Women's Participation in Political Parties in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Africa, , language: English, abstract: Women consist part of the world population and the participation of women in political parties is very gamine especially in a democratic country. However, there is an assumption on men's domination of political parties and the women are solely in the parties as cheerleaders. Studies exist on women participation in politics in Ekiti State, extant literature have not addressed the functions of women in political parties in Ekiti State. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the functions of women in political parties in Ekiti State. It also aimed at investigating women access to empowerment within the political parties in Ekiti State.

The study adopted a qualitative method research design in which an in-depth interview was combined with documentary evidence. Primary data were sourced using interview and focus group while secondary data was sourced from documents such as the Nigeria constitution, Independent national commission and relevant documents from the political party's websites. Through purposive and snowball sampling techniques, four political parties were selected and using a semi-structured interview, a total number of 13 people within the four political parties were interviewed and 2 Focus Group within the four political parties. The study also implored relevant literatures and theory; the study implored liberal feminism.

Findings showed that women in political parties in Ekiti States perform roles such as spiritual, mobilizing and executive roles. Women functions in political parties are both within and outside the parties. Furthermore, the status of women in political parties in Ado Ekiti has not reflected most of the global laws and declaration on women. The result of the study showed that decision making roles are occupied by mostly men and has experienced a slight increase in the present administration. It also revealed that women have access to financial, economic and material resources and these resources are given based on individual choices. Lastly, women have access to human capacity, skill and financial empowerment yet it varies in the four political parties.