Why do we have few females in leadership positions?

Only 21% of ministers worldwide are women. (UN Women)

Only 25% of all national Parliaments are women. (UN Women)

Women hold 13.3% of local governance positions. (Zimbabwe Gender Commission)

In a recent interview a journalist asked me why there were very few females in political positions. My response was ‘because we have not raised them’. This might seem like a simple answer to a very well thought out question but here’s my logic.

By Tatenda Kombora

From the time females are younger, we start being taught how to be great wives and great mothers, and how to please men.  We’re taught this through words, beatings and usually a combination of both.

Society works overtime to raise and groom good mothers and wives but never good people or good leaders. How then do we all of a sudden expect that a woman who has been told all her life that the only aspirations that she can have been to be someone’s wife to want anything but that? How do we expect a woman whose only practice at making decisions is what to have for supper that night to stand up and lead a political party?

So, if we want female leaders, we have to start raising them. We have to start teaching our daughters that they too can become political leaders. Let’s teach our daughters that politics is no longer a man’s game but that it is everyone’s game. That as a female, wanting to be president is no longer crazy! However, it shouldn’t stop there, we need to also teach our male children this. Because, the fight is in the home!

ENDS

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