Women’s Economic Empowerment and Political Systems

Abstract

Women and girls are amongst vulnerable social groups that bear disproportionate outcomes of economic crises (Kuran et. al, 2020). As elsewhere, this is the case of women in Lebanon who have been facing exacerbated economic discriminations during Lebanon’s multifaceted economic crisis, that is considered as one of the worst in its history (World Bank, 2022). Alongside with Lebanon, Venezuela’s economy has also been in a crisis that is labeled as one of the worst in Latin America’s modern history (World Bank, 2019). Comparatively, the data indicate that the economic crisis in Venezuela is worse than that of Lebanon. Nevertheless, in comparison with Lebanon, women in Venezuela have better access to economic participation and opportunities (World Economic Forum, 2021). To understand one possible reason behind the variation in the economic status of women in Venezuela and women in Lebanon, this research aims to uncover the impact of the political system on the economic standing of women during crisis, which is the confessional sectarian political system in the case of Lebanon. To understand the impact of sectarian political system on women’s economic standing, this study utilizes the case studies of Venezuela and Iraq, alongside with Lebanon. The results of the study indicate that the sectarian political system has a negative impact on women’s economic standing as it subordinates women through discriminatory family laws, excludes women from the decision-making process, and does not provide women any form of social protection to women who work in the informal economy.