Afshar: "For me the most important thing is the sense of passion, commitment and ability. I think that all women have it in them and they should really move forward"

Many women get involved in politics because they feel passionately about a particular issue - especially one which affects women such as abortion or contraception. Many of the women featured were involved in student campaigns - for example student demonstrations in Paris or the Vietnam protests in the USA in the 1960s.

Liswood: "They often got into the political process because they were inflamed by a particular issue, angered and feeling like they had to come in to try to change the system. And so it's a different route than men often will take, because men often will say I really want to be prime minister of this country and I'm going to work my way towards that. I'm going to do what it takes to get to that position of power so it's a somewhat different approach."

Liswood seems to suggest that many women are motivated by principles whereas men are motivated by power itself.