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Colombia: Yannet Mosquera, woman of the year

By Julia Londoño Bozzi

Bogotá.– Yannet Mosquera is the most authentic of all CAFAM Woman of the Year Prize winners in Colombia, said Ramón Barón. He has been the event’s project manager in the last seven years. CAFAM stands for Family Clearance House.

When Yannet dances wearing an orange-color dress and smiling with amusement, I get convinced that she is really genuine. She makes newspaper headlines, but does not bather to get a copy back home as a souvenir.

WNS: Who is the woman who has been granted the 19th Woman of the Year Prize in Colombia?

YM: My name is Yannet. I am a 37-year-old Afro-Colombian woman who has three children. I was born in El Juncal village, El Patía municipality, Cauca department, southern Colombia. I became displaced many years ago, when armed groups took over the area.

My educational level is rather low. For a woman like me, completing second grade means a lot. After you hardly learn to write your name, your parents take you out of school and you begin working.

I have been working since I was six. I spent ten years working as a domestic. This work should be called differently, because it is a form of slavery.

Although things have been very hard, I would say I am a very happy woman.

I had my first daughter when I was 15. I hate talking about it. I was raped twice by the same man. The paramilitary thought the women they happened to come across were there for them. They also felt they were entitled to have sex with them anytime. They just had sex and went away.

When my daughters grew, I was so worried about them getting hurt that I decided to move to another department, close to a rivulet where many displaced people were settling down.

We simply seized on the area and held some representatives of the local Defense Council and parliament as a way to make the authorities give us certain warranties. Being a black, displaced woman is very hard. You ask for help and get no attention.

Devising alternatives

When I left home in the morning, I used to see some children locked in a house. They put out their heads through a window and asked for food. I though I had to do something.

I came up with the idea of organizing “community kitchen pots”. I had a big container and asked my neighbors to help me out with supplies. We had 30 children the first week, 60 the second, and over 100 later on. There came a time when food was not enough.

We developed vegetable gardens in our own backyards. We planted onion, radish and lettuce, and exchanged onion for coriander rather than going to the marketplace, where prices were very high.

WNS: What are the prospects for your community to become self-sustainable?

YM: We have implemented this project in an orderly manner. We have 70 children looking after the environment. They are environmental leaders who clean the rivulet, among other things. We are being given some resources in return and use them for our collective kitchen pots.

There is a cabinet made up of a governor and a mayor. I am the errand girl. When they meet, they discuss problems like domestic violence and devise solutions. I often get involved in these discussions.

Children are being educated. We are equipping them. When a father tries to hit a mother, they say: stop it! Mom does have rights.

Women are no longer repressed and dirty. They look very nice; they make up their faces. Some husbands have accused me of looking for young men for their wives, but I just want them to feel better, happier.

I am a black and displaced woman, but I speak out.

People say: This Negro woman came here to do away with home life. I have some enemies because I have supported women looking for contraceptive methods. Men think they will get cancer and will not want to have sex. They have filed suits against me. Where I live, couples have up to eleven children. I am the exception to the rule there.

People do not like seeing a black woman speak out, but I have my allies.

We have made important achievements. We have a place to live. When indigenous leader Floro Tunubalá was elected governor thanks to our support, he granted us some plots of land.

We organized marches and demonstrations. We negotiated Las Guacas Future Village project. I am the secretary for women's affairs at the Coordinating Office for Homeless People.

A total of 3088 families will be relocated near Popayán capital city in the near future.

We will get nothing for free. We are now being supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and plan to sell our products in the local market and even export them. The Red Cross has provided first-aid training to our people. We have the technology we need to toil the land. We organize literacy campaigns.

The prize

WNS: What will you do when you get back home? Have you told your children about the prize?

YM: I will make a big party. My children are happy. Angie Constanza, Leidy Beatriz and José Ángel have just asked me to buy them a cell phone. I will also have to buy a computer to work.

RECUADRO

Uruguay: Still far away from racial equality

By Ángela Castellanos

Montevideo.– "I work as a cook in a family house. When I completed senior high school, I quitted studying because I needed to make some money to support my family", Adriana Sánchez, a 46-year-old Afro-Uruguayan woman, told WNS.

Hers is not a special case. Most black women in the country leave school for economic reasons, take poorly paid jobs and suffer from discrimination both at school and work.

"We are not incapable, but we do have fewer opportunities. Uruguayans discriminate against foreigners and other races", she added. She prefers to be called black rather than brown or dark-skinned woman because she is proud of her origin.

The United Nations International Day to Eradicate Racial Discrimination is observed on March 21. This is still an outstanding issue in a country where indigenous people have been exterminated and most blacks are still taking up the same trades as their ancestors.

The 5th International Forum or Kizomba (which means meeting of black people in Quinbundo language) will be held on the northern border, with over 150 participants.

The idea is to provide a framework for black people to advance their views and make demands to local government officials and politicians.

Black presence in Uruguay ways back to colonial times, when the authorities decided to bring African slaves, mostly from Angola, to work as domestics in Montevideo wealthy family houses.

The National Institute of Statistics recently conducted a survey among Afro-Uruguayan women. It showed that most of them take non-skilled manual and service jobs. Over 50 percent work as domestics and make 20 percent less money than nationals of European origin.

This is also the case of retirees. Blacks get six Uruguayan pesos less than white people.

Blacks exhibit the highest school dropout rates, and 50 percent of black women do not take secondary education. Black schoolchildren are discriminated against by 15 percent of classmates, and two every three suffer from low self-esteem.

"I think some blacks discriminate against themselves. I have made headway. I am the only black participating in the Health and Culture committees", Sánchez stressed. She is the chairperson of El Dorado Neighborhood Development Committee. It is located in Piedras municipality, Canelones department.

She has seven children and three grandchildren. "I spent many years working at home. I did not know what was going on with my neighbors. I started to meet people. My husband found it difficult to accept that at the beginning, because he is really homebody. Now, I like to work for others", she emphasized.

"When I get back home from work, I prepare family dinner and go out to meetings", she remarked.

Blacks make up six percent of the local population (3,2 million). There is only one black MP, Edgardo Ortuño, who represents the ruling Wide Front Party in the House of Representatives.

The government in power has in the last couple of years established special units and secretariats in several ministries to deal with Afro-Uruguayan affairs and seek to include racial equality in government policies.

"We hope results will become visible this year", Romero Rodríguez told WNS. He is a leader of Afro World NGO. There are 24 similar organizations and groups doing community work in the country.

Asked about the Secretariat for Afro-Uruguayan Women at the Ministry of Social Development, Alicia García answered: "We have provided no follow up to the Secretariat’s work. She is a leader of Afro World."

Carmen Beramendi, director of the National Institute of Women’s Affairs, indicated: There is much discrimination and racism in Uruguay today. "It is impossible to think about society without considering diversity", she added. "The idea is not only to accept it, but also to promote it", she stressed.

Women of African origin are being discriminated against because they are women, black and poor. Over 40 percent of them have experienced different forms of violence.

Afro World has established Family Associations in Palermo and Sur neighborhoods, where blacks have traditionally lived.

Supported by the national and local governments, the project has built houses for 36 low-income black families.

Uruguay: Domestic violence kills one woman every seven days

By Cristina Canoura

Montevideo, May.– Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) indicated that the number of women killed due to domestic violence has moved from one every nine days last March to one every week this month.

All murders have been committed by spouses and have occurred in four out of 19 departments in the country. Six women have been killed by their husbands or ex-boyfriends so far this year.

One of the victims, María Fernanda Rial (27), was shot to death by her fiancé on April 18. Paradoxically enough, he was a policeman working with the National Crime Prevention Division. He committed suicide shortly afterwards.

Against this background, the Uruguayan Women in Black Group came up with the slogan “Say no to violence”. This is one of the national NGOs denouncing gender violence along with the local office of Amnesty International and the Uruguayan Network against Domestic and Sexual Violence. It has urged people to rally on the first Thursday of every month at the Municipal Intendancy (Mayor’s Office) in Montevideo.

This way of demonstrating makes people recall similar street gatherings by mothers and relatives of those who went missing during the 1973-1984 military dictatorship. After democratic opening, they met at the Liberty square every Friday for over a decade, demanding actual information on the fate of their beloved.

Mothers and relatives of women killed so far this year have also carried posters with the silhouettes of featureless faces, the names of each victim and a description as to how they were murdered.

One of the posters was held by Esther, mother of María Fernanda, who appeared smiling in a photo. She had managed to evade her boyfriend's siege and moved to a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. He managed to page her and killed her. Esther found her already dead, lying on the floor.

In this context, the National Women's Institute under the umbrella of the Ministry of Social Development convened an emergency meeting with the participation of the National Consultative Council on Domestic Violence. The latter is made up of representatives of various social organizations and institutions.

Participants in the meeting agreed to publish a guide that will be supplied to those seeking help at the Judiciary. It will contain basic information on the way to proceed and where to go when a victimizer shows up at a victim's house.

Institute director Carmen Beramendi said that they are planning to conduct an awareness-raising campaign similar to the ones they carried out to combat smoking and promote dengue prevention.

A Domestic Violence Law came into force in July 2002, establishing relevant actions by Family Courts, precautionary measures to protect victim lives and physical and moral integrity, freedom and personal security, as well as economic aid and family assets protection.

Judges are empowered to ask victimizer to leave the family house and ban. They can also prohibit, restrict and/or limit his presence at home, the workplace, the school and other places where the victim usually stays.

They can ban the victimizer from communicating with and getting close to the victim, other affected persons, witnesses and informers.

Likewise, they are empowered to seize weapons under victimizer possession and have them deposited at headquarters. Magistrates can fix an allowance for the victim and send the victimizer to rehabilitation program(s), if deemed fit.

A poster shown at the first rally last May 3 asked: Who will be the next victim? Only women who are being harassed on a daily basis can anticipate such an event.

Argentina: Marches for missing people under democracy

By Norma Loto

Buenos Aires, May.– The cries of protest of Argentinean mothers who wanted to know the whereabouts of their children under the 1976-1986 military dictatorship are being renewed today with the petition of other mothers whose daughters are going missing.

"We are looking for them. We want them alive". They refer to boys, girls and women who have become victims of prostitution networks in the country.

On the third day of every month, relatives, friends and civil society representatives march along Buenos Aires streets to demand punishment for those who subject their beloved to sexual or labor prostitution.

"We will keep on fighting. White slave traffic had in the past been ranked third on the list of high-revenue-yielding business activities, but it ranks second today. Fortunately enough, society is becoming aware", Ángela Vensentini told WNS. She is a member of Feminists in Action.

The second mobilization was organized on May 3 and hundreds of people marched along the streets close to the National Congress. Holding posters with kidnapped girls and women’s faces, participants urged to put an end to the situation and attracted the attention of many pedestrians.

There are new cases every day. "I have been all over the country looking for my daughter. I have found many girls in a similar situation", said Susana Trimarco, mother of María de los Ángeles (Marita) Verón, a young woman kidnapped in 2002 by an organization operating in the north.

Kidnapped in her home town (Tucumán), 1,290 kilometers away from the federal capital, she was sold to a brothel in La Rioja province, 1,175 kilometers away from Buenos Aires. She is still missing.

Her case became a paradigm in the fight against white slave traffic. The first march on April 3 marked the fifth anniversary of her disappearance.

Data of the International Migration Organization showed that 117 women victims of sexual exploitation had been given assistance in the 2002-2006 period.

Justice for Otoño

Otoño Uriarte (16) has been missing from Río Negro for six months. This city is 970 kilometers away from Buenos Aires. The recent finding of a dead body shook the local society. A DNA test result confirming the body’s identity is likely to be published in the next few weeks.

Shortly after she went missing, local media disclosed a telephone conversation between a policeman and a pimp said to be involved in the case.

"It is so gross and serious that the people are demanding justice for Otoño", said Beatriz Tejeda and Alejandra Brito (friends of her family).

Although the anthropometric characteristics show that the body found is Otoño’s, Tejeda still hopes to find her alive. "Otoño is such a special human being that we are helping her family as much as we can", she added.

Bolivia: Seventy percent of working women have no labor rights

By Helen Álvarez Virreira

La Paz, May.– Although the number of unemployed people in Bolivia has dropped from 320,000 in 2006 to 262,000 today (9.5 percent of the economically active population), working conditions remain unstable.

Women’s situation has worsened because 13 percent of them are unemployed. Those who work make less than men and 70 percent are self-employed or engage in tertiary activities. They therefore have no labor rights.

The Study Center for Labor and Agricultural Development (CEDLA) reviewed the situation in the country after President Evo Morales introduced a number of changes. The analysis was presented at a Forum on Employment, Working Conditions and Social Security, which was organized by the Labor Rights Platform.

The review showed that the situation has remained practically unchanged, as compared to previous neo-liberal administrations that had subordinated the country to international agencies for 22 years.

The State generates only 12 percent of wage-earning jobs, while it is responsible for 28 percent in other countries. "On the other hand, the private sector provides flexible jobs that do not meet labor legislation requirements", said expert Bruno Rojas.

Women and youngsters endure the worst working conditions. In El Alto city, for example, 85 every 100 people work in trade and services, and have no labor rights. The city is very close to the government's headquarters and 66.9 percent of its inhabitants are presently living in poverty.

Estimates show that around 800,000 children and teenagers have joined the labor market under precarious conditions.

Women make up most of the unqualified workforce and resort to self-employment to generate the main, if not the only, family income.

There is a significant difference between wages paid to men and women for the same work. Before President Morales took over in 2005, men in urban areas made 913 Bolivian pesos (114 dollars) a month on average and women, 699 pesos (87 dollars). In the countryside, the former got 270 pesos (34 dollars) and the latter, 112 pesos (14 dollars).

Private company managers are now making 6,700 pesos (838 dollars) a month, on average. Purchasing power has been on the downswing lately.

With regard to underemployment, 36 every 100 people do not work eight hours a day, while 62 every 100 do not make enough money to live. "There are no data on women’s situation available", Rojas indicated.

Working conditions have aggravated due to a growing trend toward subcontracting, especially in the textile sector. "Women work at home as if they were small-sized companies, but they really depend on corporations that seek to evade labor costs like Christmas gifts, social security and holidays", Rojas stressed.

This working modality sets the number of pieces to be supplied and has involved all family members in production processes that require more than eight hours a day. "These people do not earn wages because payment is made per pieces finished and delivered", he added.

The President announcement on Labor Day (1^st May) did not prove to be convincing. A recent wage raise from 500 to 525 Bolivian pesos (62.5 to 65.7 dollars) a month has been seen as a way to somehow recover purchasing power. The local inflation rate in 2006 stood at 4.9 percent.

Government programs seeking to generate new jobs, such as “My first job” and “Here I will stay”, and other plans for people with disabilities and women have also been criticized. As they create part-time jobs and are not under labor regulations, they are also marked by instability and precariousness, experts concluded.

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