Women allocate more resources to be elected than men in Colombia

According to the Transparency for Colombia report, in comparative terms between men and women, the latter needed more income in their electoral campaigns: women candidates still have economic barriers to political financing.

In the last elections to the Congress of the Republic, women's participation was advanced: while in the period 2018-2022 they represented 21 per cent of the Senate, for the next period they will be 30%. In the House of Representatives, it was increased from 18 per cent to 29 per cent, according to preliminary results of the General Registry of Civil Status.

This represents an important step forward, but still insufficient for gender parity in the Colombian parliament, since the barriers and asymmetries that prevent full gender equity persisted.

The report “Access to Resources for the Inclusion of Women in Politics” revealed that the parties in 2019 and 2020 did not comply with Law 1475 of 2011, which requires that an amount of state resources be allocated to train them.

Transparency for Colombia identifies the evidence or gaps, set out below:

1. The parties allocate few resources for the inclusion of women in politics.

2. The parties do not provide sufficient clarity on the allocation of state resources for the inclusion of women in politics required by Law 1475 of 2011.

3. There is no equal access to resources for women's political campaigns: women candidates have to invest more than men to get elected, even if they have fewer resources.

4. Parties and campaigns can receive private resources, through credits or donations. Women benefit the least from this form of funding.

5. The same behavior is observed by the parties, which do not grant credits and donations in equity between men and women. In that sense, women are the least favored with such aid.

Against the balance of campaign accountability, it can be stated that 575 female candidates have reported income and/or expenses, out of the 1,138 registered candidates, or 50.5 per cent. It also shows that women candidates received 23.5 per cent of the total income reported by all candidates, which means that although women increased their participation as candidates, there is still a gap in access to income for campaign finance.

In addition, it was found that women's campaigns were mostly financed by donations and credits from individuals who accounted for 41.7% of the total; second, there are own and family resources, with 37%. This is in contrast to the low percentage that women received for state advances, which are equivalent to only 0.2 per cent of total income.

The program director of Initiatives with the Political System and the State of Transparency for Colombia, Sandra Martínez explained that “it is a fact that the pattern of financing campaigns in Colombia, whether male or female, originates from almost 100% private resources, either from the assets or contributions of natural or legal persons. There are also sources that can be obtained with bank loans and what could be received from advances. From all these sources, for example, parties could be allocating resources to support women”

Finally, the report revealed that women who are elected incur more income and expenses than elected men, “in comparative terms between men and women, the latter needed approximately $18,000,000 more income than elected men, which would indicate that it is also more cost for a woman to do campaign”.

In view of the persistence of the situation described, a “Road Map for Access to Resources for Women's Political Financing” was formulated. This document includes a series of recommendations aimed at women candidates, electoral authorities, political organizations and State institutions, aimed at overcoming gender inequality.

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