André Kosters / Lusa
Around 500 women were elected in recent Dutch local elections, with the “Vote for a Woman” campaign increasing their chances of winning preferential votes. Despite the record numbers, women remain underrepresented.
Fatuma Muhammad arrives radiantly for an interview with DW just hours before her inauguration as councilor in the Dutch municipality of Apeldoorn — her first political position, in addition to her work as a lawyer.
His election was far from certain: he was in 15th place on the list of candidates from the left-wing party GroenLinks-PvdA, but secured one of the party’s six seats. Muhumed rose through the ranks thanks to preferential voting, or “smart voting”, as the campaign calls it “Vote for a Woman“.
How does it work?
In the Netherlands, voters do not just choose a party, but select a specific candidate of a party list. Candidates are ranked by party, usually with their leaders at the top. “We see more men and then women further down the lists,” says Zahra Runderkamp, political scientist and principal investigator at Stem op een Vrouw.
Voters tend to favor candidates at the top of these listsbut to increase female representation, Stem op een Vrouw encourages voters to support lower-ranked women, especially those just below the projected threshold for gaining seats.
This strategy helped Muhumed and 503 other women from across the Netherlands get elected in the last elections.
Women are underrepresented, especially in local politics
At national level, female representation in parliament is currently 43.3% in the Netherlands. This is well above last year’s EU average of 33.6% and is the highest level since the first Dutch female MP was elected in 1918.
However, at the local level, a different scenario emerges: in municipal elections across the country in March this year, women reached only 36.9%. And without the type of strategic preferential voting described above, according to Stem op een Vrouw, this percentage would have been 32.7%.
Runderkamp is proud of the number of women who have achieved a place — a record in the almost 10 years of campaign of your organization. But gender parity is still far from being achieved.
Clear division between left and right
Gender parity varies greatly from party to party, and there is a clear left-right trend in the Netherlands. The only party that had a majority of female candidates in the last elections was the left-wing Animal Party, with just over half.
Only 2% of candidates from the conservative Reformed Political Party (SGP) were women. But, in a way, this It’s a feminist victory: Until 2013, the SGP, based on its interpretation of the Bible, prohibited women from running for political office. Only after a seven-year legal battle and a court ruling that found its position discriminatory did the SGP change its rules.
The SGP is an extreme example. But between the parties, only 32% of candidates they were women.
“It cannot be denied that it takes more than just voters to vote intelligently to, in a certain way, circumvent the system”, says Runderkamp, underlining that parties must work on the parity of these electoral lists. The barriers, however, do not begin — nor end — at the electoral lists.
How open is the role to women?
Research shows that girls often see politics as a male-dominated spacea perception that strengthens as they grow up and is linked to lower levels of political interest.
Underrepresentation also means fewer visible models. Runderkamp says this sends the message early on that politics is “not really a place for them.”
It is a cycle that reinforces itself, he explains: with fewer women in public positions, policies have less likely to reflect women’s everyday realities. This could deepen political disengagement and discourage women from running.
The Stem op een Vrouw movement is trying to break this cycle. Alongside its campaign to elect more women, the group also calls aspiring candidates to experienced women in politics to build networks of contacts, learn how the system works and gain space. Fatuma Muhumed, for example, participated in training on how to run for political office and how to campaign.
But barriers don’t just affect who enters politics — they also shape who stays.
In the Netherlands, councilors combine political work with their jobs, mainly at night and on weekends. As women still perform a disproportionate share of unpaid care tasks, this may not be compatible. “I think the question is how open it is for women to participate and, mainly, stay four years and apply again”, says researcher Runderkamp.
Furthermore, a 2024 report by Ipsos I&O, commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior, found that 55% of women politicians in roles are confronted aggressively, compared to 37% of men.
Muhumed also suffered offensive insults even before taking office. “I started using TikTok for my campaign and I received a lot of comments, some of them really racist,” he said.
Women leave politics more quickly
Is aggressive behavior the reason why female politicians quit earlier and more often than men?
Across Europe, there are reports that women are leaving politics due to threats and smear campaigns. Research by British non-profit organization HateAid found that they are targets of far more abuse than their male counterparts.
Runderkamp warns that there is no clear statistical evidence for this: “In political science, we are not sure whether hatred and aggression are a direct reason for abandoning politics,” he said. Instead, he argued, these factors add up and dissuade women from applying or to remain in public office.
On the day of her inauguration, Muhumed is determined to fulfill her mandate. She also plans to bridge the gap between people and politicians: “I’m very happy that now I can represent more people of color, but also young women.”
She knows this won’t be a 9 to 5 job, but Muhumed is eager to begin her political work. “Sundays are for resting, however,” he says, smiling.
