“Empowered Women Without Power” in Mozambique: How a Relatively High Percentage of Women in Parliament Does not Mean More Women-friendly Policies | “Mulheres Empoderadas Sem Poder” em Moçambique

Abstract

 Although in the twentieth-century women gained more rights, we still far from reaching an egalitarian world where humans are treated equally and have the same opportunities, regardless of their gender. Many African countries have high rates of women in parliament, despite low socio-economic development and deep-rooted patriarchal structures. Based on the case of Mozambique, in this article, we question: does increased female representation in parliament mean more women-friendly policies? Claiming that, where there are no feminist parties, higher rates of women in parliament is due to gender quotas, therefore it will not mean more women-friendly policies. Employing a qualitative methodology consisting of literature review and empirical observation, we confirmed that although women have a considerable high presence in the parliament, they are in a relatively low numerical expression in the main decision-making circles inside the parliament. Similarly, female MPs behave in individualistic behaviour to increase their prospect re-election.