cent. Women represent more than 50 per cent of the households in Jamaica; therefore, the policies that go forward will be influenced by women more directly if (more) of them are in the Houses of Parliament,” Minister Ffolkes-Abrahams said.

The State Minister was speaking at a  JIS ‘Think Tank’ on March 26, where she disclosed that issues of gender equality will be on the agenda at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Network of Women Parliamentarians of the Americas, being held for the first time in Jamaica at the Hilton Rose Hall Hotel, this weekend.

Mrs. Ffolkes-Abrahams argued that pay equity and domestic violence issues will have to be addressed as well.

“We need to have women being able to manage their own pockets, so that they will not be abused and taken advantage of,” she said.

Last week, debate began in the Upper House on a motion brought by Government Senator, Imani Duncan-Price, which seeks to advance women’s leadership in politics and decision making.