ALTHOUGH women have enjoyed much more privilege today than they did many decades and centuries ago, there still exist some degree of inequality and inequity against them across different aspects of life. Asia-Pacific, in particular, suffers as one of the regions with the worst gender gap problem in the world, making holding political positions a far-fetched idea. The strength of customary, traditional, and religious beliefs as well as the embedded patriarchal outlook in many societies in the Asia-Pacific region, which ultimately discriminate women in some ways by assigning certain roles that limit their movement in the public life, takes a significant amount of the blame for the unfulfilled ideal of gender balance and for women’s deficient contribution in decision making areas.

While they have currently gained national attention, issues around women in politics are also spun at the local levels at an equal, if not faster, rate. Local civil society and women’s groups are proliferating in communities, which in turn gives a closer avenue for women to raise their voice and provide them with more immediate vehicle to increase their involvement in the public life. In fact, public involvement at the local levels might just be the ideal way to ramp up women’s political participation at large, given the proximity and scope of work that are reasonably more accessible for women.