Building long-term relations of trust between civil society, voters and female politicians is essential to gender quotas’ success

Over recent decades, more than 100 countries have introduced gender quotas worldwide. The international community has championed quota policies as a fast track to increase women’s presence in national parliaments. This, argues Anouk Lloren, has greatly contributed to their adoption, sometimes in countries exhibiting a long patriarchal tradition. But are gender quotas effective?