Female Senators contributed around 20 percent of the regular plenary agenda of the Senate during the 23rd parliamentary year (2025–2026), according to the latest Women Parliamentarians Performance Report released by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

This contribution is slightly higher than women’s share in the Senate’s membership, which stands at around 18 percent. Similar to the National Assembly, most women Senators currently enter the House through reserved seats, with only one elected on a general seat.

Titled “Women Senators Did It Too!”, the report evaluates female Senators’ parliamentary performance across five dimensions including their contribution to the parliamentary agenda; participation in plenary debates; attendance in House sittings; parliamentary treatment of agenda submitted by women Senators; and individual performance rankings. The report focuses solely on plenary performance and does not cover committee work or constituency activities. Moreover, verbal interventions during Question Hour, such as supplementary questions, are also excluded.

Following are key findings of the report:

Agenda contribution and per-capita performance: On a per-capita basis, female Senators contributed agenda items at a slightly higher rate than male Senators. On average, each female Senator submitted 12 agenda items during the year, compared with 11 items per male Senator. However, women’s overall share of the agenda declined from 31 percent recorded in the previous parliamentary year (2024–2025).

Parliamentary treatment of women Senators’ agenda: The report uses the Gender Responsiveness Score (GRS) to assess how frequently the Senate addresses agenda submitted by female Senators compared with that submitted by male Senators. The overall GRS for the reporting period is 0.9, indicating that the Senate was somewhat less responsive to women Senators’ agenda. Notably, Calling Attention Notices and proposals for amendments to the rules submitted by female Senators were not addressed during the year, while their questions and private member bills were taken up at rates comparable to those of male Senators.

Participation in plenary debates: While all female Senators remained active either through agenda submission or participation in debates, most fell in the “rarely spoke” category based on their Participation Rate Index. Only one female Senator did not participate in debates at all, contributing solely through agenda submission. This pattern points to potential institutional or procedural barriers affecting women’s verbal participation in the House.

Policy areas raised by women Senators: The report challenges the perception that women parliamentarians focus primarily on gender-related issues. Agenda submitted by female Senators covered a wide range of policy areas including economic policy, national security, taxation, governance, and parliamentary procedure, alongside legislation on women’s rights and social protection.

Attendance patterns: Female Senators demonstrated relatively strong attendance, attending an average of 38 sittings during the year compared to 34 sittings attended by male Senators.

The report concludes that while female Senators are contributing to parliamentary business at rates comparable to or exceeding their male counterparts on a per-capita basis, disparities remain in terms of institutional responsiveness and opportunities for meaningful participation in plenary debates.

Download Women Senators Did It Too: Women Parliamentarians’ Performance Report 2025-2026

You can also read the Women MNAs Performance Report here.