Political polarization and setbacks in terms of democracy in different Latin American countries would be jeopardizing the progress made in terms of gender equity and women’s rights, especially in places like Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador and Venezuela, according to activists. on Monday.
In an event led by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, a group of experts opined that in the current context, women play an “essential” role in building equitable countries.
“Today, democracy cannot be conceived without inclusion, without participation and without representation and representativeness of women in key decision-making places. And, today women have the possibility to make that connection, that there is no democracy if there is no participation of women in democracy,” said Tamara Taraciuk, director of the rule of law program of the Inter-American Dialogue.
In a recent report, UN Women He pointed out that a “full democracy” needs the equal participation of women, however, the “continuous” violence and threats they suffer “deteriorate” aspects such as the economic and social recovery of the countries.
Celia Medrano, Salvadoran journalist and researcher, highlighted that “there is a clear authoritarian trend that is consolidating rapidly” in her country, and “the first sectors hit” are women.
In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele has maintained a measure of exception regime approved in March 2022, which according to data from the National Civil Police, has allowed the homicide rate to be reduced from 36 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019 to 7.8 in 2022. However, complaints of human rights violations have been raised.
“They don’t tell us that [en comparación con los hombres] women are being disappeared more, that we are being murdered more,” said Medrano. “It is justified that they were gang members, they were delinquents, we would not have to care if their children died. That is what is taking root and they want to convince us that our supposed security is in exchange for our accepting the violation of human rights”.
Data revealed by UN Women indicates that until January 1, 2023, women in Latin America and the Caribbean represented 30.1 percent of female cabinet ministers. In the list of countries, Nicaragua is in fourth place with 62.5 women in the cabinet.
In the list that includes some 200 countries, the Latin American nation in the worst position in terms of the presence of women in positions of power is Guatemala with 7.1 percent, ranking number 168 on the list.
Cuba is ranked 70th, Venezuela is at number 63 and El Salvador is at number 35.
Taraciuk, however, pointed out that although “the presence of women is important, it does not necessarily ensure advancing the women’s agenda.” Thus, she established as an example the position of Rosario Murillo as vice president of Nicaragua, in a position of power led by accusations of violation of human rights in the country.
“The multiplicity of women’s experiences is enormous and any collective response to the problems of democratic transition has to take this heterogeneity into account… diversity enriches the debate and I think that is what dictators fear” he added.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) exhibited in march that “the persistence of patriarchal structural knots in the political systems” of the Latin American countries “continues to limit progress towards parity democracy.”
Some of the specific structures that restrict women’s equal access to the exercise of power are the sexual division of labor, violence, political culture, and “limited information about diversity.”
Tamara Dávila, defender of women’s rights, highlighted how in the case of polarization due to political ideals, there are violations of women’s rights. In the case of Nicaragua, as she said, “any person who questions the axioms of power is susceptible to being criminalized.”
Dávila is expresses nicaraguan politics and she arrived in the US in February, when she was released and sent with a group of 221 other prisoners to the North American country.
“Those women who dare to question the hegemonic power and those women who dare to speak are doubly punished. Not for questioning that political power, but also for participating politically,” she said.
The traditional role of women as “caregivers” also represents a challenge in closing gender gaps, the experts pointed out.
“In the interrogations of women who had children, they were strongly linked to our role of motherhood… the questioning of women who participate politically for not being at home, for not taking care of their children is highly recurrent and does not happen with the men political prisoners”, he pointed out.
In Cuba, on the other hand, the lawyer and human rights defender Laritza Diversent highlighted the lack of independence in organizations that lead the issue of gender within the country, the government in power and discrimination for political reasons.
“However, those who run the Federation of Cuban Women today have positions within the Communist Party, they are also state officials and supposedly leaders of civil society. It is impossible for a single person to gather all three characteristics and at the same time defend the processes in defense of the protection of women’s rights against violence”, she said.
Diversent highlighted femicide as one of the most present factors of violence against women in Cuba. Until May 26, 28 femicides had been reported so far this year in Cuba, a little less than a month later, the number rises to 38.
Cubalex, a non-governmental organization that opposes the island’s government, has registered 328 women among activists, journalists and human rights defenders who have been repressed just for being part of an organization that promotes gender issues.
The Cuban government denies that women are repressed for this reason and classifies those who oppose the government, women and men, as “mercenaries” at the service of the United States and other foreign governments.
Identify “early warning signs”
The experts agreed that Latin American countries should “create a system of early warning signs” that awaken social groups to mobilize to prevent human rights crises.
Taraciuk highlighted that in countries like Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua there is talk of “democratic setbacks” with “leaders who come to power through elections and once in power, turn their backs on the most elementary guarantees” for which It must “protect judicial independence, checks and balances, civic space, the role of civil society, the independent press and I believe that women in all these areas have played a very important role.”
“We need allies, we need to be strong,” Diversent added.
While Dávila, for his part, elaborated that “we cannot look the other way” regarding women’s rights “we cannot look the other way, simply because it does not happen to me, because the shock wave hits us all and that is why all countries must act to ensure political pluralism”.
The meeting concluded with a call to include LGBITQ populations, especially transgender women, in political decision-making. “The violence exerted against this population is very strong and is culturally in quotes, accepted, endorsed, allowed. I think sometimes we lose our ability to give ourselves as human beings. And within this framework, there is much to do to guarantee a life free of violence for those who make up these populations,” concluded Medrano.
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