Women in Latin America and the Caribbean - Cepal

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51 adoption of measures to combat inequality. The fact that these women are in positions of authority relieves them of having to constantly negotiate and demonstrate the importance of such measures. They also speak of a new climate of mutual assistance and a more relaxed style of political management and authority. Their presence in senior posts also places them in a prime position for identifying valuable professional women who may have been marginalized at work with no prospect of advancement. Under female authority, these professional women are more likely to achieve positions of responsibility. The subsequent upward career paths of the women concerned is evidence of the discrimination that they had been subjected to previously and demonstrates the importance of having a critical mass of female professionals in positions of responsibility (Seminar on parity and equality in the government of Michelle Bachelet, Santiago, Chile, 16 December 2006). One of the virtues of the parity agenda has been to demonstrate that women are capable of representing society as a whole. Another has been to encourage the democratic demands put forward by different segments of society, such as indigenous and Afrodescendent women who, through such organizations as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, have campaigned for the right to participate and to give or withhold their free, prior and informed consent in the formulation of policies to promote equality. The increase, albeit at different rates, in the proportion of women in the legislative and executive branches reflects cultural changes as regards recognition of their capabilities. It also reflects increased access to material resources and prestige and entails the creation of a critical mass of women among political authorities and representatives. The fact that women occupy a variety of ministerial and legislative positions shows that the time is now ripe for efforts to make parity an objective in the region. The authorities of machineries for women’s advancement have identified a number of obstacles. 19 The greatest of these has to do with the difficulty of reconciling public life with family responsibilities. This is compounded by a poor image of politics among the citizenry and far from negligible obstacles as regards financing and women’s economic capacities. Many female politicians, government authorities, female intellectuals and NGOs have taken up the call for parity. 20 Generally speaking, there is agreement that the changes have been occurring too slowly and that there is a need for policies on affirmative action, such as quota mechanisms in the legislative and executive branches; Colombia offers the clearest example of these. Such measures are needed to break down the cultural and political resistance which is evident in all the countries, even if opinions as to where to apply them do not necessarily coincide. In some countries it has been found necessary to specify affirmative action measures in constitutional provisions, while in others work at the political level has proved more fruitful. Representatives from the Caribbean countries have pointed to the importance of engaging in awareness-raising by enlisting the media and working to involve men in the campaign for parity. Cuba also notes that education and the political will of leaders have a strong bearing on women’s advancement. Lastly, all the representatives who participated in the virtual forum said that such strategies must be accompanied by efforts to strengthen the institutional fabric of gender. This includes positioning 19 20 Virtual Forum of Ministers for Women’s Affairs, 29 January 2007. As part of these calls, ECLAC organized two seminars on the subject of parity and the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean have adopted agreements on the need to incorporate the issue into the contemporary political agenda.
52 agencies at the highest level and establishing institutions to monitor the implementation of measures, such as the regional observatories of women’s affairs in Peru and the Gender Observatory in Colombia. The main challenges include the need to associate the parity campaign with the process of vindicating and legitimizing political activity in times of democracy in a way that takes the fact into account that women’s active political participation in public affairs is influenced by factors that consign it to a more private sphere of activity. Another influential factor that limits women’s political participation in elections and decision-making at all levels is the lack of a stronger State, which restricts access to social services that would buttress women’s involvement in society. This situation is further compounded by all the various implications of poverty. Violence against women, in both the private and public spheres, is another major limiting factor. In the public domain, violence is generally manifested in psychological and verbal shows of aggression against women taking part in political processes which leads them to fear social sanctions that may damage their family life as well as their role in other spheres of activity. One challenge about which there was unanimous agreement by the ministers and gender authorities participating in the virtual forums and subregional preparatory meetings for the tenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean was that of promoting the active participation of historically excluded sectors, such as indigenous and Afrodescendent women. The racism faced by indigenous women in institutional, structural and legal domains, as well as in daily life, translates into a much more limited role for them than for the rest of the female population, and this issue must be confronted. Despite this constraint, indigenous women, especially in Central America, have clearly demonstrated the fact that they stand ready and willing to take up a role at various levels in terms of both participation and decision-making. As an illustration of the inevitable link between parity and democracy, it may be noted that participation by indigenous women in public affairs in Guatemala began to come to the fore in 1986, just as the country was embarking on its transition to democracy. 21 The authorities responsible for national machineries for the advancement of women in the region emphasized the importance of providing leadership and management training for women and of strengthening participation at the local level in order to further the strategies being pursued to promote women’s empowerment at all levels. They also advocated the use of communications strategies with a view to dismantling patriarchal values in society and in political parties. 22 21 22 Report of the Presidential Women’s Secretariat (SEPREM) and the Indigenous Women’s Public Defender’s Office (DEMI) of Guatemala as presented to the Subregional preparatory meeting for Central America and Mexico for the tenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (Guatemala, May 2007). One interesting experience as regards the promotion of women’s political participation at the grass-roots level is that of the focal points developed by the National Women’s Institute (INAMUJER) of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Women represent 65% of the membership of the grass-roots organizations involved in the social works known as “missions” and of the communal councils, which are widespread throughout the country. The legislation on communal councils treats the INAMUJER focal points as a constituent organization of the councils. INAMUJER is now conducting training in the more than 20,000 focal points to enable them to carry out their work from a gender perspective, identify women’s practical and strategic needs, and create projects to help satisfy those needs.
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LC/L.2738(CRM.10/3) August 2007 The
Page 4 and 5: 1 FOREWORD The Economic Commission
Page 6 and 7: 3 INTRODUCTION The women of Latin A
Page 8: 5 essentially not on biological fac
Page 11 and 12: 8 Convention, but the process has b
Page 13 and 14: 10 among development, security and
Page 15 and 16: 12 Another sphere of democratic deb
Page 17 and 18: 14 to articulate their efforts in i
Page 19 and 20: 16 boundaries between human, reprod
Page 21 and 22: 18 relatively less powerful, new gl
Page 23 and 24: 20 universalist school’s argument
Page 25 and 26: 22 democratic movements, gradually
Page 27 and 28: 24 Table I.2 LATIN AMERICA (20 COUN
Page 29 and 30: 26 In many countries, a new collect
Page 31 and 32: 28 In Costa Rica the quota issue be
Page 33 and 34: 30 Table I.3 LATIN AMERICA AND THE
Page 35 and 36: 32 The differences between the resu
Page 37 and 38: 34 Figure I.4 LATIN AMERICA AND THE
Page 39 and 40: 36 Figure I.6 CARIBBEAN (11 COUNTRI
Page 41 and 42: 38 Figure I.9 CARIBBEAN (9 COUNTRIE
Page 43 and 44: 40 Women’s entry to parliament ca
Page 45 and 46: 42 Figure I.10 LATIN AMERICA AND TH
Page 47 and 48: 44 Figure I.12 THE CARIBBEAN (10 CO
Page 49 and 50: 46 Figure I.14 LATIN AMERICA (15 CO
Page 51 and 52: 48 Table I.6 LATIN AMERICA AND THE
Page 53: 50 was from 9% to 1.3%, Jamaica (fr
Page 58 and 59: 55 II. WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO TH
Page 60 and 61: 57 more concerned with the ethic of
Page 62 and 63: 59 Box II.1 THE WORK OF CARE IN SOC
Page 64 and 65: 61 of care on women mounts up. This
Page 66 and 67: 63 conditions of employment of work
Page 68 and 69: 65 social security and social benef
Page 70 and 71: 67 disincentive to their recruitmen
Page 72 and 73: 69 seeks to reform the constitution
Page 74 and 75: 71 Box II.4 REGULATION OF EMPLOYMEN
Page 76 and 77: 73 those in rural areas (42.1%), wh
Page 78 and 79: 75 sex and activity (see figure II.
Page 80 and 81: 77 Figure II.4 LATIN AMERICA (SIMPL
Page 82 and 83: 79 Figure II.7 LATIN AMERICA (SIMPL
Page 84 and 85: 81 Box II.6 HAITI. DOMESTIC WORKERS
Page 86 and 87: 83 It is interesting to characteriz
Page 88 and 89: 85 care to the “productive” adu
Page 90 and 91: 87 Box II. 7 (concluded) To sum up,
Page 92 and 93: 89 are also inaccurate, which widen
Page 94 and 95: 91 Some progress has been made sinc
Page 96 and 97: 93 Figure II.15 AVERAGE HOURS SPENT
Page 98 and 99: 95 Country Costa Rica El Salvador G
Page 100 and 101: 97 domestic life is shared between
Page 102 and 103: 99 employee for family reasons. The
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101 In the private sphere, there ha
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103 Table II.4 SEVEN SELECTED CITIE
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105 Box II.12 EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL SE
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107 III. TOWARDS A RESEARCH AND POL
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109 (iii) Contribute to the mainten
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111 Appendix TECHNICAL NOTES The st
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113 Household survey information al
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115 sub-module “home maintenance
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118 _____ (2003), "Políticas para
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120 Carrasco, Cristina (2001), “H
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122 _____ (2003b), “Redes de apoy
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124 Huenchuan, Sandra and José Mig
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126 Montaño, Sonia (2007a), “Emp
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128 Rico, María Nieves (2006), “
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130 _____ (1979), Convention on the
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