The number of women elected to the parliament has remained disappointingly low. In 2019, only 4 women were elected to the parliament as opposed to 83 men. This survey set out to understand people’s perception regarding the lack of women elected to the parliament. Respondents were provided with a list of reasons and were asked to identify the ones they considered had affected the election of women to the parliament. The most commonly cited reason was the absence of a female candidate (27.7%) indicating that fewer women contested these elections. Respondents from urban regions (31.8%) were more likely to identify this as the reason for the lack of women in parliament in comparison to those from the outer islands (25.3%). More women (29.62%) reported this as the reason for the low number of women elected as well (24.3%). This response is reflective of the fact that only 35 out of 386 candidates were women in the 2019 parliamentary elections. Among other reasons, 13.9% of people said it was the lack of societal support for female candidates, and more women (15.8%) seem to agree with this statement. Out of the 10.5% who stated other reasons, the most commonly cited include women not contesting in elections, women’s lack of confidence, better social perception of men and women’s unpaid work in the family limiting their time seeking other jobs. Reason for lack of societal support for female candidates, by gender Reason Male Female Total No women candidates 24.34% 29.62% 27.72% No qualified women candidates 10.84% 8.57% 9.46% Men were better qualified than women candidates Men do not want to vote for a woman candidate Women do not want to vote for a woman candidate Women candidates lacking support from families Lack of societal support 2.25% 2.12% 2.15% 4.91% 5.57% 5.44% 3.89% 4.45% 4.30% 2.45% 2.34% 2.36% 10.43% 15.81% 13.90% Women candidates lacking funds 5.11% 8.02% 6.95% Other 12.07% 9.69% 10.46% RF 1.02% 0.89% 1.00% DK/NA 22.70% 12.92% 16.26% 92