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According to data by Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes, only 19 women were elected to be district and provincial mayors of a total of 1.676 district municipalities and 196 provincial municipalities.
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Over 23 million Peruvians cast their vote on Oct. 7, in the country’s regional and municipal elections to chose governors, vice-governors, regional council members, and mayors for the 2019-2022 period.
Fifteen women were elected district mayors, six of them were elected for districts in the capital city of Lima, and four others were elected to be provincial mayors. Yolinda Barrantes became the provincial mayor of the southern province of Puno, Rocio Narvaez won in the province of Antabamba, Lilia Gallegos in the Grau province, and Eveling Feliciano in the province of Huarochiri.
None of the women running for regional governor won or made it into the second round of voting, which will be held 30 days after the first round.
The results have revealed the lowest participation of women in Peruvian politics and the prevalent gender gap.
According to the National Election’s Jury, of the 11,470 district candidacies, only 946 were led by women. That is only 8.2 percent of the total candidacies. At a provincial level, only 181 of the 1.996 candidates were women; only 9.1 percent.
According to Eliana Revollar, who works for the Ombudsman's Office in the Women’s Rights section, explained women’s participation in national politics has decreased over the past years, partly due to “political harassment, violence and other attacks they are exposed to.”
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