Some reports on the 2012 general election have referred to the record number of women who will be in the 113th Congress, where so many important decisions are made. Twenty women will be seated in the Senate, while 78 will be seated in the House. The total number of women in Congress will amount to 18.3 percent or 1.7 percent more than the backsliding 2010 results. There are still 16 “taxation without representation” states that send no women to Washington, and that’s taking into consideration three states — Alaska, Louisiana and Nebraska — that have a woman senator, but no women in the House.

Lest we forget, the United States is 82nd in the world for electing women. It’s time to take a real-world, non-partisan look at why that is and how women have progressed in so many other countries if we are ever to have a true voice in Congress.

Paula Xanthopoulou, Miami