And it seems as if the world had stood still, and waited with bated breath and beating hearts to watch who becomes the 45th President of the United States of America- undoubtedly one of the most powerful human beings on the planet. In what is a big upset for not just the USA but the world, it is in fact Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton, who will be sworn as the President, in January 2017.
The Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump, have been engaged in an aggressive political campaign for more than a year now. With his highly misogynistic and racist comments, Trump has been in the news for the wrong reasons since the beginning of perhaps the most divisive elections in modern history.
At CSR, we have been documenting the run up to presidency for a while. Our vote has always gone to Hillary Clinton (Read our blogs on the issue 1, 2). Although she has not won, she has in her own way created history, by becoming the first woman to contest for the President of the United States of America. No doubt we are very disappointed that a person who has made various chauvinistic comments in the past, and is known for his derogatory attitude towards women, is now going to be presiding over White House. Having said that, we are very proud of Hillary for the way she has conducted herself throughout the campaigning and for having sensible views on critical issues like gun control, abortion, immigrants’ rights and women’s rights.
As per the Global Gender Gap Report 2015, published by World Economic Forum, while the USA is ranked 28 out of 145 countries, in political empowerment it ranks 72 (81 rank for number of women in parliament, 42 rank for number of women in ministerial positions). In all the years since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, it is appalling that no woman has been the Head of State of United States of America. Women were granted the right to vote only in 1920. In India, political empowerment of women has been a cause which every government has worked towards. Currently, many civil society organizations (including CSR) are working to increase reservation of women to 50% in politics (Read about #Ab33Nahi50). India currently ranks 9 in terms of political empowerment of women, as reported by the Global Gender Gap Report 2015.
Perhaps it is high time for political empowerment of women to be a serious issue in the United States of America, and we hope that the new government, works on this issue, among other critical ones. Trump’s victory is also alarming in the sense that a man who has made many a misogynistic and chauvinistic statements in the past, is now going to be the Head of State of the most powerful nation in the world. Perhaps, the discourse on sexual harassment and misogyny, must assume a new and more relevant turn in America.
Having said that, we would still like to congratulate Hillary Clinton for having reached this far in the run up to Presidency. We are very proud of you and your political achievements. All the best for 2020!
Discuss this article on Facebook
