Women Representing Women? Evidence from Hong Kong's Semi-Democratic Legislature

Using Hong Kong as a case study, this article examines whether female legislators are more likely to represent women's interests than their male colleagues in a semi-democratic legislature. We address this question through conducting content analyses of the questions asked by legislators at the plenary meetings during the 2008–12 and 2012–16 legislative sessions. Our results show that female legislators in Hong Kong were significantly more likely to advance women's rights. However, except in the arena of education, there was no significant gender difference regarding traditional women's concerns. This study also finds that political orientation of legislators and the path through which legislators were elected significantly affected their likelihood of representing women's interests.