![]() Former President of Argentina Cristina Fernández is a woman. She has had two full-terms as President. As of 2023, she is the current Vice President of Argentina. | |
General Statistics | |
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Maternal mortality (per 100,000) | 34.3 (2022) [1] |
Women in parliament | 43% (2023) [2] |
Women over 25 with secondary education | 65.9% (2010) [3] |
Women in labour force | 47.3% (2017) [3] |
Gender Inequality Index [4] | |
Value | 0.287 (2021) |
Rank | 69th out of 191 |
Global Gender Gap Index [5] | |
Value | 0.756 (2022) |
Rank | 33rd out of 146 |
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The status of women in Argentina has changed significantly following the return of democracy in 1983; and they have attained a relatively high level of equality. In the Global Gender Gap Report prepared by the World Economic Forum in 2009, Argentine women ranked 24th among 134 countries studied in terms of their access to resources and opportunities relative to men. [6] They enjoy comparable levels of education, and somewhat higher school enrollment ratios than their male counterparts. They are well integrated in the nation's cultural and intellectual life, [7] though less so in the nation's economy. Their economic clout in relation to men is higher than in most Latin American countries, however, [8] and numerous Argentine women hold top posts in the Argentine corporate world; [9] among the best known are María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, former CEO and majority stakeholder of Loma Negra, the nation's largest cement manufacturer, and Ernestina Herrera de Noble, director of Grupo Clarín, the premier media group in Argentina.
Women, however, continue to face numerous systemic challenges common to those in other nations. Domestic violence in Argentina is a serious problem, as are obstacles to the timely prosecution of rape, the prevalence of sexual harassment, and a persistent gender pay gap, among other iniquities. [10]
In the early nineteenth century, the Spanish crown ruled the region now encompassed by the modern countries of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, via the viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, with the capital in Buenos Aires. With the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808, areas of the viceroyalty rose in revolt.
One of the participants in the wars for independence was Juana Azurduy, who is honored now by both Bolivia and Argentina as contributing to independence. [11] In 2009, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner promoted Azurduy to the rank of general in the Argentine army from lieutenant colonel. The Argentine army named an infantry regiment based in the northern region of Salta as "Generala Juana Azurduy." In June 2014, President Fernández de Kirchner unveiled the new Argentine 10-peso note with the image of Azurduy. [12]
Argentina in the early nineteenth century had few cities, but the port of Buenos Aires grew from a backwater of the Spanish empire into a major port in the late eighteenth century. Rural areas in Argentina were sparsely populated by the aboriginals and gauchos, mixed race men on horseback who hunted free-range cattle for their hides and to make dried beef. Non-indigenous women on the vast Argentine pampas were few, and depicted in art as vulnerable to abduction by "barbarian" Indians.
During the 1930s, Fanny Edelman, a Communist leader who was part of the International Brigades in defence of the Second Spanish Republic, became an international figure representing Communism and Feminism. She participated to the creation of the Women's Union of Argentina in 1937, and in 1972 she became head of the Women's International Democratic Federation. She was honorary president of the Communist party of Argentina until her death in 2011. [13] [14]
Following President Juan Perón's enactment of women's suffrage in 1949, First Lady Evita Perón led the Peronist Women's Party until her death in 1952, and helped enhance the role of women in Argentine society. Women played a significant role as both supporters and opponents of the National Reorganization Process, Argentina's last dictatorship, in the late 1970s, and the establishment of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, an advocacy group led by mothers of the disappeared, was done by Azucena Villaflor de Vicenti and, mostly, other women, on the rationale that they would be less likely to be the targets of repression (Villaflor de Vicenti and her fellow founders were murdered by the regime in 1977). [15] Women's rights in Argentina progressed in significant ways following the return of democracy in 1983. President Raúl Alfonsín signed laws in 1987 both limiting Patria potestas (the latitude given to a father regarding his treatment of fellow household members, particularly children) and legalizing divorce, helping resolve the legal status of 3 million adults living in legal separation. [16] The Argentine quota law signed by President Carlos Menem in 1991 provides that one-third of the members of both houses of congress must be women, a goal achieved through balanced election slates. [17] As of 2006, there were 29 women in the 72-seat Senate, 86 women in the 257-seat Argentine Chamber of Deputies, two female Supreme Court justices, and three women in the presidential cabinet. [17] The President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was elected in 2007; the runner-up in the crowded field was also a woman, Elisa Carrió.
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With regard to the organization of family life, Argentina has a history of social conservatism, and the influence of Catholicism in Argentina has been very strong throughout the 20th century. In Argentina, divorce was legalized only in 1987, and the legalization was the result of a struggle between different governments and conservative groups, mostly connected to the Catholic Church, that lasted a whole century. In 1987, President Raúl Alfonsín was successful in passing the divorce law, following a ruling of the Supreme Court. The new law also provided for gender equality between the wife and husband. [18] By 1987, when divorce was legalized, only three other Latin American countries prohibited divorce (Paraguay and Colombia, which legalized it 1991, [18] and Chile which legalized it in 2004 [19] ). Adultery was decriminalized in 1995. [20] Also, a new Civil and Commercial Code, [21] modernizing family law, came into force in August 2015. [22] [23]
Violence against women is a serious problem in Argentina. Amnesty International reported in February 2012 that a woman died every two days as a result of domestic violence in Argentina. [24] The civil society organization La Casa del Encuentro reported that between January and September 2013, 209 women died as a result of domestic or gender-based violence. [10]
In 2009, Argentina enacted Ley de protección integral para prevenir, sancionar y erradicar la violencia contra las mujeres en los ámbitos en que desarrollen sus relacion es interpersonales [Ley 26.485] [25] (The Comprehensive Law on the Prevention, Punishment and Elimination of Violence against Women in their Interpersonal Relations [Law 26.485]).
In November 2012, the Congress passed an anti femicide law imposing stricter penalties on perpetrators who kill their spouses, partners, or children as a consequence of gender based violence. [10]
According to the Human Rights Watch's 2018 world report, 254 femicides were reported, but only 22 convictions were done in 2016. [26]
While individual prostitution is legal in Argentina, the promotion, facilitation, or forcing of people into prostitution is illegal. Argentina is a source, transit, and destination country for sex trafficking of women. Sex trafficking victims often come from Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. [27]
Sexual harassment in the public sector is prohibited and is subject to disciplinary or corrective measures. In some jurisdictions, such as Buenos Aires City, sexual harassment may lead to the abuser's dismissal, but in others, such as in Santa Fe Province, the maximum penalty is five days in prison. [10]
The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape; but the need for proof, either in the form of clear physical injury or the testimony of a witness, has often presented difficulties in prosecuting such crimes. Women's rights advocates have accused the police, hospitals, and courts of hostile attitudes against victims of sexual violence. [10]
The 2009 law on violence against women (Law 26.485) has comprehensive provisions against sexual violence, including sexual violence within marriage (in particular Article 5(3) [28] ).
Before a change in law in 1999, sexual offenses were classified as "Offences against honesty", and the concept of "honest woman" appeared in certain sexual crimes. Act No. 25,087 of 1999 (Ley N° 25.087) reformed the legislation, and changed its name to "Offences against sexual integrity". [29] [30]
Although since the 1869 enactment of the Argentine Civil Code, all citizens are considered equal, and the Constitution of Argentina also states at Section 16 that "The Argentine Nation admits neither blood nor birth prerogatives: there are neither personal privileges nor titles of nobility. All its inhabitants are equal before the law, and admissible to employment without any other requirement than their ability. Equality is the basis of taxation and public burdens", [31] women often encounter economic discrimination and hold a disproportionately higher number of lower-paying jobs. Approximately 70 percent of women employed outside the home work in unskilled jobs, although more women than men hold university degrees. [17] According to a 2007 study by the Foundation for Latin American Economic Research (FIEL), men earned 5 percent more than women for equivalent full-time work in the Greater Buenos Aires area, and earned 21 percent more than women for equivalent part-time work, an imbalance explicitly prohibited by law: prison terms of up to three years can be issued for discrimination based on gender. [17]
Abortion in Argentina was legalized up to fourteen weeks of pregnancy on 30 December 2020. [32] [33] Previously it was prohibited, and was legal only in cases of rape, or when the woman's life or health was in danger. [34] The Argentine Penal Code 846 had been amended in 2008 to place stricter sanctions against women who seek an abortion, as well as any medical staff involved in the act. [35] These limitations notwithstanding, an estimated 500,000 abortions are performed annually in Argentina (compared to around 700,000 live births), resulting in at least 10,000 hospitalizations due to complications [36] (estimates vary widely) [37] and around 100 deaths (a third of all maternal mortality). [38] [39]
Traditionally, access to contraceptives has long been discouraged by a succession of Argentine governments, [40] which instead rewarded large families with subsidies rising disproportionately with the seventh child. [41] Although Argentine women have long had among Latin America's lowest birth rates (averaging 2.3 births per woman in recent years), the policy has tended to encourage higher birth rates in the lowest strata of society (including women least able to afford large families). [41] Contraceptives are widely used by sexually active Argentine women, as condoms are by Argentine men, and a variety of birth control products can be obtained freely in pharmacies; [42] the Argentine government began their free distribution in 2003. [40] In general, couples and individuals have the right to decide freely the number, spacing, and timing of children, and have access to information and reproductive health services. The law requires the government to provide free contraceptives. [10]
Traditionally, politics was seen a male domain. The legal and social roles of women in Argentina were mostly dictated by the Spanish Law (which itself was based on Roman law) and by the Catholic Church. As such, women were subordinated first to their fathers and then to their husbands. [43] Today, however, women have a notable presence in Argentinian politics, and they make up almost a half of the parliament. [44] Argentina became the first country in the world to approved a gender quota law in 1991 to increase female representation in parliament, expanding it in 2017 to achieve equal representation between men and women (50%). Argentina had two female presidents: Isabel Perón (1974-1976) and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-2015); three female vice presidents: Isabel Perón (1973-1974), Gabriela Michetti (2015-2019) and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (since 2019). In 2007 the two most voted candidates in the presidential election were women: Fernández de Kirchner and Elisa Carrió.
The National Council of Women carries out programs to promote equal social, political, and economic opportunities for women. The council worked with the special representative for international women's issues, the Ministry of Labor, and union and business organizations to form the Tripartite Committee on Equal Opportunity for Men and Women in the Workplace, which seeks to foster equal treatment and opportunities for men and women in the job market. [45]
In 1985, Argentina ratified the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In 1994, the National Constituent Convention incorporated the ratification of the CEDAW into the text of the new constitution. During the 1990s, some laws began to tackle domestic violence, by empowering police agencies and provincial judicial authorities to establish preventive measures. Although the Government of Argentina ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women in 1996 (enacted in the 1994 Convention of Belem do Pará), not all Argentine provinces have promulgated regulations for its application. Despite the creation in 1985 of the Women's Department under the auspices of the Office of the President, provincial delegations or Women's Sections still have not been established throughout the entire nation. [46]
The Argentine Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Argentina, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope, the Curia in Rome, and the Argentine Episcopal Conference.
Elisa María Avelina "Lilita" Carrió is an Argentine lawyer, professor, and politician. She is the leader of Civic Coalition ARI, one of the founders of Cambiemos, and was National Deputy for Chaco Province and Buenos Aires. Carrió is considered a liberal, Christian, and heterodox politician in Argentina.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Argentina since July 22, 2010. A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on May 5, 2010, and by the Senate on July 15. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner gave her assent on July 21, and the law went into effect the following day.
The first conflicts between the Roman Catholic Church and the Argentine government can be traced to the ideas of the May Revolution of 1810. The Tribunal of the Inquisition was suppressed in the territories of the United Provinces of the River Plate on 23 March 1813, and on 4 June the General Assembly declared the state "independent from any ecclesiastical authorities existing outside its territory".
Juana Azurduy de Padilla was a guerrilla military leader from Chuquisaca, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. She fought for Bolivian and Argentine independence alongside her husband, Manuel Ascencio Padilla, earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. She was noted for her strong support for and military leadership of the indigenous people of Upper Peru. Today, she is regarded as an independence hero in both countries.
Diana Beatriz Conti is an Argentine lawyer and politician. She was a member of the Argentine National Congress both as a National Deputy and as a Senator (2002–2005); she also served as Undersecretary of Human Rights in the administration of Fernando de la Rúa from 1999 to 2001 and as a member of the Council of Magistracy from 2006 to 2010, where she rose to prominence as a staunch supporter of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's judicial reform proposals.
Abortion in Argentina is legal as an elective medical procedure during the first 14 weeks from conception. The abortion law was liberalized after the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill was passed by the National Congress in December 2020. According to the law, any woman can request the procedure at any public or private health facility. Doctors are legally bound to either perform it or, if they are conscientious objectors, refer the patient to another physician or health facility. Only three other Latin or South American countries legalised abortion on request nationwide before Argentina did: Cuba in 1965, Guyana in 1995 and Uruguay in 2012. According to polling in 2021, around 44% of Argentines support the legalization of abortion on request; other polls showed 50–60% of Argentines opposed the bill.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Argentina rank among the highest in the world. Upon legalising same-sex marriage on 15 July 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America, the second in the Americas, and the tenth in the world to do so. Following Argentina's transition to a democracy in 1983, its laws have become more inclusive and accepting of LGBT people, as has public opinion.
As established in the Colombian Constitution of 1991, women in Colombia have the right to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote ; to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to receive an education; to serve in the military in certain duties, but are excluded from combat arms units; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. Women's rights in Colombia have been gradually developing since the early 20th Century.
Women in Paraguay face challenges to their rights. Faced by socioeconomic inequalities and gender pay gap, they experienced significant cultural changes since 1990 as a result of constitutional and legal expansions of women's rights and evolving cultural attitudes. The legal and government institutions currently existing in Paraguay were developed in part through the efforts of feminist organizations in the country that held significant awareness-raising campaigns during the 1990s to formalize the guarantees of women's rights. UN Women supports the Paraguayan State in the challenge to extend women's rights, to fight for gender equality, as well as women's empowerment. It also ensures that women's voices are heard and create more opportunities for women.
Ni una menos is a Latin American fourth-wave grassroots feminist movement, which started in Argentina and has spread across several Latin American countries, that campaigns against gender-based violence. This mass mobilization comes as a response to various systemic issues that proliferate violence against women. In its official website, Ni una menos defines itself as a "collective scream against machista violence." The campaign was started by a collective of Argentine female artists, journalists and academics, and has grown into "a continental alliance of feminist forces". Social media was an essential factor in the propagation of the Ni Una Menos movement to other countries and regions. The movement regularly holds protests against femicides, but has also touched on topics such as gender roles, sexual harassment, gender pay gap, sexual objectification, legality of abortion, sex workers' rights and transgender rights.
Claudia Roxana Castrosín Verdú, also known as Claudia Castro, is an Argentine LGBT activist. She presides over La Fulana, an organization that supports lesbian and bisexual women, and is also the vice president of the Argentine Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Federation (FALGBT), through which she has contributed to laws sanctioning same-sex marriage, gender identity, and medically assisted reproduction. In 2007 she presented, together with María Rachid, her partner at the time, the first judicial protection for declaring the unconstitutionality of two articles of the civil code that prevented marriage between people of the same sex. After the approval of the Equal Marriage Law in 2010, she married Flavia Massenzio and adopted a daughter, Estefanía.
María José Lubertino is an Argentine lawyer and politician. She has worked in different social movements, as a feminist in the women's movement and human rights organizations, among others. She began her political career in the Radical Civic Union (UCR) from 1982 until the Alliance appointed Lopez Murphy as minister, and from 2003 to the present in Espacio Abierto, that joined the Front for Victory in the 2009 election. Since November 2013, she has been a member of the National Board of the Broad Front.
Dora Beatriz Barrancos is an Argentine researcher, sociologist, historian, feminist, and politician.
Diana Helena Maffía is an Argentine academic and politician.
Sara García Gross is a Salvadoran activist, psychologist, feminist, and human rights defender. She is the coordinator of political advocacy for the Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Therapeutic, Ethical, and Eugenic Abortion, founded in 2009. She is also a member of the Salvadoran Network of Women Human Rights Defenders. In 2019, she was presented with France's Simone de Beauvoir Prize for her work promoting abortion rights.
Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta is an Argentine lawyer, professor and politician. She was the first Minister of Women, Genders and Diversity of Argentina, serving under President Alberto Fernández from 10 December 2019 to 7 October 2022.
Juliana Di Tullio is an Argentine psychologist and politician. A member of the Justicialist Party, Di Tullio served three terms as National Deputy representing Buenos Aires Province, from 2005 to 2017. From 2013 to 2015, during the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Di Tullio was president of the Front for Victory parliamentary bloc in the lower chamber of the National Congress. She also served as a member of the Mercosur Parliament, and in the board of directors of the Banco Provincia. Since 2021, she has been a National Senator for Buenos Aires Province.
María Rosa Martínez is an Argentine trade unionist and politician, currently serving as National Deputy elected in Buenos Aires Province. A member of Kolina, she was elected in 2019 as part of the Frente de Todos. Martínez previously worked in a number of positions in the Ministry of Social Development during the administration of Alicia Kirchner (2007–2015), and as a city councillor in Almirante Brown. She is also active in the Corriente Federal de Trabajadores (CFT).
Alba Rueda is an Argentine politician who became the first openly transgender politician in the country to hold a senior governmental position when she served as the Undersecretary of Diversity Policies within the Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity between January 2020 and May 2022.
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