International Women's Day in Bolivia

Readers: Below is another guest Blog from another one of our great Democracy Center researchers, Melissa Draper. Melissa was in La Paz yesterday for the marking of International Women's Day. Here is her reflection.

Jim

El Dia de la Mujer

I would like to take a poll of you blog-readers: How many of you knew it was International Women’s Day yesterday, March 8? If you asked me that same question five years ago I would have stared at you as blankly as I imagine most of you are staring at your computer screen. College-educated and from Santa Fe, New Mexico, a place considered by most to be a progressive outpost in the southwest United States, I didn’t know about this day until I came to Bolivia. Granted, there are a whole variety of “international days” promoted and celebrated by special sectors of civil society around the world. But this one, well, applies to everyone. It celebrates the woman: mother, daughter, sister, friend.

Leni Olivera, a bolivian colleague at the Democracy Center has a very different perspective on the day. A 27-year old Cochabambina who has been active in the vibrant social movements of Bolivia for more than 7 years, she laments that the day is not well known around the world. She does admit that just over the past decades its recognition indicates the improvement—albeit slow—of the recognition of women’s rights and their fundamental contributions to society. She did not hesitate to give me the full history of the day and to remind me that the struggle for women in a country like Bolivia is one of triple discrimination: they are women, and the majority of those women are indigenous and poor.

The real impulse for calling an international day for women started in 1910 and was picked up again with fervor in the 1960s with the women’s movement. In 1975, the UN began to sponsor it as an official “international day.” A detailed history of the day can be found here.

The Day is catching on in Bolivia. The morning TV shows yesterday were all focused on Women’s Day. A friend turned on the TV at 7:30am and a mariachi band was playing a serenade for the women of the world with the tag line “El Dia Internacional de la Mujer.” After a flourish of statements thanking women for doing what they do, the host proceeded to distribute small bouquets of flowers to every woman on the show, including the women working the cameras and in the editing room.

March 8, however, is not just about flowers. It is also about rape, genital mutilation and bride-burning. The UN has focused on these issues as they have promoted the day around the world. They are a stark reminder that some cultures around the world put family honor and societal rules above the rights of individual women.

In Bolivia, the official festivities for the day centered around a special event at the Palacio del Gobierno in La Paz, which I had the privilege to attend. It was quite a sight to behold. Women of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds flowed into the regal space of the Palacio, capped with its stained glass ceiling depicting the Bolivian seal. Full petticoat-ed polleras, colorful shawls, formal suits, mining hats and embroidered skirts marked to the diverse collection of women from all parts of the country.

The fact that four of the sixteen ministers of this new administration are women is a great step forward for Bolivia. The Minister of Justice is a Quechua woman who was once a domestic worker. In his speech, President Morales spoke directly about the important role of women to help fight corruption, saying he had strategically placed women in positions that require the management of major funds.

The jury is still out on whether this government will really allow space for women’s participation and promote their representation. The process of the Constituent Assembly will be the first test. President Morales’ support for his female ministers to bring about real change will be another. He needs to show that they were not merely appointed to be symbolic heads but as women he trusts to carry out the changes he has promised. The MAS party’s strength is its ability to represent a huge swath of the Bolivian people. It cannot do its job well if it does not do it with the conscious involvement of women every step of the way.

Written by Melissa Draper