Constitutional and legal perspective of gender

It is the role of parliamentarians to ensure that laws serve the interests of all members of society and protect and promote the rights of everyone – women, men, boys and girls

Yet, as Section 1 of this Handbook demonstrated, the reality is that, for various reasons, women and men are not equal in law in many countries around the world

As a result, the new Constitution enshrines gender equality, opening the door for a new law doubling the number of parliamentary seats reserved for women

In the most recent national elections, all political party platforms made commitments to gender equality, and the number of women in Parliament surged from 10 to 17 per cent

This handbook aims to serve as a resource for lawmakers from around the world for designing gender-responsive laws

Such law-making should address the strategic needs of women and girls and must encompass enacting new laws and amending or repealing laws which are outdated, inconsistent with constitutions, or discriminate against them