ARGENTINA-WOMEN: Women Politicians Advance Activities

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 24 1997 (IPS) - Fifty years ago, Argentine women obtained the right to vote. In 1991, they achieved a law setting minimum quotas for female representation in Congress. Now they are seeking to advance further by building a Database of Women in Politics.

This project should end the preconceived notion that there are no “capable” women engaged in political activity, feminists say.

“Our objective is that, for the presidential elections in 1999, no political party in Argentina can say that it does not have capable women to put on their lists of candidates”, says Zita Montes de Oca, president of the Women in Equality Foundation.

The purpose of the Foundation’s database is to gather information about the women who work silently in politics, on their leadership capabilities, and their level of education. These are women who are unable to break through the “glass ceiling” within their own parties.

The list represents another step forward in the search for equal political opportunities which began in 1947, when Eva Peron supported the sanctioning of a suffrage law in Argentina. Until that year, “universal” suffrage did not include women.

Although they won the right to vote, women have not had the parliamentary representation proportional to the work they do at the grass-roots level. With a few exceptions, all political parties reserve their top posts for men.

For that reason, Congress approved the “quotas” law in 1991 which established a mandatory number of women in top positions on the lists of election candidates, in order to guarantee that at least one-third can take active part in the drafting of legislation.

In the past four years, the 257-member House of Representatives has increased the number of women from 13 to 73. In the Senate – where the law does not apply – only four of the 72 members are women.

But even with the law on their side, women must struggle during every election – even appeal to the justice system – for their fellow members of their political parties to respect the quota system. Furthermore, the law has not functioned as a stepping- stone for many of them to reach more relevant positions in parliament.

Many men in politics believe that the problem is that women are not sufficiently trained for politics, and for that reason they try to fill the positions that by law are assigned to women, with men.

The lack of preparation is really a preconceived notion, feminist organisations say. Recent statistics on university graduates indicate that there are more women graduates than men, even from law school, the traditional training ground of Argentina’s politicians.

For that reason, the supporters of the new project believe that if there is a database that can serve as a multi-party vehicle so that women can reach political positions without obstacles, men will not be able to argue that “the problem is that there are no capable women.”

“If a politician from Famailla (a town in northern Argentina) says that there are no women on the lists because no woman works in that municipality, we will be able to corroborate whether in effect that is true; and if there is someone, we can charge them with discrimination,” Montes de Oca.

Work on the database began earlier this month with the intellectual and financial assistance of the U.S. Democratic Perty and should be finished by the end of February next year. During this period, women across the country who are interested in politics must fill out a form.

In order to spread the word and convoke all those interested, the Foundation contacted non-governmental organizations and universities throughout the country, and no province was left out. Besides basic curricular data – and some information about political activity – the candidates must indicate in which areas they feel they are the best prepared, in which projects they have participated, and whether they have published in their strongest field.

They also must define their qualifications: whether they are good public speakers, good writers, good managers, administrators, group managers, public relations or communications people, and above all, what position they aspire.

“Do you want to be president, vice-president, Senator, representative, governor, vice-governor, secretary….?” The positions can be national, provincial or municipal; they can be legislative or executive, or as advisors.

An essential part of the questionnaire is devoted to assessing the gender consciousness of women interested in politics.

The questionnaire asks: “When making a decision, do you give more importance to party loyalty, gender identity, your own conscience, what the polls say, or your own political project?”.

After gathering the forms an Advisory Board will decide who will be entered onto the political database. The Board will be made up of three female legislators from each party, two leaders of non-governmental women’s organizations from the provinces, three university graduates with expertise in gender issues, and three journalists also specializing in the gender issue, said Montes de Oca.

The Foundation has printed 1,000 forms but demand has surpassed expectations, and 3,000 more have been printed. Although there are four five months to the end of february, many women have already responded, demonstrating that there is no lack of willingness on their part.