Women have only held 26% of key political posts since the Transition

The report “Equality and Power. A challenge after 40 years of autonomy” presented this Tuesday in Valencia reveals, despite the progress made, the difficulties women have in having a presence in spaces of power in the Valencian Community. The study, prepared by the jurist Julia Sevilla and the journalist Julia Ruiz, has collected information regarding a total of 300 positions in the main Valencian institutions and administrations (Les Corts, the Presidency and the Governments of the Generalitat or the councils) during the last four decades, to conclude that the representation of women has stood at an average of 26%.

Despite being half the population, women have barely had a quarter of the power in key spaces since the Transition. Representation in institutions such as the Parliament and the Consell has been around an average of 30% while in the councils, it drops to 18%.

The study indicates that 70% of these 78 women (55 in total) have accessed positions under the umbrella of the PSPV and the PP, majority parties that for practically equal periods (twenty years) have ruled (alone or in alliance with other parties) the main institutions. All in all, it is the PP that numerically contributes the most women to this list: 34 compared to the 21 contributed by the party.

With an important nuance; the beginning of the restoration of democracy was “a black stage for women in the field of politics.” In fact, the first woman to form part of the Council (Pilar Pedraza) was appointed in 1993, ten years after the first socialist government of Joan Lerma.

In addition, as this newspaper published, after analyzing the 10 legislatures of the Consell, women have historically been assigned portfolios such as Agriculture, Culture or Tourism

The report points out that Zapatero’s Equality Law in 2007 “has been key to expanding the presence of women in Valencian politics, mainly in parliaments and in the autonomous governments”. However, it is concluded that “it has not been enough for women to reach the top of power and those spaces in which the balance remains in the hands of the will of the political parties.”

In this sense, the authors highlight that “the patriarchal dynamics of the PP and PSPV break with the minority parties or coalitions that emerge or gain momentum after the Equality Law”. Thus, the data collection indicates that Compromís and Ciudadanos contribute More women than men were analyzed at this peak of power.”In our list of 300 notables, there are eight women under the Compromís umbrella and six men. Ciudadanos contributes to the list with six women and four men,” the study explains.

Despite everything, the study’s conclusions point out that progress “has been slow and there is a historical debt with women that will take years to settle.” And they exemplify it like this: in the case of the Valencian Government, “executives made up exclusively of women would be needed for three consecutive legislatures, to settle this debt.”

At this juncture, the document states that “it is not possible to claim victory because parity is not always the first option.” In addition, he adds, “even today the maxim applies that when there is only one position and it reaches the top, it will almost certainly be for a man.” For this reason, the authors conclude that “structural and cultural changes are still necessary today to allow for a full democracy in which women can join the exercise of politics on equal terms with men and who, like them, can promote to the most responsible positions without having to get off halfway, without being replaced or exchanged”.