There have been 10 women in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975.
[1] As of 1 February 2019, Papua New Guinea was one of only three countries in the world out of 235 that had no women in its legislative branch or parliament.
[2] In the 2017 national election, 165 women ran for parliament out of a total of 3,000 candidates, or five percent.
No women were elected, including the three female incumbents.
[4] In October 2023, a further woman, Francesca Semoso, was elected to represent North Bougainville in a by-election.