article · International Feminist Journal of Politics
An investigation into whether female heads of state improve conditions for gender equality evaluates evidence from Liberia across the period from 2000 to 2011. The assessment examines six key gender indicators: overall gender equality, equality of representation in rural community settings, women's economic rights, active life participation, political rights, and legislative protections against violence. Comparing the first mandate of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with the preceding era reveals no substantially significant broader changes across most of these metrics. Positive and statistically meaningful changes appear only within two specific dimensions, namely rural community representation and the economic rights of women. The remaining areas, including political rights, general participation, and anti-violence legislation, showed no substantial rupture from earlier patterns.
Understanding whether executive female leadership directly translates into measurable progress for women helps policymakers and development organisations design targeted interventions. The evidence demonstrates that having a woman as head of state does not automatically drive across-the-board improvements in gender equality, highlighting the need to examine structural barriers beyond top-level representation alone.
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Do women really improve conditions for gender equality after becoming heads of states? This study investigates if having a woman at the helm of country’s decision making processes leads to better indicators on women’s conditions. Using time-series observations for the period 2000–11, we test the hypothesis with the Liberian experience. We analyse six main gender indicators: gender equality, equality of representation in rural areas (basic community), economic rights of women, participation of women in active life, political rights of women and legislations for the protection of women against violence. Our findings do not show substantially significant changes between the first mandate of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the period before. In essence, we only notice positive and statistical ruptures for equality of representation in rural areas and the economic rights of women. Policy implications are discussed.
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DOI: 10.1080/14616742.2016.1276402
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