In Brazil, women remain tremendously underrepresented

Female representation in Brazil’s political houses has tumbled in recent years, according to data from UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Commission. Despite making up 51 percent of the country’s population, women occupied just 25.6 percent of ministerial positions in 2014. By mid-2017, this had fallen to just 4 percent, putting representation on par with countries like Turkey and Vietnam. By contrast, the global average sits at 23.3 percent.

UN Women says that declining numbers of women in positions of political power in Brazil also bucks a regional trend. Brazil did poorly even in 2015 when its female representation was stronger, with the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report placing it...