Gender sensitive parliaments and the legislative cycle: conceptualising new cultures and practices

As an emergent international norm, gender sensitive parliaments offer parliamentarians and parliamentary staff a new lens through which to consider all aspects of their institutional culture and work practices. In this article, I consider the origins, application and remaining gaps in one particular aspect of gender sensitive parliaments: gender mainstreaming legislation across its entire ‘life cycle’. I begin with a reminder of the international mandates for gender sensitive legislation (GSL), acknowledging a historical emphasis on the responsibility of political institutions to ensure legislation, policy and programmes address–rather than exacerbate–gender inequality. I then assess the tools that have been developed over the past 20 years to support GSL and discuss enduring limitations in its implementation, relating to political will, the collection and analysis of quality data, and inadequate parliamentary opportunities and mechanisms for gender sensitive scrutiny.