[K-Women Talk] Women's Suffrage That Changes the World Must Be Actively Exercised

Voting Rights Earned Through Sacrifice, Including the March 1st Movement
Participation Not Just for Women, But for the Whole of Society

Kim Kyung-sun, former Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family

It is April. On April 10th this year, a general election will be held to elect members of the National Assembly representing local regions. Since policies and budget executions that affect the rights and duties of the people must be stipulated by law, the role of National Assembly members who hold legislative power is important.

However, the voting rights that everyone now takes for granted were not simply given to women in our society. Recently, I watched a movie called "Suffragette." It depicted the British women's suffrage movement, which marked a significant milestone in the history of women's voting rights. Because it was based on actual events, it was even more shocking. In the early 1910s, as women's suffrage movements through signatures and petitions were continuously rejected, the movement led by Emmeline Pankhurst became more militant. In this context, in 1913, at the Derby horse race, the largest equestrian event in Britain attended by the king, a woman named Emily Davison ran onto the track shouting for women's suffrage and lost her life. This incident led Britain to grant voting rights to women aged 31 and over in 1918, and to women aged 21 and over in 1928. It was truly a suffrage won at the cost of life.

The history of women's suffrage was achieved through such great sacrifices. In Korea, from the first National Assembly election on May 10, 1948, equal voting rights were granted to both men and women. However, this was not simply given; it was because women actively participated from the March 1st Movement in 1919, and the Temporary Charter of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in April 1919 explicitly stated universal suffrage without gender discrimination. Are we properly exercising this precious suffrage? Fortunately, according to figures released by the National Election Commission, women's voter turnout, which had lagged behind men, surpassed men’s turnout at 76.4% compared to 74.8% in the 2012 presidential election, and slightly led again in the 2020 National Assembly election.

However, unlike voting rights, the proportion of women in the National Assembly through eligibility rights is currently 19%, which is considerably below the global average of 25.5% reported by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2021. Among 193 countries surveyed, Korea ranks 121st, and among 37 OECD countries, it ranks 33rd. Korea also allocates 50% of proportional representation seats to women from a gender equality perspective. Yet, the female ratio remains low due to a combination of social and cultural causes such as insufficient female participation in economic activities, election cost issues, and a shortage of female candidates. In this situation, the example of France, which enacted the so-called "Parity Law" to actively increase women's political participation and raise the proportion of elected female officials, offers significant lessons. Enacted in 2000, this law increased the proportion of female members in the French National Assembly from only 10% in 1997 to 38.8% in 2017.

American political philosopher David Easton said, "Politics is the authoritative allocation of values in society." The participation of social members with representation in this process guarantees fairness itself. It is necessary to participate fairly in the allocation of values not just for women, but for a better society. Now is the time to actively exercise your precious vote.

Kim Kyung-sun, Former Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family