Afrodescendent Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. Debts
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Afrodescendent women in Latin America and the Caribbean Debts of equality Thank you for your interest in this ECLAC publication ECLAC Publications Please register if you would like to receive information on our editorial products and activities. When you register, you may specify your particular areas of interest and you will gain access to our products in other formats. www.cepal.org/en/suscripciones Project Documents Afrodescendent women in Latin America and the Caribbean Debts of equality This study was conducted by the Division for Gender Affairs of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). María Aparecida Bento, Altagracia Balcácer, Giselle dos Anjos Santos and Vivian Souza, consultants with that division, were in charge of its preparation under the supervision of María Nieves Rico, Chief of the Division. The work was coordinated by Alejandra Valdés, Researcher, of the same Division. Thanks are due to Laís Abramo, Chief of the Social Development Division, and Marta Rangel, a consultant with the Social Development Division, for their comments; to Vivian Milosavljevic, of the Social Development Division, and Laura García, of the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE)-Population Division of ECLAC, for their statistical work; and to Elizabeth Crespo Kleber and Ana Irma Rivera Lassén for their contributions. The substantive inputs provided by Iliana Vaca-Trigo, Social Affairs Officer; María Cristina Benavente and Margarita Vega, consultants; Corinna Templin, Research Assistant; and Amparo Bravo and Ana Catalina Valencia are greatly appreciated. The Division wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Jhon Antón Sánchez, Cristina Bloj, Vicenta Camuso, Claudia Mosquera, Rocío Muñoz Flores, Matilde Pacheco and Javier Sota, of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Lily Jara, of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and Fabiana del Popolo, Laura García, Antonin Menegaux and Rodrigo Ruiz, of ECLAC, all of whom participated in the Meeting of Experts on Afrodescendent Women, the Challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Regional Agenda for Gender Equality, held in Santiago, Chile, on 9 and 10 December 2015. The Division is grateful for the inputs shared by representatives of the Network of Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women. Gratitude is also due to AECID for its assistance with the compilation of information and the drafting of this document, which were undertaken as part of the ECLAC-AECID Cooperation Programme’s support for the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean. The views expressed in this document, which has been reproduced without formal editing, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization. United Nations publication LC/TS.2018/33 Distribution: L Copyright © United Nations, 2018 All rights reserved Printed at United Nations, Santiago S.18-00725 This publication should be cited as: “Afrodescendent women in Latin America and the Caribbean: debts of equality”, Project Documents, (LC/TS.2018/33), Santiago, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 2018 Applications for authorization to reproduce this work in whole or in part should be sent to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Publications and Web Services Division, [email protected]. Member States and their governmental institutions may reproduce this work without prior authorization, but are requested to mention the source and to inform ECLAC of such reproduction. ECLAC Afrodescendent women in Latin America and the Caribbean: debts of equality Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 9 I. Black and Afrodescendent women: the long road to recognition as rights holders ............... 15 A. Intersectionality .............................................................................................................. 16 B. Identity and autonomy .................................................................................................... 18 C. Inroads and challenges in achieving the statistical visibility of black and Afrodescendent women .......................................................................................... 20 II. Economic autonomy for Afrodescendent women .................................................................. 23 A. Without an intersectional approach, there is no way out of poverty for Afrodescendent women ............................................................................................ 25 B. Afrodescendent women and access to education ......................................................... 28 1. Affirmative action policies in education .................................................................. 32 C. Afrodescendent women’s access to employment .......................................................... 32 1. Afrodescendent women in the labour market ......................................................... 34 2. Affirmative action policies in the labour market ...................................................... 38 3. Paid domestic work: the sum total of gender and ethno-racial inequalities ........... 40 D. Inequalities in pension system coverage: the challenge for Afrodescendent women of securing a decent standard of living during old age................................................... 43 E. Unpaid work ................................................................................................................... 44 F. Women of African descent and their right to territory ..................................................... 47 III. Physical autonomy for Afrodescendent women..................................................................... 51 A. Effects of patriarchy and racism on the social representations of Afrodescendent women ............................................................................................. 52 B. Inequalities in access to health care and services ......................................................... 53 1. Sexual and reproductive health .............................................................................. 56 C. Violence against Afrodescendent women: an expression of patriarchy and racism ................................................................................................. 62 IV. Decision-making autonomy for Afrodescendent women ....................................................... 67 A. Community action, identity-based organization and impact on public policies .............. 68 B. Presence in political power ............................................................................................ 71 C. Between institutional racism and the institutionalization of racial and gender equality policies ........................................................................................... 76 3 ECLAC Afrodescendent women in Latin America and the Caribbean: debts of equality V. Final remarks ......................................................................................................................... 79 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 85 Figures Figure 1 Latin America (10 countries): attendance of persons between 18 and 24 years of age at an institution of higher education, by ethnicity/race and sex, latest available year ................................................... 30 Figure 2 Brazil: level of schooling, by race and sex, 2014 ................................................. 31 Figure 3 Latin America (11 countries): unemployment rates for persons 15 years of age and over, by ethnicity/race and sex, latest available year ........................ 33 Figure 4 Latin America (10 countries): employed population between 15 and 29 years of age, by ethnicity/race and sex, latest available year ....................................... 34 Figure 5 Latin America (8 countries): employed population of 15 years of age or more holding administrative positions, by ethnicity/race and sex, latest year available ............................................................................................. 35 Figure 6 Latin America (4 countries): women of 15 years of age or more who are employed as manual workers, by ethnicity/race, latest year available ................ 36 Figure 7 Latin America (8 countries): women of 15 years of age or more who are employed in professional and technical positions, by ethnicity/race, latest year available ............................................................................................. 37 Figure 8 Latin America (8 countries): persons of 15 years of age or more who are employed in management positions, by ethnicity/race and sex, latest year available ............................................................................................. 38 Figure 9 Latin America (8 countries): domestic wage workers of 15 years of age or more, by ethnicity/race, latest year available .................................................. 41 Figure 10 Latin America (4 countries): pension system coverage of employed persons of 15 years of age or more, by ethnicity/race and sex, 2015 ..............................