Article: Why Washington’s women problem is getting worse

This article written by Jessica Gardner, a United States correspondent, was published on the Australian Financial Review, featuring an interview with RepresentWomen's Communications Director Alana Persson.

Academics and advocates say that the imbalance is hard-coded into the American electoral system, and reinforced by deep veins of conservatism and the Trump administration’s hyper-masculine brand of politics, creating a stubborn scenario resistant to change.

Despite its standing as one of the globe’s great democracies, the US ranks 28th of 38 rich countries for female representation, with women holding just 29 per cent of elected offices, according to advocacy group the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

As Alana Persson of non-profit Represent Women puts it: “There are more millionaires in Congress than there are mums.”

That Americans have not yet had a female president – and chose Donald Trump twice over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Kamala Harris in 2024 – is obvious, but the broader lack of women in politics is equally striking. Across 535 seats in Congress, there are just 151 women.

Read the complete article here.