#1: Institutional Structure or Policies Institutional barriers refer to systemic, structural or policy-based barriers that hinder women’s political participation. Foremost are electoral systems in different parts of the world which pose the most effective hindrance.
#2: Social and Cultural Issues In many countries, strong patriarchal systems remain in place making it difficult for women to break into the male-dominated world of politics. The Philippines, which has elected to office two female Presidents and touted by the World Economic Forum as the most gender equal country in Asia, has seen its share of political heckling of women in power. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a deeply conservative society, the very first time that women were allowed to participate in elections was on December, 2015, when they cast their votes in municipal elections. There continues to be a strong emphasis across societies of women’sstructure’s roles in the home, as mothers and wives. Also,structures politics remain a ‘male’ structure
#3: Psychological or Motivational Factors Dirty politics and its extremely negative effects turn off most women from participating in it. British journalist Bim Adewunmi wrote, “who but the most thick-skinned would willingly go through a cycle that so closely scrutinizes female politicians’ fashion choices, sexual pasts and even their childcare arrangements?”
What’s more, women tend to get additional heat when running forbring office. Hillary, for example, received a lot of criticism for not being “human” enough or for being “too vocal” or “too insensitive.”