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Research started by Professor Joni Lovenduski in 1992 and developed with Dr Rosie Campbell since 2003, influenced both policies about party political representation of women and the understandings of women's role in politics of party officials and activists. Showing that political recruitment, representation and participation are highly gendered — masculine — processes, Lovenduski and Campbell have successfully challenged the attitudes and contributed to changing processes that determine political equality between women and men. Both are routinely consulted about policy on political representation by political parties, UK government and parliament, the EU, and national and international organisations.
Allwood's research into Women and Politics has looked at women's participation in mainstream and alternative forms of political activity; gender and policy, focusing on prostitution, violence and abortion policy; and the political participation of refugee women. The research has informed government advisory panels, think-tanks, and NGOs, in particular in debates around gender quotas and the relationship between gender and democracy. External voices and actors have helped shape the research process, and the audience of this research has made material and distinct decisions based on new insights effectively shared, as demonstrated by citations of research outputs in policy documents and discussion papers.
Sustained research by Professor Galligan on reforming political processes to address women's political underrepresentation in Ireland has led to new law and changed the attitudes of politicians, political parties and government on this key democratic issue. Her research had a direct influence on the Electoral (Amendment)( Political Funding) Bill (2011) which provides for gender quotas for candidates at Irish general elections. The research has also influenced the equal opportunities practices of Irish political parties (including Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour), thereby effecting an attitudinal change among political elites. Additionally, Galligan's research on political reform for gender equality influenced the Irish Constitutional Convention's second report to government. Internationally, it has influenced OSCE deliberations on political party regulation.
Using a ground-breaking database of recovered narratives of Latin American women during the Wars of Independence,
More than twenty years of sanctions and war have decimated all areas of Iraqi society, including its higher education sector. In this context, the work of Professor Nadje Al-Ali has countered conservative forces pursuing Iraqi reconstruction in ways that explicitly marginalise women. Drawing on her research on women's rights in Iraq and beyond, Al-Ali has worked to raise consciousness of how perspectives informed by gender theory can contribute to a more equitable reconstruction of Iraqi civil society. Through in-country and regional training of academics and women's rights activists, and mentoring numerous Iraqi research projects, Al-Ali has substantially progressed the promotion of women's rights and gender-based equality in Iraq.
This case study is underpinned by research carried out within a Leverhulme Trust International Network award on Women and Union Leadership. The case demonstrates three sets of impact: (1) engagement of Professor Kirton to advise the probation service union Napo on changing policy and practices to improve women's representation in the union's leadership and decision-making structures; (2) career development, activist development and new networking opportunities for women union leaders/activists in the UK and USA; and (3) increased action on improving women's representation in unions and raising greater awareness (including lobbying through Motion 26, TUC 2011) of the pressing importance for union renewal of correcting women's under-representation in union leadership in UK and USA unions.
Research by Professor Sarah Childs has had wide-ranging influence in relation to improving women's parliamentary representation in the UK. This impact has taken the following forms. First, through her role as Specialist Adviser to the Speaker's Conference (2008-10), Childs helped set the agenda around the multiple issues and political practices (including legislative ones) that determine women's political representation. Second, she followed up on the Conference by presenting proposals on MPs' pay, assisting in the development of the Counting Women In campaign, and drawing attention to the implications of parenting for parliamentary representation. Third, Childs' research has been significant in promoting the adoption of strong equality promotion measures in the Conservative Party. This includes helping to secure acceptance in principle in 2009 by the then Leader of the Opposition David Cameron of All Women Shortlists. Her interventions have also accentuated the issue of women's representation in the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, resulting in support for some of the measures Childs has advocated at the highest levels of those organizations. Thus, due in part to her research and argumentation, it is now more accepted amongst party elites and grassroots members alike, in all three principal UK political parties, that women's representation continues to be inadequate and requires urgent redress. More broadly, Childs has made political, public and civil society actors, as well as the wider public, more cognizant of the democratic deficit incurred when women, and women's interests and perspectives, are absent, under-represented or marginalized in parliamentary politics.
Research by Dr Garikipati identifies that microfinance is most beneficial to women when it enables them to enhance their livelihoods and participate in the local enterprise economy. It also shows that over 80% of the microfinance loans in Andhra Pradesh, India, did not meet these conditions. Using these research findings, Dr Garikipati directly lobbied the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP). This has had an impact on governmental organisations and other stakeholders within the microfinance industry and lead to the introduction of the Livelihood Enhancement Plan (LEP), which is used at the time of loan application. Dr Garikipati collaborated with the GoAP in designing and implementing the LEP. It impacts 500,000 women per year who join the microfinance program and enables them to enhance livelihoods in keeping with the demands of the local economy.
The findings of empirical research conducted by Professor Jim Barry and Dr Trudie Honour of UEL were shared at two focused capacity building sessions held in 2008 and 2009 for women leaders in middle and senior positions of responsibility and decision-making in the public and third sectors of a number of developing countries. Workshops were attended by women from Albania, Bahrain, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Participants considered the relevance and application of the research findings for their own countries, and worked together and with the researchers to formulate potential capacity development implementation strategies for women in positions of responsibility in those countries.
Critical historical, empirical and theoretical research on women offenders is deeply embedded in the culture of criminology at Keele. Research undertaken by Anne Worrall and colleagues at Keele since 1993 (and for a decade before) has contributed towards changing attitudes and practice in the treatment of women offenders locally, nationally and internationally. The impact of our research is long-standing and has been sustained across several generations of researchers. Its significance lies in our ability to challenge conventional wisdom about women offenders, inform and stimulate practitioner debate, influence CPD, influence practice for a specific group, improve access to justice and give a voice to those affected by our research.