32 Gender and Security Toolkit National Security Service, Investigative Committee, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Special Investigative Service). It also includes the Supreme Judiciary Council. The integration of a gender perspective into security frameworks will be regularly reviewed by the platform. 5.5 Achieving gender equality within the parliament The gross underrepresentation of women in most parliaments is discussed in section 3, in the context of the importance of parliament being representative in terms of men and women, both for its legitimacy and for the quality of its oversight. Important strategies for integrating a gender perspective in parliamentary oversight of the security sector are thus to increase the number of female candidates to be MPs and the number of women elected to parliament, and to make sure that women hold leadership positions within parliament once elected. The so-called “critical mass” of at least 30 per cent of women MPs is widely accepted as a benchmark for minimum standards. Additionally, the composition of the candidate pool for parliament needs to be inclusive of LGBTI communities as well as other traditionally underrepresented groups, such as women with disabilities and young women. As noted in section 3, there has been a distinct improvement in women’s participation in parliaments globally over the last two decades. This progress is to a large extent the result of the introduction of special temporary measures, such as quotas or reserved seats. As the CEDAW Committee has noted, quotas and reserved seats should not be considered discrimination against men; rather, they constitute special temporary measures to reverse historical inequalities and trends.17 The efficiency and impact of these measures vary. Kyrgyzstan and Ireland are examples where quotas have brought positive results. But temporary special measures are only as effective as their formulation and implementation, and there is no universal model suitable for all countries.18 Legislative quotas, while legally binding, do not always automatically produce desired changes in the number of women elected. At the same time, internal party quotas, although only voluntary measures, have been more effective in achieving higher representation of women in some countries. In the discussion on numbers of women, at times less attention is placed on the outcomes – that is, the influence of women’s participation in parliaments on gender equality. Parliaments are often “steeped in norms, practices and policies that discriminate against women and which make it difficult for women to effect change”.19 For example, improvement in the proportion of female parliamentarians does not necessarily lead to an active role for women in security-related decision-making, such as holding ministerial or senior positions on committees responsible for defence and policing (see Box 9). To illustrate, as of 1 January 2019 women held a total of 1,412 ministerial portfolios within governments; of those, women occupied only 22 portfolios for defence and/or veterans’ affairs, 50 for home affairs and/or immigration and 31 for justice.20 At the same time, most parliaments’ gender equality committees have a predominantly female membership. Diverse committees, however, are more likely to understand the gendered security needs of their constituents. This enhanced understanding, in turn, strengthens the legitimacy of such committees.