Jamaica

Senate

Political system: Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: No

Historical data on women

Data on women’s right to vote and to stand for election, the date at which the first woman entered parliament, and female Heads of State or Government

Women's suffrage

Date of independence: 1962
Year of first woman in parliament: 1967

Notes: 1967: First legislature of Jamaica after the country became independent on 6 August 1962. Prior to independence the first woman to be elected to Parliament was in 1944.
Year of first woman speaker: 1984

Women’s right to vote

Women’s right to vote: 1962
National or local: National
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Notes: Prior to independence after a long period of direct British colonial rule, Jamaica gained a degree of local political control in the late 1930s, and held its first election under full universal adult suffrage on 20 November 1944. This right was confirmed at independence.

Women’s right to stand for election

Women's right to stand for election: 1962
Restricted or universal: No information available

Updated at	IPU membership
1997-01	No
1983-01	Yes