crystalsmith

“The personal is the political” – Carol Hanisch

Violence against women is an ongoing global human rights issue deeply rooted in systemic inequalities and societal norms which has proven to be one of of the most difficult and pervasive atrocities to abolish. Nevertheless, there have been examples and case studies across history which have demonstrated that determined leadership by women and their allies in their countries and communities can drive impactful change in this area. However, data from studies about women’s political participation have shown that politics stubbornly remains very much a patriarchal domain. Women are still underrepresented at all levels of decision-making across the world, be it executive government positions, national parliaments, or in local government. According to UN Women, as of September 2025, there are only 29 countries where 32 women serve as Heads of State and/or Government and it is estimated that it will take another 130 years to reach full gender parity at this level of political leadership. Additionally only 6 countries have a parliament in single or lower houses that comprise 50% or more women. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Yet in the face of this massive gender disparity in political power, a growing number of women in politics and government are taking decisive action to challenge violence, implement protective policies, and advocate for justice. Their work is not only transformative but also a testament to the power of persistence and advocacy. This list highlights 16 exceptional women in politics and government who are leading efforts to end violence against women. From drafting groundbreaking legislation to holding perpetrators accountable, their contributions span legal reforms, grassroots activism, and international diplomacy. Each of these leaders has faced significant challenges, yet they continue to push boundaries, challenge entrenched systems, and amplify the voices of survivors.

Their stories serve as both a call to action and a reminder that a world free from gender-based violence is achievable through solidarity, advocacy, and legislative reform. We hope that this list will inspire you to find out more about women in politics and government in your communities, countries, and across the world and to support those who are working hard to prevent and stop VAW as they battle to push through legislation, governmental programmes, and systemic support for women and girls.

It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.

Introduction by Anushia Kandasivam and Regina Yau. Written by Anushia Kandasivam. Research by Anushia Kandasivam, Bernado Rosa Rodrigues, and Regina Yau.

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Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #1: Ángela Robledo – Colombia 

Psychologist and politician Ángela Robledo is a member of Colombia’s Chamber of Representatives and known for her feminist politics and work to end gender-based violence in her country. Robledo started her political career working in the office of the mayor of Bogota, where she advocated for gender equality policies and pushed through the Equal Opportunities Plan for Gender Equality in the Capital District for 2004 to 2016 in cooperation with other Bogota City Council members. One of her biggest contributions to advancing access to justice for victims of gender violence was writing and advocating for Law 1719, a proposal to modify Colombia’s Penal Code to combat impunity in cases of sexual violence, especially in the context of the country’s armed conflict. Law 1719 emphasises the importance of recognising sexual violence as a crime against humanity and a war crime, thereby strengthening the legal framework to prosecute offenders. Speaking about her feminist work in a political system with entrenched sexism, Robledo said: “Politics is in the home…the first space we women (young women, girls) must subvert, revolutionise, is the domestic space because it is the first place of invisibility in our work. […] This feminisation of life and politics must be brought into the public space, into the squares, into educational programmes, into universities, into representative politics.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #2: Claudia López – Colombia

The former mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López is the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ person elected to this position. A journalist and former consultant with the United Nations, López first gained notoriety after uncovering the parapolitics scandal of 2006 and then being dismissed from a newspaper after she criticised it over a graft scandal. As mayor of Bogotá, López took action to strengthen the comprehensive care of women and girls who are survivors of sexual violence and worked with the Attorney General’s office to make the local judicial system more effective and efficient, resulting in more prosecutors and investigators to serve in these cases. López has been transparent about crime rates in her city, publishing numbers and calling for more transparent reporting of numbers. She noted that denunciation of gender violence is important “because if there is no complaint, we don’t know what happens.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #3: Deqa Yasin – Somalia

Human rights advocate and social justice activist Deqa Yasin is the former Minister for Women and Human Rights in Somalia (2017-2020). Yasin brought her years of experience working in civil society organisations promoting peacebuilding, women’s empowerment, and human rights to public office. She sponsored several bills addressing children’s and women’s issues including the sexual offenses bill (the first ever bill providing dedicated legal protections for Somali women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence) and an anti-female genital mutilation bill. Yasin has remained steadfast in her push for justice for victims despite facing significant challenges whereby many of her bills were blocked at the cabinet level. She also become a target of online gender-based attacks due to her changemaking work in government. After successfully seeking prosecution against her attackers she said that it is “crucial to pass on this knowledge to newcomers, especially women aspiring to political roles. Empowerment comes from having a support system, which enables individuals to speak out confidently.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #4: Fawzia Koofi – Afghanistan 

Politician, writer, and women’s rights activist Fawzia Koofi began her political career in 2001, right after the fall of the Taliban, by actively promoting the right to education of girls in her “Back to School” campaign and working with UNICEF to protect children from violence, exploitation, and abuse. As the first female Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament in the history of Afghanistan, Koofi used her political platform to draft the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) legislation. She championed education for women and girls by advocating for their access to good schools and raising funding to build girls’ schools in remote provinces. She also supported a change to Afghan law to include women’s names on Afghan identity cards. Koofi said that it was the hardships faced by herself and the women in her country during the Taliban’s first rule that inspired her to get into politics: “What I have gone through as a woman gave me the reason to change things for others, because I know that it’s actually the women and girls who always have to pay the first and highest price.” 

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #5: Francesca Semoso – Papua New Guinea

Francesca Semoso is only the third woman Member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the first from her constituency of Bougainville. A former radio broadcaster, Semoso is a strong advocate for social issues and women’s rights. While supporting Bougainville’s push for independence from PNG, Semoso focused on the rights of women in her region, working with the Bougainville Women’s Federation to address violence against women and other issues affecting women on the island, and supporting a women’s march calling for an end to VAW and bringing attention to femicide. She also works with social organisations on HIV and AIDS awareness and providing business skills training for women entrepreneurs. 

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #6: Grace Fu – Singapore 

Grace Fu, who is Singapore’s current Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, also advocates for the elimination of violence against women in the island nation. She has launched community programmes for women’s development and awareness about violence against women, including supporting a White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development through a partnership approach where men and women work together as equals. The White Paper also addresses the changing context and nature of dangers and challenges that women face as society evolves. Fu actively advocates for more women in decision-making positions in private and public office as well as for fair and inclusive workplaces. She says: “The increasing participation of women in economic activities and the growing number of women holding leadership positions in family businesses reflect the evolution of gender relations in our society. […] However, there continues to be room for improvement when it comes to gender equality.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #7: Hannah Yeoh – Malaysia 

Malaysia’s current Minister of Youth and Sports, Hannah Yeoh was previously the Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, during which time she supported the formation of a multi-stakeholder committee to look into issues of sexual harassment and domestic violence against women and policy for comprehensive and synchronised methods of collecting domestic violence data. Yeoh also pushed through Malaysia’s first anti-stalking legislation, working with women’s organisations and other politicians to amend the Penal Code and reform the law to be more in line with international practice, and calling for offences previously not covered by the law such as doxxing, damaging properties, and spying to be included in the list of stalking offences. Yeoh has talked about under-reporting of violence against women in Malaysia due to stigma and its conservative society, calling for perpetrators of VAW to face consequences and an “improved legal protection which recognises that sexual harassment is a form of discrimination against women and a human rights violation that occurs in all areas of life, from schools to workplaces, in public spaces and online and there is no place in which it should be tolerated.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #8: Isatou Touray – Gambia

Politician, activist and social reformer Isatou Touray was the 10th Vice President of the Gambia. Prior to that, she was the Minister of Health and Social Welfare and Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration, and Employment. A well-known activist and campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM), Touray co-founded and is the executive director of the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children. She frequently calls on politicians to outlaw FGM and actively tries to bring awareness to the issue despite government restrictions on reporting because it is “a violation of human rights, particularly the right of women’s reproductive health”. She has been actively fighting against the proposed bill being considered at the National Assembly to repeal the FGM Law (which banned FGM in 2015), calling for people “to move the Gambia forward in a safe and healthy environment…where both men and women have equal rights…and where the laws that promote human rights, fundamental freedoms and democracy are entrenched.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #9: Jess Phillips – United Kingdom

Jess Phillips is a British politician and Member of Parliament. As the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, she is tasked with tackling all forms of violence against women and girls in the UK, including labour exploitation, female genital mutilation (FGM), and stalking. Phillips has actively spoken about VAW in Parliament, calling for sex, relationship and consent education to be made mandatory in schools, advocating open conversations with children about the harassment of girls and demonisation of boys and young men, and working with boys and men to educate them about toxic masculinity. She has also openly discussed gender inequality in public life and the steps needed to achieve true equality in elected office. In an interview with The Guardian, she noted that the British people do not recognise how extensively the UK has relied on the free labour of women providing the support infrastructure for victims of violence against women. She said: “It comes from a fundamentally sexist place in that women didn’t have these services, so a load of women across the country got together and made these services and offered them to other women for free, and they didn’t get paid for their labour. So they put down a mattress and made a refuge. They set up counselling services and got people who were trained to be therapists and got their voluntary hours and set it up for free.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #10: Maja Gojković – Serbia

Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture Maja Gojković is also the President of the Coordination Body for Gender Equality which coordinates efforts across state institutions and collaborates with international partners, civil society, and the private sector to create initiatives to empower women and combat all forms of gender-based violence. Additionally, Gojković has supported the adoption of key legislative measures such as the new Law on Gender Equality and amendments to the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination which aim to ensure balanced gender representation in political and public life, promote gender-sensitive budgeting, and protect employees’ rights, including those related to maternity and parenting leave. Crucially, Gojković has also recognised and emphasised the need to support women in rural areas in Serbia who face the challenges of VAW as well as the overwhelming burden of care for their families compounded by a lack of proper road infrastructure and access to healthcare. 

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #11: Marise Payne – Australia

Australia’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women Marise Payne has been a significant advocate for women’s rights and issues since she was first appointed as a senator in 1997, particularly when it comes to addressing domestic violence and sexual violence. As the Minister for Women, she actively promoted women’s safety and economic security, initiating an inquiry into family, domestic, and sexual violence in 2020 and subsequently pushing through the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children to support women and children affected by domestic and family violence. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Payne announced an AUS$150 million Domestic Violence Support Package to boost domestic, family, and sexual violence support services, ensuring essential services for victims and survivors as violence expanded during the pandemic. 

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #12: Marvi Memon – Pakistan

Marvi Memon is the Chairperson of the Legislative Alliance for Women Empowerment Protection and a former member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. During her time as a lawmaker, Memon pushed through several pieces of legislation concerning women’s rights, including the Acid and Burns Crime Bill which aims to ensure free medical treatment and rehabilitation for acid burn victims and facilitate the process to bring justice to the culprits in the shortest possible time. She has also worked on a bill on the rights of rural women faced with so-called honour killings. Though the bills have yet to be passed, Memon has said that the work “is going to be an ongoing battle. We have had to fight to get the law implemented.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #13: Monica Benicio – Brazil

Brazilian architect, urbanist, feminist, and human rights activist Monica Benicio is currently a councilperson with the Socialism and Liberty Party in Rio de Janeiro. Widely recognised for her advocacy on feminist and LGBTQ+ rights and her work against femicide, one of her significant contributions is Law 7291/2022, which established the Municipal Programme of Confronting Femicide in Rio de Janeiro. This law aims to prevent femicide and to provide support for victims through institutional measures. The law was originally proposed by Benicio’s partner and fellow politician Marielle Franco, also a noted feminist and human rights activist, who was assassinated in 2017. Benicio continued Franco’s work, saying that she sees a future of hope “that comes with a lot of resistance, it will not be built without a fight. This is the struggle of the feminist movement. It is the struggle for a fairer and more egalitarian society.”

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #14: Risa Hontiveros – The Philippines 

Risa Hontiveros is a Filipino politician, community leader, and journalist. As a senator, she is the chair of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality and has authored several landmark laws focused on health and women’s rights.  She is also a key sponsor of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill. Hontiveros has consistently worked in promoting public health and the rights of women and other marginalised groups, as well as supporting campaigns aimed at changing public perceptions of sexual assault victims and victim blaming. She also actively calls for just and meaningful reparations for Filipino comfort women and their families, working with local NGOs to pressure the federal government into taking action. She has said that there is an urgent need to revise existing laws that seek to protect women and their children from violence.  

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #15: Swati Maliwal – India

Social activist and politician Swati Maliwal is currently a Member of Parliament in India’s upper house, representing Delhi. She has served as the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women where she led initiatives to combat sexual violence, trafficking, and gender discrimination. During her tenure at the commission, Maliwal spearheaded a campaign to strengthen support systems for survivors of sexual violence. She has also pushed for stricter laws against sexual offenders, and helped organise raids to rescue women from trafficking networks. In 2024, Maliwal filed a police report stating that she was assaulted by Bibhav Kumar, the personal assistant to the then Delhi Chief Minister, sparking renewed discussions on women’s safety within political spaces and the need for stringent policies against sexual misconduct and violence to ensure a safe and respectful environment for women. 

 

Woman in Politics/Government Against VAW #16: Zainab Bangura – Sierra Leone

Zainab Bangura, the current Director-General of the United Nations Office in Nairobi, is a noted social activist in Sierra Leone and Sierra Leone’s former foreign minister. In her previous post as the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Bangura played a key role in establishing an international protocol in 2014 aimed at addressing rape and sexual violence in conflict situations, and providing guidelines on the investigation of sex crimes and the collection of evidence for future prosecutions. In 2015, she successfully negotiated an agreement with military leaders in Ivory Coast to ensure the prosecution of soldiers accused of sexual violence. She also travelled to Iraq and Syria to develop a strategic response to the sexual violence perpetrated by ISIS fighters. Bangura has said that conflict-related rape can no longer be considered “a marginal issue, an inevitable by-product of war or mere collateral damage. It can no longer be amnestied or pardoned as the price of peace. It cannot be dismissed … as a private matter.” 

 

Photo Credits

  1. Ángela Robledo – From Wikimedia (By No Echemos Para Atrás – [1], CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67993776
  2. Claudia Lopez – From Wikimedia (By Patty Suescún – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49454663)
  3. Deqa Yasin – from LinkedIn. (Deqa Yasin)
  4. Fawzia Koofi – From Wikimedia (By Chatham House – Fawzia Koofi MP, Afghanistan, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21425457)
  5. Francesca Semoso – From UNDP (Lydia Kaia, UNDP Papua New Guinea) 
  6. Grace Fu – From Wikimedia. (By © European Union, 2025, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150996651) 
  7. Hannah Yeoh – From Wikimedia. (By United States Embassy Kuala Lumpur – https://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassykl/52750016417/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=129642542) 
  8. Isatou Touray – From Wikimedia. (By World Trade Organization from Switzerland – Aid for Trade Global Review 2017 – Day 2, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101724338)
  9. Jess Phillips – From Wikimedia (By UK Home Office) 
  10. Maja Gojković – From Wikimedia (By IAEA Imagebank – https://www.flickr.com/photos/iaea_imagebank/37167208201/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97730082)
  11. Marise Payne – from Wikimedia (By U.S. Department of State from United States – Secretary Pompeo Meets with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94412551)
  12. Marvi Memon – From X (Marvi Memon)
  13. Monica Benicio – From Wikimedia (By GUE/NGL – EP-097530A_Interview Representative Chief Raoni, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85015000)
  14. Risa Hontiveros – From Facebook – Risa Hontiveros  
  15. Swati Maliwal – From Wikimedia (By Gautamsingh93 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41459819)
  16. Zainab Bangura – From Wikimedia (By Foreign and Commonwealth Office – Flickr, OGL v1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32117962)