Where the barrier sits
Only eight of the 43 women candidates stood on major party tickets. Interviewees in the Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s Cost of Politics study pinned the biggest factor on political parties themselves: women’s capabilities are questioned by predominantly male party leaders, informal networks where advancement happens are largely closed to women, and women organisers who built the grassroots machinery of the early democratic era were relegated to administrative roles while male counterparts were elevated.
The costs are higher for women
Women candidates face gendered scrutiny of appearance and family life, slander including sexual rumours and edited images, and online harassment campaigns. A cited study of the 2014 election found 38% of women candidates had experienced degrading talk with sexual connotations, against 10% of men. Notably, the research found this does not make women less electable once on the ballot – national party dynamics dwarf individual candidate characteristics.
What the study recommends
The report recommends internal party quotas for leadership positions, temporary legislative quotas – a tool used in 79 countries through legislated candidate quotas or reserved seats – and party-level measures to address the barriers women face before a ballot is ever printed.
Key facts
- Three of the 93 MPs elected to the Maldives parliament in 2024 are women.
- 43 women ran for parliament in 2024, 11.6% of all candidates; only eight stood on major party tickets.
- In a cited 2014 study, 38% of Maldivian women candidates reported degrading talk with sexual connotations, against 10% of men.
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