Trinidad and Tobago

House of Representatives

Political system
Parliamentary system
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
42
Women
12
Percentage of women
28.6%

Speaker

Speaker
Bridgid Annisette-George (Female)
Date of birth: 1958
Additional information

Elected on 23 Sep. 2015, re-elected on 28 Aug. 2020.

Secretary general

No information available

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body Theme Name Sex Age
Joint Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign affairs Paula Gopee-Scoon Female 65
Joint Finance Committee Finance Hazel Thompson-Ahye Female 74
Joint Committee for Human Rights, Equality and Diversity Human rights, Gender equality Nyan Gadsby-Dolly Female 46

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2020-08)
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 4 4 6 7 6 2 0 0 30
Female 0 0 5 3 0 1 3 0 0 0 12
Totals per age interval 0 1 9 7 6 8 9 2 0 0 42
Total <= 45: 17 Total >= 46: 25
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
2.4% 2.4% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
23.8% 12% 11.9%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
40.5% 21% 19.0%

Reserved seats and quotas

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

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament
1962

Notes: 1962: Prior to independence, 1 woman was appointed to the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago in 1946 and 1 was elected in 1961

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker
1991

Women’s suffrage

Date of independence
1962
Women’s right to vote
1962
Restricted or universal suffrage
Universal

Notes: Prior to independence, under British administration, women were given the right to vote in 1946. This right was confirmed at indepedence.

Women's right to stand for election
1962
Restricted or universal
Universal

Notes: Prior to independence, under British administration, women were given the right to vote and stand for election in 1946. These rights were confirmed at indepedence.

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