Political Party Guidelines Eng

To bring equity to a society, so called affirmative action, also called temporary special measures (see
Chapter 2), is needed. Quotas for women in politics is a good example of affirmative action. The goal is
to be able to give up the policies of affirmative action once people’s thinking has changed, so that these
policies can be only temporary measures. Of course, whether this can be done, depends on what sort of
group the planned action is meant to support. The person in a wheelchair will always need measures of
affirmative action as compared to the person with the bike.
According to women politicians in Myanmar, lack of election financing is one of their biggest problems. 29
Women tend to have less money than men, as they are everywhere in the world payed less than men. Many
countries have developed affirmative action measures to allocate special campaigning money to female
electoral candidates.
3.10 Social inclusion
What does “inclusive” mean? It means that all kinds of people, belonging to all kinds of groups, can
participate and feel that they belong.
Social inclusion means that people who are disabled or poor, people belonging to different ethnic and
religious minorities, or to the LGBT-group have their voices heard. That they can take part in decisionmaking
just as well as people who belong to majority groups.
It should also be remembered that often people are excluded and discriminated against for multiple
reasons at the same time, and this makes life extra hard. A lesbian woman, belonging to a small ethnic
minority and being desperately poor, is not a farfetched example.
The question of inclusiveness is a question of human rights. A welcome bonus is, as stressed earlier on,
that inclusiveness brings economic benefit to all in the long run, as it means widening the talent pool.
3.11 Gender based violence
“If he beats you, it means he loves you” (a proverb from Russia).
“Beat your wife every morning, and if you do not know why, she does” (a quote from a movie).
“If you beat your wife until her bones are broken, she will love you more (a proverb from Myanmar).
GENDER EQUALITY: A SHORTCUT TO DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY 19