Women, intersectionality, and local democracy in Colombia
In Colombia, participatory mechanisms have opened spaces for women, but these spaces have not enabled their political agency as expected. Often, these mechanisms have focused on “women” generically, reproducing discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, and class. Drawing on a case study of the Women’s Advisory Council (WAC) of Popayán, this policy brief examines the challenges participatory bodies face for their effective functioning and advances ecommendations for policymakers aimed at strengthening the functioning of Women’s Advisory Councils in Colombia. The challenges were analysed using
the framework of intersectionality to understand how overlapping and co-produced forms of discrimination interact and shape experiences of political participation.