Move Over Machismo: Latin America Sets A Global Example For Women In Power
Move Over Machismo: Latin America Sets A Global Example For Women In Power
AS/COA’s Christopher Sabatini points out that quota laws have enable women to rise to leadership positions in the region though much progress still needs to be done.
The election of Michelle Bachelet as Chile’s new president earlier this month saw the continuation in the rise of women to positions of political power throughout Latin America, garnering praise from analysts concerned with women’s rights in the land of machismo, at a time when the world's leading superpower has yet to see a female as its top leader.
Bachelet – a former president and moderate socialist who left office in 2010 with 84 percent approval ratings – has become one of the faces of Latin America’s new female political power players. Along with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Costa Rica’s Laura Chinchilla and Argentine President Cristina Fernández, Bachelet and company have made Latin America one of the world’s leading regions for women in politics....
“There is a clear correlation between quota laws and getting women into positions in parliament,” said Chris Sabatini, the senior director of policy at AS/COA. According to statistics compiled by the group, the countries with quota laws have the highest numbers of female legislators – with Bolivia’s upper house leading the region with over 47 percent of the posts being held by women.
Sabatini, however, warned that a similar law would never pass in the U.S. given the supposed overarching conservative nature of the electorate. He also added that for these laws to be truly effective in the Americas, they need to implement them on the local level as well as on the national stage....
Women’s rights – especially reproductive rights – have been and continue contentious in Latin America and one that even the female presidents don’t typically want to touch. In most Latin American countries, including Chile, there is a total ban on abortion.
Bachelet, who ran the United Nations women's agency after leaving the presidency, is a major supporter of abortion in cases of rape or risk to a woman's health, but hardly mentioned it during her first presidential race. While she spoke out in favor of abortion during her 2013 campaign, she could have a difficult time making any progress on the matter given that her political coalition was made up of a strong contingent of Christian Democrats and the Roman Catholic Church still holds great deal of sway in the country.
“In this regard, Latin America – and especially Chile – is not very progressive at all,” Sabatini said....
