Brazil has the Chamber of Deputies with the highest gender inequality in South America and the second highest average age when compared to counterparts in the region. Currently, only 17.5% of the seats in this Brazilian legislative body are occupied by women, less than half the proportion recorded in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Argentina. With 46%, 43%, and 42%, respectively, these three countries lead the ranking of parliamentary equity in Chambers of Deputies or single Assemblies on the continent, according to data from the IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union), an international organization that aggregates information from Congresses of different nations.
In common, these countries adopt structural measures to promote gender equity in politics. While the Bolivian Constitution guarantees equal participation between women and men in the election of the legislative house, as well as equitable presence in the control of political power in the country, Ecuador and Argentina have a list voting system, in which the names of candidates are alternated between both genders, respecting the principles of alternation and sequence.
Evidence in political science indicates that to identify the positive impacts of female participation in groups, the community in question must be composed of at least one-third women and there must be a minimum culture of equality, according to Graziella Testa, professor at FGV (Getulio Vargas Foundation) and PhD from USP (University of São Paulo). The percentage of women in the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil has never reached one-fifth of the House (20%). The specialist states that based on experiences in foreign policy, when women hold decision-making positions, there is an improvement in social indicators, especially those related to health and education.