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WOMEN HOLDING ELECTED U.S. OFFICE IN EARLY 2016 CONGRESS 19.4% U.S. SENATE 20% U.S. HOUSE 19.3% STATE SENATE 22.5% GOVERNORS 24.7% current political climate was a result of tragedy, the outcome has proven exemplar y. Following the Rwandan genocide, in 1994, 70 percent of the countr y's remaining population was made up of women. ese women demanded power and changed the constitution to require women hold 30 percent of senior political positions. With more female representation, changes came fast to Rwanda: women took over the farms, gained the right to own land in 1999, and achieved equality in marriage. As the more "talkative" sex, women are naturals at diplomacy. Take, for instance, the women of the Mano R iver Region, in Liberia. During the peak of the Second Liberian Civil war, in 2003, they came together to form the Mano R iver Women's Peace Network (M A RWOPNET) ultimately becoming a political force against violence. eir actions brought about stalled peace agreements, thus ending Liberia's 14-year civil war. Eventually, M A RWOPNET orchestrated the election of the countr y's first female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who's held the office since 2006. Perhaps the most effective method to achieve gender equality in government is an electoral system known as proportional representation. In other words, multi-seat districts instead of one-seat districts, so political parties win seats in proportion to their vote share. Basically, if like-minded voters (liberals, conser vatives, progressives, what-have-you's) hold 30% of the vote in a ten-seat district, its candidates win three of those ten seats as opposed to none. In other words, the majority does not take the whole pie but only their due share, thus creating a multi-party democracy with more slices to go around. is puts pressure on major parties because many of the minor parties regularly nominate candidates who broaden their appeal, such as female candidates. We do have some multi-seat districts in the U.S. already. In Vermont, it ranges from one to six legislators per district and 41 percent are women representatives. In 1967, Congress passed a law mandating single-seat districts for House races, but that law could be rescinded (our constitution does not mandate single-seat districts). Moreover, state legislatures and local governments could easily adopt such methods by changing their own laws. In 2012, New Hampshire, another state with multi-seat districts, became the first state in the nation to have an all-female congressional delegation. ose who have proposed this change have been met with predictable opposition; aer all, many members of the " boys club" want it to remain as such. e power of incumbency is strong in Washington, and those at the top want to stay there. With the myriad of issues facing the countr y from climate change to threats of terror, we need the best minds at the table to help move us for ward. At least half of those heads should be women, and we must do ever ything possible to make that happen. D Continued from page 35 ONE WOMAN CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BUT TOGETHER WE CAN ROCK THE WORLD Market yourself with us! P R I N T - D I G I TA L S O C I A L - E V E N T M A R K E T I N G -ALL IN ONE- Market your business to professional and affluent women in the Tampa Bay - Sarasota region. Let's give the Old Boys a run for their money! Visit GravitasMag.com for details or call us at 941.227.7331 New Girls Club

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