Fatuma Muhumed is glowing as she arrives for an interview with DW just hours before her inauguration as a local councilor in the Dutch municipality of Apeldoorn — her first political office, on top of her job as a lawyer.
Her election was far from certain: she was ranked 15th on the candidate list of the left-leaning GroenLinks-PvdA, yet she secured one of the party’s six seats. Muhumed rose through the ranks thanks to preferential voting, a tactic promoted by the campaign Stem op een Vrouw (Vote for a Woman) as “smart voting.”
How does it work?
In the Netherlands, voters can pick a party and also a specific candidate on that party’s list. Parties order their lists, usually placing leaders at the top. “We see more men, and then we see women lower on the lists,” says Zahra Runderkamp, political scientist and lead researcher at Stem op een Vrouw.
Voters typically favor the top names, but to boost women’s representation the campaign urges supporters to give preference to women placed lower down—especially those just below the projected seat threshold. That strategy helped Muhumed and 503 other women across the Netherlands win seats in the latest municipal elections.
Women are underrepresented, particularly in local politics
Nationally, women’s representation in the Dutch parliament stands at 43.3% — well above last year’s EU average of 33.6% and the highest level since the first female Dutch MP was elected in 1918.
The local picture is different: in the nationwide municipal elections in March, women made up only 36.9% of councilors. Stem op een Vrouw estimates the share would have been 32.7% without targeted preferential voting. Runderkamp is pleased that a record number of women won seats in her group’s nearly ten years of campaigning, but she stresses gender parity remains distant.
Clear left-right divide
Gender balance varies widely by party, trending from left to right. The left-wing Party for the Animals was the only party with a majority of women candidates, at just over half. At the other extreme, the conservative Reformed Political Party (SGP) had only 2% women candidates. That low figure follows a history in which the SGP, until 2013, barred women from standing for office on the basis of its interpretation of the Bible; it changed its rules only after a legal challenge found the ban discriminatory.
Across all parties, only 32% of candidates were women. “You can’t deny that more is needed than voters voting smart to sort of hack the system a little bit,” Runderkamp says, arguing that parties should ensure greater parity on their lists. But she adds that electoral lists are only one part of the problem.
How open is the job for women?
Research shows girls often perceive politics as male-dominated, a belief that intensifies with age and reduces political interest. Fewer women in office also means fewer visible role models, reinforcing the idea that politics is “not really a place for them,” Runderkamp says.
This creates a self-reinforcing cycle: fewer women shaping policy makes politics feel less relevant to women’s everyday lives, which can increase alienation and discourage participation. Stem op een Vrouw works to break that cycle by pairing aspiring candidates with experienced women, building networks and teaching practical campaign and application skills. Muhumed attended training on how to apply for posts and campaign effectively.
Barriers affect not only entry but retention. Local councilors often work evenings and weekends alongside other jobs. Because women still carry a disproportionate share of unpaid care duties, such schedules can be harder to manage. “I think the question is how open it is for women to participate and especially to stay for four years and re-run,” Runderkamp says.
A 2024 Ipsos I&O report for the Dutch Interior Ministry found 55% of women politicians have faced aggression, compared with 37% of men. Muhumed experienced racist and offensive comments during her TikTok campaign even before taking office.
Women leave politics faster
Could hostility explain why women leave politics sooner and more often than men? Across Europe, women are reportedly quitting politics because of threats and smear campaigns; British non-profit HateAid finds they face significantly more abuse than male peers.
Runderkamp cautions there is no definitive statistical proof that aggression alone causes women to quit. “In political science, we are not sure if hate and aggression are a direct reason for leaving politics,” she says. Rather, such factors accumulate and deter women from running or staying in office.
On the day of her inauguration, Muhumed is determined to finish her term. She hopes to bridge the gap between people and politicians: “I’m really happy that I can now represent more people of color, but also young women.” She knows the role won’t be a nine-to-five job, but she is eager to start. “Sundays are for rest, though,” she says, smiling.
Edited by: R. Casey