Women's Legislative Representation in Indonesia Gradually Increases to 2024

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the 2024 General Election placed women in parliament at a proportion of 22.46%. This achievement is still below the minimum target of 30%.

However, since the 2019 General Election, the number of female legislative members has increased, although not significantly.

In 2018, for example, women's representation in parliament was 17.32%. In 2019, it rose to 20.52%.

After that, the trend of increasing the percentage of women's representation in parliament rose slowly until 2024, except in 2022 which saw a slight decrease. Along with this, the percentage of male legislative members decreased, as seen in the graph above.

"Even since 2018, the number of female legislators has increased by more than 5 percentage points," said the BPS in its report.

A study conducted by BPS found several factors contributing to the low involvement of women in parliament, including:

• The perception that the political arena is more suitable for men.
• The selection process within political parties, largely conducted by men.
• The lack of networks between mass organizations, NGOs, and political parties to advocate for women's representation.

"Other factors that also significantly influence the limited contribution of women to the legislative body are family, finances, and the multi-party system," said the BPS.