A human rights perspective on the right to participate in public affairs - equal participation of women

Abstract

The present paper aims to analyse the right to participate in public affairs from a human rights perspective, a right that paves the way for other human rights, with a focus on women's participation, at EU level, in the context of ensuring gender equality and non-discrimination. This article is qualitative research, starting from the documentary and legislative analysis of this right, as it is perceived at the level of international organizations, going up to a comparative approach of statistical data on women's participation in political life in the European Union, in the last legislature (2019-2024), with a focus on the situation in Romania. The question of the article is whether the right to participate in public affairs, an essential human right, manages to contribute to the exercise of other human rights, such as freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly, the right to equality and non-discrimination etc., influencing them and guaranteeing their effective contribution to ensuring democracy and the rule of law in the European Union. It is concluded that the protection, respect and implementation of the right to participate in public affair and other related rights, which are mutually reinforcing, ultimately succeed in achieving this result, even if there are still challenges to be faced, continuing to be as current the need to strengthen confidence in participation in political life and public affairs.