In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a new study finds that in the media, only 22% of sources in news programs are women and that less than 15% of experts interviewed are women. 33% of women politicians were never contacted by media outlets for an interview.

The report is based on data collected in the first half of 2017 by the Congolese Union of Women Media Professionals (UCOFEM).

Surveyors were deployed in Kinshasa and eleven other large cities in the country with the objective of collecting data to get a clear understanding of institutional, familial and cultural factors that limit women’s engagement and participation in the democratic process, from voter registration to the place of women in the central government.

The survey also found that 47% of women believe that family pressures are the main limit to women’s engagement in politics and 39% of women do not feel that quotas are the best solution for improving representation.

The Executive Summary and the full report are presented in French.