France

Senate

Political system
Presidential-Parliamentary
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members
348
Women
126
Percentage of women
36.2%

Speaker

No information available

Secretary general

Secretary General
Marianne Bay (Female)

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body Theme Name Sex Age
Delegation for Women's Rights and Equal opportunities between Women and Men Gender equality Annick Billion Female 56

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2023-10)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 1 10 11 20 56 88 34 2 0 222
Female 0 1 4 6 12 48 47 8 0 0 126
Totals per age interval 0 2 14 17 32 104 135 42 2 0 348
Total <= 45: 33 Total >= 46: 315
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
0.6% 0.3% 0.3%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
4.6% 3% 1.4%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
9.5% 6% 3.2%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: Legislated Candidate Quota. The principle of equal access is enshrined in the Constitution. There should be alternation of male and female candidates. The difference between the number of candidates of each gender cannot be greater than 1.

Sources: Constitution, Articles 1(2), 3 and 4. Electoral Code, Articles L300 (1) and L299 (1).

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament
1945

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker
2022

Women’s suffrage

Women’s right to vote
1944
Restricted or universal suffrage
Universal
Women's right to stand for election
1944
Restricted or universal
No information available

Women's caucus

Women's caucuses or parliamentary groups that bring together women parliamentarians to strengthen cooperation and amplify their voices. For other parliamentary bodies or committees that have a specific mandate to address gender equality matters, see the ‘Specialized body – Gender equality’ tab.

There is currently no women's caucus in this chamber.

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No