The disproportionate male-female ratios in Limburg municipal councils, such as that of Gennep, are due to rooster behaviour. That is what Anke Sonnemans of D66 Gennep says. She is one of two female councilors in the municipality.
“Everyone is trying to outdo each other,” Sonnemans says on Wednesday evening in L1mburg Central.
Also read: Limburg has fewest female councilors in the Netherlands
Not interested
“In Gennep there is no balance at all,” says Sonnemans. “There are only men and therefore also a masculine way of communicating.” The party chairman indicated that research shows that the quality of decision-making improves with a council that is diverse.
“I do agree, it is much better if we have a diverse council. But women can also exhibit cocky behaviour,” says Jacques van Bergen. He is party leader of the CDA Gennep and does not see rooster behavior as a problem. The party has had no woman in the city council in recent years and the first woman is number eight on the list of candidates.
disinterest
“We approached 15 women to be on the list, but we didn’t get anyone in an eligible place.” Van Bergen believes that the male-female ratio is so bad because women in his municipality are not interested in taking an active part in politics.
In any case, following local politics seems a lot more interesting for men than for women, according to a survey by L1 about the municipal elections. This was held by research agency Flycatcher among more than 500 Limburgers aged 18 and older. 18.7 percent of women follow local politics regularly to intensively. This is the opposite of 42.2 percent of the men.
Wrong approach
According to Sonnemans, however, it is not about disinterest, but women are approached incorrectly. There is a lot of doubt about taking part, she believes, also because of the prevailing culture. “I have not yet heard of an interested woman who watched the council meeting. It is about how it is communicated. The women are really there, but you have to approach it in a different way.”
Also read: Few women in municipal councils: ‘Work to be done’
emergency bell
After the municipal elections in 2022, the male-female ratio in public administration must be better balanced, said then Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Kajsa Ollongren in July 2019. She formulated this in a statement. letter to the House of Representatives. The aim is for the ratio to stabilize in the future to a male-female ratio of at least 40 to 60 percent.
Also feminist platform Nice to meet you in the North and Central Limburg region sounded the alarm in February. Pleasant has started an action because of the worrying male-female ratio in the region. “Although half of the inhabitants of the Netherlands are women, we do not see this reflected in local politics,” said founder Nina Bellen.