While the global average for Women in Parliament stands at 22.4%, India is at the 103rd place out of 140 countries with a mere 12% representation. Within Asia, India is at the 13th position out of 18 countries. Countries like South Sudan, Saudi Arabia have better Women representation in Parliament than India. Women’s representation in elected bodies, Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies is a source of huge disappointment. As we observed in a previous article, women occupy just 66 seats in the 543 member Lok Sabha, which is a mere 12%. The scenario for women Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) across all state assemblies in India is even worse, with the national average being a pitiable 9%. The best among them, Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana have 14% representation while the worst states are Pondicherry and Nagaland, which have no women MLAs at all. This being the dismal scenario, we were curious to see how India held up against the rest of the world in women’s representation. We looked at data on women in national parliaments (directly elected lower Houses) across the world from the Inter Parliamentary Union, an international organization of Parliaments, to situate India’s position on this yardstick. The findings, while busting popular myths about many countries, also show us the mirror on how far we lag behind in giving women the level playing field to be part of the political decision making process and why we need to do more to improve the situation. The 40 percent Group It is encouraging to find some countries with a fantastic number of women MPs making up their Parliament. 13 countries in the world constitute, what can be aptly called the ‘40 percent group’ i.e women constitute 40% or more of the total seats in the National Parliament. Topping this group is Rwanda, where women MPs make up for 63.8% of the Parliament, outnumbering the men. Bolivia at 53% and Andorra at 50% achieve gender parity with equal number of men and women MPs. Another interesting aspect to note is that an overwhelming number of the countries that constitute this group are from Africa, followed by Europe and South America. The global average for women in parliaments stood at 22.4%. While Europe surpasses the global average at 25.2%, Sub-saharan Africa has an average representation of 22.6%, Asia at 19% and the Arab states at 18%. The Nordic countries alone have 41.5% average of women MPs. 42 countries in the world have 30% or more women MPs in their Parliament. Women’s representation in 190 countries can be explored in the interactive below by hovering the mouse. Countries with higher representation are colored green and countries with lower representation are colored red. Values range from 63.8% (Rwanda) to 0% (five countries including Qatar and Tonga). India’s position in the world So where does India figure in the world rankings? Way down at 103 among the 141 ranks listed for 190 countries that we have data for. That is hardly a position to be proud of! But wait! The shocker comes in the form of surprise countries that figure way up in the rankings table. Algeria at 27 (31.6%), Iraq and South Sudan at 44 (26.5%) each, Saudi Arabia at 69 (19.9%) are some of the countries that beat India with considerable margin, where women MPs are concerned. Even Libya at 44 with 16% women stands way above India. The other surprising aspect is that the U.S. ranks a tad below Saudi Arabia with only 19.3% in its House of Representatives. These figures and rankings are surprising because these countries are either strife-driven, emerging from conflict or have severe restrictions posed on women in their societies. Yet, they fare much better in the spaces that women occupy in political decision making. Even among the Asian countries [none of which figure in the top 20], India’s position is nothing to write home about. Out of the 18 countries that we have data for, India’s position is a dismal 13, with countries like the Philippines (27.2%), Vietnam (24.3%) and Cambodia (20.3%) doing much better. Japan is a surprise laggard with only 9.5% of women MPs in its Diet. Closer Home: South Asia Disappointed by the grimness, we decided to zoom in further and look closer home in the South Asia region. Surely, India stands tall here, given it’s leadership and usually better record of democracy in the SAARC region? Turns out, no. Just one glance at the graph below tells us how far down we are in where women parliamentarians are concerned. Of the 8 SAARC countries, India’s position is a ignominious 5. Nepal with 29.5% women leads the SAARC group, followed by Afghanistan with 27.7% MPs. Pakistan and Bangladesh at 20% each, ensure much better representation for women in their parliament.