General Conclusion

Two issues serve as the motivation for this book: (1) the need to understand whether the participation of women in politics benefits women and (2) the need to understand the relevance of gender quotas on the representation of women in African politics beyond numbers. The understanding of these issues would allow us to consolidate efforts to increase women’s representation in politics and proffer pathways that foster the qualitative representation of women in Africa. The book established that gender quotas have been effective in ensuring the increased participation of women in politics, thereby fostering descriptive women’s representation, particularly in South Africa. In Botswana, the use of specially elected MPs system has also created space for women to be included in parliament, but this is not significant enough. The book argues that the use of voluntary quotas by the governing party in South Africa, the ANC, largely accounts for the increased presence of women in parliament. This increased presence was further solidified by other parties such as the EFF and the IFP, and although the official opposition party does not use quotas, it factors in gender representation in its party list. It further notes that the presence of women in Botswana and South Africa created ground for women to form a critical mass and impetus to act as critical actors that advocated for women’s issues. Women’s presence, which is a function of gender quotas impacted legislative and policy outcomes on GBVF in both case studies as female MPs were able to use their influence to advocate for the policies and legislation. This aligned the debate on critical mass and critical acts: The former argues that when women form a considerable number in parliament, they are able to better represent women issues; and the latter argues that numbers are not what is needed but rather the specific actions of certain women to speak and act for women. The findings from the research showed that not only did the women use their numbers to form a force, but they also used their position to initiate legislations and policies on GBVF. The book confirmed the thesis of the two theories employed that the presence of women in politics creates impact for women and that because of their lived experiences as women, female politicians are able to represent women issues. As established, women in the two case studies were able to use their presence to create awareness for GBVF, advocate for GBVF issues in parliament, demand better resources towards GBVF, and most importantly, influence policy making and pass new GBVF legislations. The existence of GBVF legislations and policies between 2010 and 2022 confirms this statement, demonstrating that there is indeed a relationship between numbers and impact, that women’s political participation benefits women, and that gender quotas can ensure the substantive representation of women.