Forced quotas are not the way to go to encourage women in politics

I WOULD like to comment on an ongoing discussion about the participation of women in electoral politics. It is of course true that women have been under-represented in politics compared to men and much has been written about how to increase their representation.

The United Nations has identified a few avenues whereby female participation in politics and governance may be strengthened, the two most notable being, an equalisation of educational opportunities, and the introduction of a quota system.

I would welcome the equalisation of educational opportunities, but I do feel that a legal quota is not the best way forward towards trying to achieve a more acceptable balancing of the genders in political life.