User:Mmack1220/Afro-Cuban Women

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Women in Cuba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search In Cuba, women have equal constitutional rights as men in the economic, political, cultural and social fields, as well as in the family. According to Article 44 of the Cuban Constitution, "The state guarantees women the same opportunities and possibilities as men in order to achieve woman’s full participation in the development of the country." However, Afro-Cuban women complained that they did not receive the opportunity to contribute to the Cuban economy. For instance, in the 1990s, Afro-Cuban women have protested for the lack of access to jobs in the tourist industry. As of 2015, women hold 48.9% of the parliamentary seats in the Cuban National Assembly ranking sixth of 162 countries on issues of female participation in political life.

History[edit]

In the first half of the 20th Century, women in Cuba had achieved a status comparable with that of other Latin Americancountries, such as Argentina and Chile. The goal of Cuban feminists during this time was based on Cuban culture as well as the class position of the women who led the feminist movement. In 1923, the first National Women's Congress was held in Havana. Thirty-one different women's organizations participated in the Congress. Three years later in 1925, a second National Women's Congress was held and this time seventy women's organizations participated. During this time, one of the most prominent leaders among the feminist movement was Ofelia Domínguez Navarro, who also participated in both National Women's Congresses. In 1933, during the 100-day government of Ramón Grau, Cuban women received the vote. In 1934 the percentages of Cuban women working outside the home, attending school, and practicing birth control surpassed the corresponding percentages in nearly every other Latin American country.

Women in Cuba had been elected to Cuba's House of Representatives and Senate, serving as mayors, judges, cabinet members, municipal counselors, and members of the Cuban foreign service. The return of Grau to government, under the auspices of President Fulgencio Batista provided for the Cuban Constitution of 1940, one of the most progressive in the Western Hemisphere with regard to women's status, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and calling for Equal pay for equal work. While these progressive laws were a step in the right direction, many of them were not enforced.

During the Cuban Revolution, women were mobilized and obtained unparalleled rights compared to the rest of Latin America. For example, they were able to obtain the 1975 Cuban Family Code. This code outlawed discrimination against women and girls, even with in the family.

After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) was established as an NGO. The Federation of Cuban Women allowed for the Cuban government to closely monitor women's progress and ensure oversight. This helped women to achieve "impressive parity in university education, pay scales, and local government positions." The FMC was recognized by the Cuban government as "the national mechanism for the advancement of women in Cuba". The organization claims to have more than 3 million members, which constitutes 85.2% of all women over age 14. There is also a Women's Training Center and a Women's Publishing House at the national level. The group generally adheres to the Cuban government's objectives "to defend the Cuban Revolution".

Since the "Special Period in the Times of Peace" in the 1990s, women have stepped to the forefront of life in Cuba, calling for a step towards an existence without sexism. Sexism in Cuba goes hand in hand with the racism experienced by Afro-Cubans. Black women receive the lowest paying jobs and have the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest education levels. They often live with the threat of gender violence.

Even though Cuban women achieved a lot of parity during the Cuban Revolution, there was still a lot of disparity prevalent in Cuban society.

Some examples are:

• "During the 1990s, when subsidies from the Soviet Union ended, the maintenance of social services often fell back on women as mothers, wives, and caregivers, indicative that Cuba had not fully equalized gender responsibilities."
• Women only held one-quarter of high-level administrative positions in government.
• "This persistence of women's inequality in the political arena was apparent in the speculation over who was to succeed Fidel Castro as head of state, when he became ill in 2006. Of the 12-15 names mentioned, which included the inner circles of Cuba's leadership, not one was a woman."