The analysis of women’s participation in elections has long been an important theme within political studies. Scholars have looked at factors that affect women’s participation in politics in general, as well as their decisions to run in parliamentary or regional elections. In 2011, as the second Central and Eastern Europe country (the first being Slovenia), Poland introduced gender quotas into the proportional electoral system. Researchers looking into the consequences of such systemic solutions in various countries have established that the intended goal of increasing the proportion of women in legislative bodies has not always been achieved. In fact, the outcomes have varied widely. Such discrepancies invite further examination. The presented study focuses on regional assembly elections in Poland between 2010 and 2018. The article elaborates on and complements the results of the authors’ prior work on the 2010 and 2014 elections. The research looks at how effective women were in winning the available mandates, what were their placements and which parties managed to get most women into the assemblies.

For over a decade, Iceland has been ranked first among countries around the world in the field of equality between women and men, both in the legal and social aspects. But such a spectacular achievement is not the result of legal regulations developed today or even in the last few decades. This is the final achievement of consistent, over a century of work - especially of women - for the proper and equal treatment of people, regardless of gender, and other differentiating factors. And although it is probably not realistic to create an ideal model, the Icelanders managed to work out a very difficult thing. Coexisting at the intersection of great attachment to tradition and the church, they noticed the subjectivity of each individual, as well as the right of this individual to be an equal subject of human rights and liberties. So, what is the concept of equality shaped in contemporary Iceland, and what legal and social processes have Icelanders undergone to achieve such exemplary standards? Pointing it out is the aim of this article.

The right to the protection of life and health is one of the fundamental human rights. Therefore, it cannot be restricted on the basis of gender, especially when we are dealing with a pregnant woman. Meanwhile, in Poland, since the 1990s, there has been a process of limiting access to legal abortion. Democratically elected authorities have the right to shape the legal system in this area as well, however, by virtue of a ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in 2020, abortion has been outlawed in cases where pregnancy threatens a woman’s life or health. The number of cases where doctors refuse to help pregnant women is increasing, and there is even a loss of a woman’s life as a result of doctors’ passivity. In these circumstances, it is necessary to analyse the regulations in force in Poland and determine what is currently the scope of a woman’s rights, what is the scope of a doctor’s duties, and whether the regulations do not excessively hinder access to legal abortion.

International Women’s Day - a relic of socialism or a symbol of the struggle for gender equality?

March 8 as International Women’s Day is the consequence of the work of labor movements in North America and Europe. The holiday, established in 1910 during the 8th Congress of the Second International in Copenhagen, was to promote the idea of women’s rights and build support for universal suffrage of women. The first celebration of the International Women’s Day was held on 19 March 1911 in Western Europe to commemorate the 1848 March Revolution. In Russia, and then the USSR, it was decided to organize it on the anniversary of women’s participation in the demonstration in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) on 8 March (23 February - according to the Julian calendar) 1917. In the interwar period in Poland (on the initiative of the PPS) Women’s Day was celebrated on 19 June, commemorating the abolition of slavery in the United States. In 1972, the UN General Assembly, on the wave of efforts to change its policy towards women, proclaimed 1975 the International Women’s Year. Until 1977 - when the UN General Assembly recognized 8 March as the International Day of Women’s Rights and International Peace, which could be celebrated on a day chosen according to the tradition of a given country - this holiday was mainly celebrated in socialist countries.

When considering the issues related to the fight for women’s political it is not possible to disregard some of the most important factors determining the level of women’s participation in political life. As regards scientific discussion on the presence of women in government roles, the most frequently cited reason contributing to lesser representation of women are biological, social, ideological, structural, cultural, religious and economic factors. 100 years have passed and women, who account for slightly more than a half of the Polish society, still have too low representation in the parliament, in many cases their salaries are lower than those of men at similar positions, they play specific social and professional roles assigned on the grounds of sex, and still some people try to marginalize them professionally and deprive of their freedoms. The aim of this text is to analyze premises for the establishing of the Association of Congress of Women and results achieved over the past ten years. The main objectives adopted for purpose of the text include the verification of demands set by the Association and their implementation, and the analysis of its activity in terms of socio-political changes. Content analysis was used as the method.

A Hijab in Considerations of Qasim Amin and Musa Bigiev

In the Western world, a hijab is seen as a special form of oppression of women who are hidden and fully controlled by men. In this context, it seems to be interesting what Muslim men thought about the veil, how they interpreted Islamic law, its Koranic verses and hadiths that refer to the title issue to justify that it is not necessary to apply it. The article’s purpose is to present the views of two Muslim modernists – the Egyptian: Kasim Amin and Tatar, and Musa Bigijew – on issues related to women’s rights in Islam regarding the obligation to cover up women. The author tries to answer the following questions: is it really possible to consider their thoughts as a manifestation of a kind of struggle for women’s rights and efforts to “liberate” them? To what extent the views on the isolation of women in the Arab-Muslim world have changed in the time between the publishing of both analysed texts; and whether Musa Bigijew considered the socio-political changes that took place in the Middle East in the 1920s?

Establishing the Right to Abortion in the Constitutional Principles of Privacy, Equality and Freedom in the US and the Arguments of the Constitutional Tribunal of October 22, 2020

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling was pivotal in American women’s fight for the right to abortion. It was based on the constitutional principle of the right to privacy and was criticized that it would be more appropriate to base it on the principle of equality. The aim of the article is to compare the way in which the U.S. Supreme Court rulings legalizing abortion have been argued with the Polish Constitutional Tribunal’s 2020 ruling limiting the already restrictive right to abortion. The article analyzes the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal and presents its potential effects in terms of women’s rights, gender equality and freedom. In its conclusion, the article points to possible legal solutions to the abortion dilemma and addresses the issue of gender discrimination.

Hijab Means Choice? The Importance of Women’s Dress in the Islamic Republic of Iran

The debate about the planned Islamic costumes of the countries of the Middle Empire, particularly Iran, have been going on for several decades. A Muslim state, a woman’s visit outfit (in Iran, the hijab) presents itself as a symbol of the religious identity of the state, and from the state’s perspective. Besides, Islamic women wear burqa, chak, niqab, or hijab, which are synonymous with something else. It is a serious mistake because each of the Islamic women’s outfits listed has unique characteristics.

Feminist deconstruction of the traditional image of women in Qiu Jin’s works

Women’s issues are a significant subject of study in the realm of Chinese literature. In many works, it can be seen to oppose stereotypes or norms imposed on the female gender and to take measures leading to the emancipation of the individual. Such literature is symptomatic of a desire for change in society, that is, the overthrow of the patriarchal system and the introduction of equal rights between the sexes. An example of such prose is the works of China’s first feminist, Qiu Jin, who decided to fight for women’s rights. She was sentenced to death for her revolutionary activities. However, her texts introduced a completely new image of women into the public sphere - different from the one that had been reproduced for hundreds of years in ancient China. The poet chose to endow her heroines with charisma, courage, intelligence and the will to fight for a better life. Her aim was to make women aware of their situation in life, their social role, and to encourage them to leave the male-dominated world. Michalina Koniuk, in the chapter “Feminist Deconstruction of the Traditional Image of Woman in Qiu Jin’s Works”, proposes to analyse Qiu Jin’s works and present that the characters created by the writer oppose and destroy the image of the obedient and uneducated woman that existed in ancient China. First, the social role imposed on women in Chinese society has been described, namely that of obedient daughter, wife and daughter-in-law. The requirements and rules expected of Chinese women have been presented, and how Confucian norms contributed to the belittling of women’s role and position in Chinese society. As the poet was inspired by her own life experiences, Qiu Jin’s life were briefly introduced. Her childhood, during which the first signs of dissatisfaction with the obligations and social norms imposed on girls could be observed. An unsuccessful marriage mobilised the feminist to fight for women’s rights, to oppose the doctrines of Confucius and to leave home and go abroad. This was a great act of courage and at the same time a struggle for freedom and independence in the life of a feminist. That part was followed by an analysis of Qiu Jin’s works, whose female characters exemplify the kind of norms and behaviours that Qiu Jin rebelled against. At the same time, these characters deconstruct the traditional image of a woman and introduce a new one of a strong and independent individual. In this chapter, all poems and quotations have been translated by the author from Chinese into Polish.

This article examines the transformation of political discourse on women’s rights and women-oriented NGOs in Tanzania, focusing on successive state administrations within the same political party, led by John Pombe Magufuli and Jakaya Kikwete. The analysis unfolds through three key phases: first, characterizing the habitus of Tanzanian women’s NGOs; second, examining the evolving narratives in government-NGO relations; and third, briefly exploring the political discourse during the Kikwete and Magufuli presidencies. The research methodology is based on extensive desk research and two field studies conducted in Tanzania. Rather than adhering to a preconceived theory, our research approach is guided by theorems and selected frameworks. Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts, particularly ‘habitus’ and the ‘exchangeability of different forms of capital,’ underpin our argument and interpretation of the data. The study shows that while elements of anti-feminism are evident in Magufuli’s political discourse, accusations of promoting toxic masculinity are mainly unfounded. At the same time, it argues that the critique of women’s empowerment and women-focused NGOs can be attributed to Magufuli’s unique mode of accumulating political and economic capital, leading to heightened distrust in the relationship between these NGOs and the Tanzanian government.