Is there equality in inequality? Scope and limits of affirmative actions

How far has Latin America progressed towards gender equality?

By: Pautassi L
Published in: Sur - International Journal on Human Rights, 2007
Via: Eldis

Over the past two decades, Latin America has undergone a process of political, economic and social transformation, which has affected men and women in numerous ways. This paper reflects on the various steps taken in Latin America towards assuring gender equality. It focuses particularly on how the entrance of women into the labour market has altered the region’s social agenda, and what implications this has for women's rights.

The author notes that women have managed to secure legal recognition and formal equality in all countries in Latin America, for example, through the adoption of human rights treaties and affirmative action measures. However, this has not been matched by similar progress in realising women’s social and economic rights, she argues. In particular, she notes that:

• discrimination, inequality and social exclusion persists throughout the region
• the deterioration in socio-economic insecurity and social vulnerability has had an impact on gender
• crucially, women are not recognised as individuals with inherent rights of their own, but instead their rights derive from their inclusion in the formal labour market, or from their bond to another worker.

The paper concludes with a series of suggested interventions which, it is argued, will contribute to creating fairer systems, in which access is not based on rights derived from employment or from a legal bond with a worker, but on one’s status as a citizen.

(http://www.surjournal.org/eng/conteudos/pdf/6/pautassi.zip)