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Mexico: Oaxaca women’s struggle goes on

By Sara Lovera

Mexico City.– Social activists have raised key issues at meetings in workplaces, communities and villages. They have organized demonstrations and marches, and are now involved in resistance struggle. They are teachers, students, trade union leaders, housewives, journalists, farmers and indigenous people.

On November 25 (Day of No Violence against Women), police and military forces entered the capital city of Oaxaca. Out of 141 detainees, 38 women were arbitrarily arrested, incarcerated, harassed, humiliated, beaten, threatened and abused.

Six are still in jail: Elia Coca Gómez, Hilda Coca Gómez, Edith Coca Soriano, Jenny Graciela Pérez Martínez, María Sandra Pérez and Blanca Mendoza Ramírez. They are all students whose crime was to be in the street on that day.

They have said once and again they do not know what they are accused of.

They are living under despair and fear in a local prison. They lack everything. Family visits have been restricted, and free-on-bail petitions have been denied. They have not been prosecuted.

Lull prevails eight months after the social uprising in this southern state, where three million people live and extreme poverty affects 30 percent of 51 indigenous communities in the country. There is a warrant of arrest against lawyer Yessica Sánchez.

Many other women are feeling persecuted and harassed. The capital city is under siege. Army troops and members of the navy, federal police and prevention corps are reportedly stalking in mountain areas and Pacific ports.

Over 350 social organizations staged an uprising in June 2006. They asked Governor Ulises Ruiz to resign. His government has been supported by the military since 2004 and has been accused of kidnapping, persecuting and violating human rights. His first actions as governor were to close a local daily newspaper (Noticias) and incarcerate indigenous people.

Women organizations and the Oaxaca People’s Assembly (APPO), which was established right after a wave of repression against teachers in June 2006, have been playing a leading role in hundreds of public resistance actions. This came from Courageous Voices from Oaxaca, a text containing 14 testimonies of those involved in setting up these organizations.

Editor Leticia Cuevas Rossette told us that they had taken over 13 radio stations and the state-owned TV channel on August 1. "This became a major action of the emerging social and political movement in the second half of 2006", she recalled.

"It is fair to say that they have also become the main force of a movement that is still active. Many members are getting ready for resistance struggle", she noted.

Demonstrations have continued after police forces broke into the city. Women are coming down from the mountains to meet. Journalist Soledad Jarquín said that the Oaxaca State Women’s Coordinating Office has developed a new vision of life, dignity and justice that will never be forgotten.

A major concern, however, has to do with massive human rights violations in communities, villages and cities. Perpetrators go unpunished.

After we were arrested, we were taken to Oaxaca plain, the Air Force base in San Bartola –local police headquarters-, Miahuatlan´s jail and, finally, a prison in Tepic, Nayarit (500 kilometers away from Oaxaca). "We were treated as if we were murderers", said María del Socorro Alarcón, now free on bail.

"I was detained on November 25, 2006, at around 7.00 p.m., on Tinaco and Palacios streets, one block away from Crespo, near the Home for Older People. I was dragged. There were many troops ready to strike. Although I did not resist arrest, I was slapped and left unconscious", said Esmeralda Velasco Morales, a 21-year-old chemical engineering student who has just been released.

"Before that, I saw them beating my mother with a stick. They dragged me to a truck, where they threatened to rape me. They took us to the plain and pushed us dow", she added.

They were all punished for their political participation. In Miahuatlán, where six women are still in jail and their relatives taken to the streets, Edith Coca Soriano, a 30-year-old biologist taking a master course on ecological agriculture at the time, told us:

"I was arrested by policemen dressed in blue. One of them hit me on the head, kicked me, dragged me and yelled at me. They later began hitting my colleagues. Once on the truck, they took our bags away and headed for the plain. They pushed us down and took many pictures. They asked us our names, addresses and age".

"They later put us on another truck and left for a place we did not know. It is a hangar, they said. They offended us and threatened to rape us. On the way to Miahuatlán garrison, a policeman tried to touch my breasts, but I covered them with my arms and he did not insist. Medical checkups and interrogations followed. I did not make any deposition because there was nobody there I could really trust and they did not appoint a lawyer for me", she noted.

Edith recalled she had been taken out of there on a helicopter and threatened to be thrown to the sea. She asked for a glass of water and never got it. "I did not know where I was. They said we were in a top-security prison. We were checked after they took our clothes out. They got pictures and fingerprints before sending us to the cells. I was so dirty I took a shower", she added.

There are warrants of arrests against some human rights activists. Other people have left the country and sought protection somewhere else. Fear has cascaded upon Oaxaca.

According to international agencies and documental evidence, women have become a source of inspiration and have provided an incredible input to APPO struggle.

While conservative data set the number of barricades built in Oaxaca over the uprising at 500, other estimates show that 1,500 were erected in one single night.

The Oaxaca Commune was established right after Governor Ruiz ordered to evict a group of teachers on strike last June 14. Other operations were conducted in September and October. Tear gas was used to attack women participating in a march last November. The substance contained chile piquín, a hot and corrosive powder.

Reporter Jarquín said that three sexual-abuse cases and hundreds of arbitrary detentions and beatings have been reported. Out of the 38 women initially taken to prison, 32 have been released, but have not been exculpated. Many had their long braids cut off. This hairdo is an indigenous tradition that has been vituperated.

After a police raid in the historical section of the city on November 25, lawyer Sánchez emphasized, the government has launched a campaign to attract tourists. Nothing is going on here, officials usually say. "Both men and women are getting re-organized in many communities, however", she noted.

After going over prisoner records and meeting relatives, she told WFS that eight districts have decided to become autonomous in (the state of) Oaxaca. "There, women are getting their breath back, standing up straight, and refusing to remain in the dark that has been imposed by the military", she added.

RECUADRO

Uruguay: Surnames and sex-based stereotypes

By Cristina Canoura

Montevideo.– Shortly before the International Women's Day was observed earlier this month, MP Washington Abdala submitted a bill to parliament seeking to give parents the freedom to choose the order of surnames for their children.

The first surname has always been that of the father. This is in keeping with a tradition that, at this point in time, runs counter to women rights and is clearly unjustified under the principle of gender equality, he stressed. He represents the opposition Colorado Party Batllista Front in parliament.

"It does not seem fair to keep sex-based provisions on any walk of social life, let alone on this issue. The second surname has always been reserved for the person who gives birth to the new being", he added.

If passed, the new text will replace two clauses under Article Nº 27 in the local Children and Adolescents Code.

The first clause establishes that children inside marriage shall take the father’s surname first and the mother’s second. The second clause enshrines the principle that children outside marriage, who are duly registered with the Registrar’s Office by the two parents, shall take the father's surname first and the mother's second.

Under Abdala's proposal, children inside marriage shall take the mother or the father’s surname first, as they mutually agree upon.

If they reach no agreement, a once-time settlement audience shall be held and the judge shall establish surname priority order.

In such cases, Abdala would urge magistrates to consider specific circumstances, including who really looks after and supports the child.

The surname priority order established in court shall apply to future children registrations inside or outside marriage.

"We obviously need to grant equal rights. The idea is not to favor any gender, but establish surname priority order as parents mutually agree upon", he stressed.

"My bill should not be seen as a corporate, sex-based demand. It should be considered an effort to redress senseless inequality", he emphasized.

Under the Brazilian legislation, children take the mother's surname first. Local people often say: we all have mothers, but there are fathers who never show up.

The Uruguayan Children and Adolescents Code stipulates that children outside marriage (having no father recognition) shall take the mother's surnames. If she does not have a second surname, the child in question will take the mother's followed by a "common-use" surname to be chosen by the mother from a Registrar's Office list.

Chile: AIDS and housewives

By Johanna Ortiz

Santiago de Chile.- When the first HIV/AIDS case was reported in Chile in 1984, the disease was thought to affect homosexual men only. Health Ministry projections speak today of around six new cases every day, with an infection rate slightly higher in women than in men.

The epidemic makes no distinction as to sex. While the rate remains five men to one woman living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the gap is likely to be bridged very soon if women do not become fully aware of their vulnerability and adopt a responsible sexual behavior.

This view is shared by 32 women working on HIV/AIDS prevention at state services and NGOs. They participated in a Colloquium on a Citizen Perspective: Urgent Needs and Women Challenges. Sponsored by Savia Foundation, the event was held on March 15.

While the Church defends abstinence and one single partner, over 40 percent of Chilean women living with HIV/AIDS are housewives who had believed they were safe from the epidemic. This was corroborated by a study entitled Behind closed doors: women’s vulnerability and exposure to HIV/AIDS, which was commissioned by the National AIDS Committee.

Teresa Váldes, the research coordinator, was on hand at the event and said that women’s main risk factors include economic dependence on their partners, old cultural patterns and priority to men's over their own needs.

She told WNS that most male respondents think that being unfaithful is something natural. Behind the moral dimension in this attitude there lies a behavior that jeopardizes their couples.

Participants in the Colloquium stressed that gender inequality is a key factor in dealing with HIV/AIDS vulnerability. Women do not have free sexual life and do not have any ability to negotiate condom use either, they noted.

Sara Araya, a member of HIV-Positive, told WNS that mention is never made of women's condom. "Many of us have healthy couples and find it difficult to negotiate condom use with them", she added.

Pamela Eguiguren, a researcher with the Chilean Observatory on Health Equality at the Pan American Health Organization, told WNS that increased incidence rate in women is a sign of inequality that can be redressed. "It has to do with inadequate women’s control over their sexuality", she emphasized.

She highlighted the need to deal with the issue in a comprehensive manner. "The ideal thing would be to enact a framework law on sexual and reproductive rights", she suggested.

Marcela Morales, a member of the National AIDS Committee, concluded that gender inequality poses a risk factor that needs to become all the more visible today.

Dominican Republic: Repression and debate over abortion

By Mirta Rodríguez Calderón

Santo Domingo.– No pregnant woman wants to abort and, if she has to, she will not be happy about it. This view has traditionally been supported by social groups favoring women's right to make decisions over their own bodies.

The issue certainly involves medical, moral and emotional factors. Women resorting to abortion always have a sad story to tell, even after they manage to get back on track.

There are 100 000 cases a year in the country. The capital city’s district attorney has just ordered to close down three abortion clinics and send 16 staff members to prison.

The Criminal Code establishes sentences ranging from three to 20 years in jail on those resorting to and those performing abortions.

Against this background, a police roundup was carried out. Three doctors, four nurses, four patients and three accompanying persons were arrested.

The attorney also decided to prosecute the porter and the secretary of one of the clinics that is located on the outskirts of the city. Most of its patients are poor people who resort to a harmful practice that takes advantage of women’s misfortune. The State and the Catholic Church are preventing them from exercising the right to decide on their own bodies, which is in many cases the only thing they really own.

The action has taken place in a city where 19 neighborhoods exhibit high criminal rates, drug addiction poses a serious problem (mainly at schools), alcoholism reaches alarming proportions, and doping reaches even senior government officials and court members.

State complacence with the Catholic Church is being seen at a time when international debate over abortion is intensifying, especially in Nicaragua and Portugal.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega criminalized abortion to win Catholic support for his campaign, going against women's rights.

On the other hand, a referendum in Portugal has shown that 59,2 percent of the local population favors the idea of de-criminalizing abortion within the first ten weeks of gestation. Out of 10,5 million inhabitants, over four percent are breeding-age women. There are around 40 000 abortion cases every year.

The Dominican Republic has 8,5 million inhabitants, with 3,9 percent of them making up the fertile-age-women population, and exhibits 100 000 abortions a year.

A total of 278 women have been seen at a hospital in La Romana province in the last 12 months. They have had “pregnancy-related complications”, and 30 percent of them are teenagers. La Romana is an economically advanced, tourist-development area two hours away from the capital city by car.

Actions and reactions

No action had, in the past, been taken to combat abortion, a common practice all over the country.

Tacit complicity shows how permissive abortion has been, with everyone pretending not to see. There have been attacks and exorbitant statements against women and support organizations.

Feminist sociologist Magaly Pineda and Catholic priest Gregorio Alegría recently appeared on television and held a well-informed debate over the issue. The prelate reiterated his position: There is life in the egg, and the Church always seeks to preserve life.

Pineda, who is the executive director of the Women’s Research Center, expressed respect for his stance, but raised objections to the existence of life immediately after conception. "The Church can implant its beliefs on adherents, but has no right to impose them on all women", she added.

She stressed that the Church position is absurd, as it seeks to ban condom use. This has caused high AIDS incidence rates and many unwanted-pregnancy cases in the island, she stressed. The priest recalled that the Church has strongly recommended abstinence. The show anchorwoman indicated that such a recommendation is outmoded and does not fit in with current realities.

The debate somehow re-produced previous positions by five women organizations, namely Women and Health Association, National Confederation of Rural Women, Sabbath Support Center, Women's Research Center and Women's Health Network.

A press report indicated that the clinics have actually been shut down and staff members, arrested. This is a political decision made at elections time, when the major political parties are to choose their presidential candidates and express support for the 1954 Concordat (agreement between the pope and the government with regard to the interests of the Church).

There is a constitutional amendment process underway in the country. The Women’s Forum has asked that the new text should de-criminalize abortion in cases of rape, congenital malformations and mother's life at stake. This is not very likely to happen under current circumstances, however.

Some women organizations are asking the State to become lay (separate from any religion).

A taboo

There remain opposing views at a community level. While some people openly condemn abortion, many others do so quietly.

The local Bonó Center for Refugees and Migrants has been operating in the capital city. Jean Beltré, a former seminarian, talks turkey and strongly defends human rights. He has publicly said women should have the final word on abortion.

His colleague Carlos López, in charge of logistics at the center, believes that abortion should be performed only when a mother's life is at risk.

All these views contrast sharply with Altagracia Rodríguez’. She has two grandchildren and rejects such a practice. Women should try to avoid getting pregnant if they do not want to have children. Men usually urge them to resort to this practice. "I have faced this situation myself. I decided to have my baby even if I had to fall through (as we usually say here)", she stressed.

Esmirna Alburquerque, a 30-year-old university graduate, agrees with Rodríguez. I would recommend a woman facing rape pregnancy should see a psychologist to help her accept the baby. Women should be aware of the risks they take when they have sex. Children are not to blame. They must have them.

The debate has been going on since the 1595 Trento Ecumenical Council Meeting and Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas' recognition that there is no hominid immediately after conception. The distinction made between egg and developed fetus got fuzzy in the 19th century, when the Church condemned many women's decision.

Rural leader Milagros Isabel put it this way: We should seek respect for the decisions we make. We have managed to get important laws passed. They include the Agrarian Reform and Domestic Violence acts. "We simply have to struggle", she concluded.

Peru: Middle-class women in the labor market

By Zoraida Portillo

Lima.– Middle-class women are breaking into the labor market, local studies show. Such a development, however, has not led to a change of mentality, as most of them still keep deeply rooted prejudices and stereotypes very much alive.

The National Institute of Statistics and Computerized Information (INIE) prepared a report entitled Living conditions in Peru, indicating that 24 every 100 non-poor households are being headed by women, as compared to 18 in the case of poor people.

These percentages are in keeping with similar reports by financial and service companies, which showed that women are managing 20 percent of major business corporations.

They work mostly in finance, logistics and human-resource management. They cover 50 percent of positions in logistics and 70 percent in management, Laura Acha told a local daily newspaper. She is the general manager of Resource, a market-research enterprise.

INIE report also corroborated an increase in the number of women-led households. It moved from 20,4 percent in 2001 to 21,4 percent in 2004.

Such an increase has also been seen in other countries. Over 30 percent of households in Latin America are headed by women, according to a UNICEF report on women and children that was published earlier this month.

This is irreversible and has to do with women’s empowerment and new labor trends, sociologist Ana María Pando told WNS.

It is no surprise that middle-class women are actually heading households. "This population group includes many qualified women and professionals who are independent, not prejudiced and willing to break away from gender stereotypes", she added. "Many of them make cunning efforts to strike a balance between obligations at work and chores at home", she emphasized.

There is no doubt that the number of women willing to work outside home has grown, driving men into a corner. "As we have very specific characteristics, most companies prefer to hire us better than men", she noted.

Acha also said that women often have to justify their positions. Many women CEOs work 10 to 12 hours a day, while their male counterparts work less than 10 hours a day, she added.

"I rather recruit women. They are more methodical and give me a different perception about things. They are also more committed to work than men. It is a mental process", said Franklin Acevedo, marketing manager at a multinational corporation subsidiary.

Asked about the main “fault” in professional women, he answered: "They can never forget about home. They are always worried about the family. This makes us different", he added.

Women’s devotion and other assets are not in keeping with their salaries, however. Studies over women in the labor market usually conclude that the gap is 20 percent unfavorable to women.

UNICEF report highlighted a huge wage disparity between and among countries and regions.

Latin America exhibits one of the widest gaps. UNICEF study covered Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru. It showed that women in these countries make 73 percent of men’s salaries and that their income is 40 percent lower than that of men.

Developed nations do not face a better situation. Men’s wages there are 20 percent higher than women’s, UNICEF corroborated.

Over-load, guilt and prejudices

Women’s work overload is seldom considered. Working women take up most, if not all, house chores. The lower their socio-economic level, the heavier the burden. UNICEF report included several testimonies in this connection.

A recent survey among women heading local households and working in finance and international agencies showed that they can not free themselves from a feeling of guilt vis-à-vis house chores, even when they have somebody to help them out or hire a girl for this purpose.

"I end up the day feeling exhausted, especially during the school year. I leave the office thinking about my children’s homework and about whether or not my husband had time to give them a hand. I usually take care of this", a respondent said.

"As I spend most of the week at work, I take care of the house over the weekend. My family can think I am lazy if I do not do so", another one confessed. Although she is the one who provides the family with economic support, she feels she has to make her husband’s life “bearable”. "He is currently unemployed", she regretted.

"When our three-month-old baby wakes up at night, I get very nervous. If he does fall asleep again, I will not feel well in the morning. But I can not ask my husband to get up and look after him; I am the mother", said Anita, a 27-year-old economist.

Most testimonies were very similar and revealed that many middle-class women stick fast to age-old prejudices and feelings of guilt.

The Women's News Service from Latin America and the Caribbean, International News Agency, offers this weekly service. No reproduction without authorization. Any comment o suggestion please contact us: semlac@redsemlac.net