澳门六合彩

El Voto Femenino

This year, the United States commemorates a century since the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, when the United States became the in the Americas to approve women鈥檚 suffrage.

In 1929, Ecuador became the first nation in Latin America to grant women the right to vote. 听Since then, almost all democratic Latin American countries have passed legislation to extend voting rights to women and implemented quotas to increase female representation in their national legislatures. The region has seen 11 female presidents, beginning with the first elected female president, Nicaragua鈥檚 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in 1990. 听Still, a century since the milestone voting rights decision in the United States, gender equality in Latin America is far from achieved.

Despite most countries requiring quotas for representation, women in Latin America hold less than a third of posts, a third of seats, a third of appointments to the highest court and less than a fifth of positions.

This persistent lack of female representation and influence has weakened gender-oriented policymaking, including on issues such as poverty, reproductive rights and gender-based violence that have a disproportionate effect on women.

The Foundational Years

The U.S. women鈥檚 suffrage movement and the passage of the nineteenth amendment had a transnational effect on feminist movements. But throughout Latin America, feminist movements also had their own priorities and strategies, and their progress was oftentimes tied to broader social transformations that helped advance feminist movements.

This was clear in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). During the conflict, known as adelitas fought alongside their male counterparts, changing the image of women. Female participation contributed significantly to the revolution鈥檚 success, which lead to the gradual expansion of labor and education rights, and catalyzed the country鈥檚 first .

The First International Feminine Congress, held in Buenos Aires in 1910, gave Latin America some of its most prominent suffragist voices, such as Paulina Luisi, Amanda Labarca and Sara Justo. They laid the foundation for subsequent feminist movements throughout the continent. In , the 1917 constitution afforded women equal civil and political rights, including the right to vote, but women did not cast ballots in a national election until 1938. In 1929, adopted a new constitution that expanded suffrage to women, but it included only those who were literate. Women who lacked formal education, and the majority of the indigenous population, did not earn the right to vote until .

The Vote

The 1930s saw important advancements in women鈥檚 rights in Latin America. In 1933, during the 7th Pan-American conference in Montevideo, participants nations adopt treaties on women鈥檚 political and civil rights. In 1938, the Inter-American Commission of Women adopted the Lima Declaration in Favor of Women鈥檚 Rights, which women鈥檚 right to 鈥減olitical treatment on the basis of equality with men and to the enjoyment of equality as to civil status.鈥�

Gradually, countries in the region passed laws advancing gender equality. In 1961, for example, Paraguay became the last country in Latin America to enact universal suffrage, though challenges remained, as continued to deprive indigenous and Afro-descendant women of their voting rights.

Dictatorial Years

After a period of impressive advancements in expanding women鈥檚 rights, political instability and authoritarianism jeopardized these gains. By the 1970s, most Latin American countries were governed by dictatorships, restricting all citizens鈥� political and civil liberties. During this time, women organized for political change through , which condemned extrajudicial killings and kidnappings at the hands of the state.

Democracy made a comeback in the 1980s, marking a new phase for women鈥檚 movements in Latin America. Key to the post-authoritarian agenda was addressing the lack of women鈥檚 representation in elected office. In 1991, became the first country to mandate that 30 percent of its legislature be female. Since then, Latin American countries have passed similar legislation, though some have been than others in enforcing gender-based quotas.

Meanwhile, female heads of state in Latin America are not uncommon nor a particularly modern phenomenon. The first woman to lead a country in the region was Argentina鈥檚 Isabel Mart铆nez de Per贸n, who was her husband鈥檚 vice president and succeeded him following his death in 1974. Sixteen years later, Nicaragua elected the first female president in Latin America. She was followed by Guyana鈥檚 Janet Jagan in 1997, Panama鈥檚 Mireya Elisa Moscoso in 1999, Chile鈥檚 Michelle Bachelet in 2006, Argentina鈥檚 Cristina Fern谩ndez de Kircher in 2007, Costa Rica鈥檚 Laura Chinchilla in 2010 and Brazil鈥檚 Dilma Rousseff in 2011.

Road Ahead

While women have broken the glass ceiling in many nations in the region, politics remains a male-dominated sphere, and men remain the gatekeepers. Most of the region鈥檚 female presidents were elected after serving as first lady, or on the coattails of male predecessors, though there are exceptions, such as Ms. Barrios de Chamorro, Ms. Moscoso, Ms. Bachelet and Ms. Chinchilla.

Worryingly, however, female politicians are still subject to harsher scrutiny than their male counterparts. A study of , for example, found that a quarter felt silenced or unsupported by members of their own party.

Filling the Gaps

Women elected to public office in Latin America are whiter and wealthier than the general population. That said, indigenous, Afro-descendent and LGBTQ politicians have made notable inroads. In 2010, became the first female and indigenous chair of the state congress in Oaxaca, Mexico and is considered one of her country鈥檚 . In 2018, of Costa Rica became the first Afro-descendent woman to become vice president in Latin America. In 2019, was elected mayor of Bogot谩, the first openly gay woman to hold a mayoral position in a major city. That same year, was elected as the first indigenous woman to serve in Brazil鈥檚 Chamber of Deputies.

Though the region has made strides in addressing its historic erasure of women in public life, there are consequences to its halting progress in recent decades. Racial, ethnic and gender minorities continue to be underrepresented, and notable gaps remain in policies to benefit all women. Indeed, as a result of the region鈥檚 unfinished business in assuring gender equality, many countries in Latin America still face staggering rates of gender-based violence 鈥� most of which goes unprosecuted 鈥� and lag in . That said, new female voices in policy circles are drawing attention and advancing legislation to address the region鈥檚 gender equality hurdles, giving new hope to听Latin American women.

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