This suggests that descriptive representation can actually translate into substantive representation for women. There are multiple causal pathways: elected women pay more attention to women’s needs, they are more effective in bringing these bills on the agenda and they can indirectly (or directly) influence male legislators’ priorities (Schwindt-Bayer, 2007). In Latin America, the presence of female legislators lias helped prioritise children and family affairs, as well as on sexual abuse and family violence issues in Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica (Schwindt-Bayer, 2007).