Exclusion of women in decision-making marker of ‘flawed democracy’: Kamala Harris

The status of democracy depends fundamentally on the empowerment of women, whose exclusion from decision-making is a marker of a “flawed democracy”, Kamala Harris has said in her first address to the United Nations as the Vice-President of the U.S.

Ms. Harris, the first woman, the first Black American and the first South Asian American to be elected Vice-President, voiced her concern over the decline of democracy and freedom across the globe in her address to the 65th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. “Today, we know that democracy is increasingly under great strain. For 15 consecutive years, we have seen a troubling decline in freedom around the globe. In fact, experts believe that this past year was the worst on record for the global deterioration of democracy and freedom,” she said on Tuesday.