While walking through the maze of bustling streets in La Paz,
you are likely to meet women from all walks of life; from traditionally dressed
´Cholitas´ in bowler hats and skirts, to young students, in skinny jeans and
headphones. Regardless of their culture
and role in society, women continue to be impacted by the gender disparities that
exist across Bolivia. According to
statistics for gender development by country, Bolivia is ranked 93rd out of 141
(Nationmaster, 2013).
Until fairly recently, feminism and the development of
women’s rights in Bolivia had been a long and hard process. Progress is partly due to the emergence of Evo
Morales as President, and his campaign to create greater support for and
recognition of Bolivia’s indigenous groups.
On the 25th January 2009, Bolivians approved a new constitution by a
majority vote of 61.43% (Rousseau, 2011).
In Bolivia the reform process involved diverse social movements, among
which was the governing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). This was a major turning
point in Bolivian history. It was a
transformative process from the point of view of the intersection of gender, race and ethnicity. Bolivian women and
indigenous peoples organised to influence the content of the new constitution.
Morales supported reforms that provided opportunities for
indigenous peoples to hold positions in office. Historically, opportunities for women in politics had been limited due to poor education and the realities of living in a patriarchal society . However, during the election
of 2009, the number of women elected to parliamentary positions rose from 14%
to 28% (Madre, 2012). As of 2010, half
of Morales’ political cabinet consists of women. It was Bolivian indigenous women’s strong
presence and activism that enabled them to strengthen their voice throughout
the constituent assembly process.
As the majority of Bolivia is made up of indigenous
populations this further heightens the vulnerability of women. As a social group they experience racial,
ethnic, class and gender domination.
Indigenous rural women are further subjected to patriarchy than urban
indigenous women because of traditions. Therefore,
the feminist movement had to include indigenous perspectives because of the
central role of the indigenous movement in the Bolivian political process.
The issues of inequality against Bolivian women are rooted
in the political, economic and social spheres. In particular, the traditional
misogynist culture whereby women are assigned a subordinate and dependent role,
mainly that of reproduction and care of the family. Despite this, the role of women is slowly
evolving, as they step out of their traditional roles as mothers, wives and
heads of households, emerging as business people and community leaders. Through this many Bolivian women appear very
resilient as they deal with the daily tasks of childcare, housework and work
whilst maintaining traditional values through the many layers of ‘pollera’
skirt they wear.
According to the Human Development Report Office of the
United Nations Development Programme (2003), in Bolivia “men receive more and
better education than women, receive increased and better health assistance
than women, and have the possibility to generate greater income while working
less…if we consider that women as opposed to men, also have the almost
exclusive responsibility for domestic work.”
A report carried out by UNICEF (2012) highlighted the key
issue as being that women in Bolivia do not live in conditions of equity with regard to
men. Illiteracy is greater, they have
low income generating capacity, and the maternal mortality rate is one of the
highest in the world. Yet despite this,
important progress has been made with regard to women’s participation in
economic and political decision-making.
With regard to women’s participation in matters of economy
and politics, between 1976 and 1992 women’s participation in the economy
increased from 22.5% to 40 % (UNICEF, 2012).
From UN data statistics (2013) the 2011 labour force participation in
Bolivia for the female adult population was 64.1% compared to the male
80.9%. While in 2012, seats held by
women in national parliament sat at 25.4 % (UN Data, 2013).
In urban areas, many women have incorporated themselves into
the informal economy. The low-paid position of street vendor is a common form
of self-employment for many indigenous women.
This is due to discrimination and the fact that their levels of
education are lower than those of men. Women
in rural areas are more likely to experience discrimination, being both women
and indigenous. So whilst women’s
participation in the economy has reached high levels, women have a low capacity
to generate income (UNICEF, 2012).
While the participation of women in economic and political
decision-making areas remains low, the Human Development Report on Gender
(2003) shows that from the beginning of the 90’s up to present, feminine
participation in economic decision-making in private and public sectors has
increased by 70%. From 1992 their
participation in national and local political representation has increased by
16%. It can therefore be asserted that
the progress of women in society has, in part, occurred due to legal reform and
public policies that have contributed to improve equity between men and
women.
The National Statistics Institute (2001) shows illiteracy is
greater amongst women, at 19.35% compared to men at 6.94%. Furthermore, rural women’s illiteracy rate
remains higher, at 37.91% whilst men are at 14.42%. In relation to the maternal mortality rate,
results gathered from the ENDSA 98 survey show the rate corresponds to 390 per
100,000 live born. In rural areas the
rate is, as expected, much higher with 887 per 100,000 live born in certain
areas. As UNICEF (2012) point out, risks
to women’s health are often related to reproduction and childcare. The principal causes of maternal mortality
are obstetrical complications such as hemorrhages, infections, complications
related to childbirth and abortion. A mother’s
health can also have a direct effect on her children. For example, deficient nutrition of a mother-to-be
during and after pregnancy is the cause of a percentage of neonatal
deaths. On top of this if the mother
dies the probability of survival for the child is reduced by half.
For women, physical abuse and rape are the highest
experienced crimes against women in Bolivia.
Until 1995 domestic abuse was legal.
Half of Bolivian women have experienced sexual, physical or psychological
abuse by a partner, while 9 out of 10 women are believed to have experienced
general violence towards them (Walter, 2008).
There is a serious lack of women’s support groups and domestic abuse
shelters to assist with this issue. A
new comprehensive domestic violence law was passed in 2013 that outlaws many
forms of abuse of women, including marital rape.
Despite these drawbacks, a great deal of progress has been
made in a rather short space of time. If
the growth of development for women’s equal rights continues on this path, the
future looks to be promising for the women of Bolivia.
Written by Robyn Warburton
Edited by Sarah Cassidy
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