in latin america and the caribbean the five countries with available data show a wider spread of the proportion of female candidates from a low of per cent in belize to a high of per cent in costa rica for the more developed regions the proportion of women candidates ranged from per cent in japan to per cent in belgium and tended to cluster within the range of to per cent regionally the average likelihood of women candidates winning a seat in the lower or single house of parliament is higher than that of men candidates only in africa by a factor of