Date of Award
Spring 2022
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department/Major
Political Science
First Advisor
Dr. Julia Marin Hellwege
Second Advisor
Dr. Shane Nordyke
Third Advisor
Mandie Weinandt, M.B.A
Keywords
women's representation, marginalization, physical security
Subject Categories
Other Political Science
Abstract
The historic marginalization of women has left gaps in women’s representation and has damaged the level of protection afforded to women around the world. By examining the origins of female marginalization inside and outside of politics and female legislative behavior and style, I argue that the percentage of seats held by women in government conditionally impacts global female physical security. This study examines the impact of the percentage of seats held by women in the lower house (or single house) of government in 2010 on physical security. Physical security is operationalized into six dependent variables: the homicide rate among females, the percentage of women who experience intimate partner violence, the levels on the prevalence of rape, sex trafficking, and abortion law scales, and the percentage of women utilizing any type of contraception. The findings of this research demonstrate that higher percentages of seats held by women significantly impact some aspects of female physical security. Some control variables, such as the education scale and the Polity democracy score, also significantly impact some aspects of female physical security.
Recommended Citation
Pottebaum, Sydnee D., "Women's Representation and Its Impact on Global Female Physical Security" (2022). Honors Thesis. 250.
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/250