Development & Aid, Gender, Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean, Population, Poverty & SDGs

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: Activists in Chile Elated, But Won’t Let Down Their Guard

María Cecilia Espinosa

SANTIAGO, Mar 6 2006 (IPS) - Although they are pleased that Michelle Bachelet will become Chile’s first female president, just three days after International Women’s Day (Mar. 8), women’s organisations in this South American country will make it clear on Wednesday that they have no plans to let down their guard.

“This is the best way for a country to commemorate an international day” that falls just before “President Ricardo Lagos hands over the presidential sash to a woman,” Minister Cecilia Pérez, who heads the National Women’s Service in the outgoing government, told IPS.

Bachelet’s government will be the fourth consecutive administration of the centre-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy, which first took power on Mar. 11, 1990, putting an end to the nearly 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

On Jan. 30, Bachelet announced a cabinet made up of equal numbers of men and women, as she had pledged in her campaign.

Of the 20 cabinet ministries, 10 will be held by women: the general secretariat of the presidency, the national women’s service, and the ministries of defence, economy, planning, culture, health, housing and urban planning, mining, and national assets.

“Not only women’s organisations, but also the government, Congress, the justice system and all of us who have political and public responsibilities should be aware that this is a great stride forward, but that it is far from closing the gap and from providing a solution to all of the pending issues,” said Pérez.

“It is still necessary,” said the minister, “to put an end to wage discrimination, because today there is no economic, political or ethical justification for the fact that women earn 30 percent less than men for doing the same job.”

In addition, “men and women must be able to compete in equal conditions for public posts, particularly in Congress,” where women are underrepresented, she added.

In the Dec. 11, 2005 legislative elections, 18 women were elected to the Chamber of Deputies – 15 percent of the total – and two women were elected to the Senate – 9.5 percent of the total.

Pérez noted that during the Lagos administration, the share of posts held by women in the executive branch increased to 34 percent.

Deputy Adriana Muñoz of the co-governing Party for Democracy (PPD) told IPS that it is “like a dream come true that this Mar. 8 we will be able to take to the streets, not only to underscore the rights that we have not yet won and the discrimination we continue to face, but also to celebrate such an important achievement as having a woman president.”

Muñoz stressed, however, that “equal pay for equal jobs and universal childcare are two big rights that we must still conquer. Equal opportunity involves the possibilities for women to be fully integrated into public life, and to develop as individuals.”

Perla Wilson, with the Corporación La Morada, one of Chile’s leading women’s organisations, commented to IPS that “a woman assuming the presidency in Chile for the first time ever is linked to Mar. 8, which is a symbol of the social struggles of women, and shows how women have carved out a space for themselves in public life in a patriarchal culture that is often adverse to them.”

Bachelet represents “an effective change in the way leadership is exercised, by naming a cabinet made up of equal numbers of women and men, which amounts to recognition of women’s competence and topples myths, like the concept that women do not like politics and prefer lower-profile activities,” she added.

Wilson said, however, that there are still problems to overcome. “There is a very well-designed law on violence against women that has received no financing. The situation faced by battered women who cannot return to their homes or are unable to support themselves is a major social problem.”

Another challenge “is deepening democracy,” so that not only are women appointed to certain positions, but the voices of organisations working on behalf of women’s rights are heard, said the activist.

Paulina Weber, a leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Chilean Women, told IPS that “for the first time we will have a female president and a cabinet representing gender parity – the result of a long struggle by Chilean women for participation in public life and decision-making.”

“We will not let down our guard just because we have women in the government,” she said. “Chile still needs women’s organisations that do not stop working hard until they achieve their goals,” including equal wages, an end to domestic violence, sexual health and reproductive rights.

More than 150 social movements, non-governmental organisations, development agencies, political parties and trade unions are organising a major political and cultural event in downtown Santiago on Mar. 8, in which female musicians from Chile as well as Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Brazil will perform, while president-elect Bachelet will address the crowd.