Cuban women and their role in society: between progress, persistent inequalities, and the rise of feminism (1/2)

Temps de lecture : 14 minutes

Cuban women and their role in society: between progress, persistent inequalities, and the rise of feminism (1/2)

January 20, 2021

Written by Emeline Léonard 

Translated by Charline Vandermuntert

Carlota Lucumi – martyr of the fight against slavery -, Mariana Grajales – a national figure of the struggle for independence in the nineteenth century -, Tania la Guerrillera – communist revolutionary and loyal supporter of Che Guevara -, Celia Sanchez – the first woman in the rebel army of Fidel Castro – … These four women, among many others, have held a special place in the history of this Caribbean Island State. Cuban women have always been at the heart of struggles and fought for their rights and emancipation. Since 1959 and the advent of the Revolución dentro de la revolución, official policies have led to an improvement in the status of Cuban women. The establishment of a communist regime on the island resulted in formal and legal gender equality, a break with the system that had persisted until then. But this official gender egalitarianism soon turned out to be only a horizon, unattainable. In a society where patriarchy is structural and machismo pervasive, the empoderamiento of women, which can be defined as the process of the female population taking power within society^[1]Julien Souriau « Cuba, côté femmes. Les transformations de la condition de la femme à Cuba au cours des années 1990 », Research thesis, IEP Toulouse, 2004, p.15, proves to be very complicated. The ‘new woman’ praised by Fidel Castro does not exist. Inequalities^[2]Only some of the most flaring and alarming inequalities and problems faced by Cuban women will be addressed and developed persist, as do gender stereotypes, behaviours and actions that subjugate women, sometimes going so far as to kill them. While mentalities are evolving and society is gradually changing, the government’s efforts seem insufficient to allow the full integration of Cuban women into society. Historically subordinated to male power, women have gradually freed themselves from this guardianship. The rise of feminism in recent years is evidence of a growing challenge to established power, to the forms of patriarchal domination that survive in Cuban society, and to a need for change. Activism tends to move the lines. This feminism does, indeed, reflect new aspirations for women.  This first article will, therefore, provide an overview of the place of women in Cuban society, as well as the evolution of these civil, social, economic, political, and cultural rights. It will also discuss the gender inequalities that persist and are firmly anchored on the island.

Progress over time: towards an improvement in the situation of Cuban women

For a long time, the Cuban woman was relegated to the private sphere, appearing entirely dependent on the man, and having to conform to what was dictated by the social norm. She was reduced to the role of the good mother, the good wife, dedicating herself to household chores, a real ángel del hogar^[3]Editor’s note: fairy of the house and children’s education. However, notable changes have taken place since the mid-nineteenth century. Cuba developed egalitarian policies that are unique in the history of women’s status, breaking with the hitherto established model. Cuba is thus gradually recognizing women’s right to health, education, work, and access to high-level State positions, etc.

In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power on the island, and with him, a socialist regime gaining a lasting foothold. With the egalitarian ideal at the heart of the Castro project, the State gradually established equal rights between women and men. This resulted in a policy of liberación de la mujer^[4]Editor’s note: women’s liberation based on the feminization of employment (with a massive literacy campaign), the affirmation of women in the public sphere, their economic independence and the disappearance of the dynamics subordinating them to men. Fidel Castro thus proclaimed the advent of a ‘new woman’.

Fidel Castro also wanted to make Cuba an internationally recognized model for gender equality. Since the 1960s onwards, and especially over the last thirty years, Cuban policies on the status of women have been in line with the texts of the United Nations, which have also recognized Cuba’s constant commitment towards achieving full gender equality. In 1979, Cuba was the first country to sign and the second to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Cuba also adopted the Vienna Programme on Human Rights of December 1993. In 1995, the island participated in the Fourth World Women’s Conference in Beijing, followed by their signature of the Decree-Law of the National Plan of Action of the Republic of Cuba in 1997. More recently, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development^[5]Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible, 2015, Naciones Unidas en Cuba, https://cuba.un.org/es/sdgs pushes the Cuban government to act for gender equality.

In addition, total gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution, a real tool of the Revolution^[6]Julien Souriau « Cuba, côté femmes. Les transformations de la condition de la femme à Cuba au cours des années 1990 », Research thesis, IEP Toulouse, 2004, p.27. Adopted on 24 February 1976, it affirms the equality of rights and duties without any distinction in Chapter IV. Women enjoy the same rights as men in the economic, social, political, family, and legal fields. The State must ensure the exercise of their rights. Article 41^[7]ARTÍCULO 41. El Estado cubano reconoce y garantiza a la persona el goce y el ejercicio irrenunciable, imprescriptible, indivisible, universal e interdependiente de los derechos humanos, en … Continue reading grants women a fair and protective social position and enshrines full gender equality. Article 44^[8]ARTÍCULO 44. El Estado crea las condiciones para garantizar la igualdad de sus ciudadanos. Educa a las personas desde la más temprana edad en el respeto a este principio. El Estado hace efectivo … Continue reading, reaffirms the fundamental principle of legal gender equality and condemns all discrimination and inequalities (detailed in Articles 42^[9]ARTÍCULO 42. Todas las personas son iguales ante la ley, reciben la misma protección y trato de las autoridades y gozan de los mismos derechos, libertades y oportunidades, sin ninguna … Continue reading and 43^[10]ARTÍCULO 43. La mujer y el hombre tienen iguales derechos y responsabilidades en lo económico, político, cultural, laboral, social, familiar y en cualquier otro ámbito. El Estado garantiza que se … Continue reading).

Moreover, Cuba is seeing an exponential increase in the number of women in the economic sphere. Since 1959, women have occupied a growing place in the Cuban productive sphere. Cuban women, who had long been excluded from the workforce, representing only 10% of the active population in the 1950s, gradually entered this sphere. They represented nearly 30% of the active population in the early 1980s. The latest 2016 Cuban report on gender equality confirms this feminization of employment:  45.1% of women had a paying job at the time^[11]Encuesta Nacional sobre Igualdad de Género, 2016, http://www.onei.gob.cu/node/14271  (Table 1.5). In addition, some management positions, long reserved for men, are gradually opening up. But if the improvements
are noticeable, the gender logic persists, and the salaries are not the same for the same level of qualification. Women are also over-represented in certain sectors such as human services, health, and education. They are also much less present in other sectors such as catering, agriculture, or manufacturing. Nevertheless, women’s economic participation is indeed a key factor for their empoderamiento and greater equality (2016 Encuesta Nacional sobre Igualdad de Género (ENIG)^[12]Editor’s note: National Survey on Gender Equality.

There has also been significant progress in the political and judicial domains. In 2020, women occupied a critical place in Cuban politics. They make up 53.22% of the National Assembly^[13]According to figures from the Cuban parliament, http://www.parlamentocubano.gob.cu/index.php/diputados/, fmaking the island the fourth country in the world with the highest proportion of women in its Assembly in 2015^[14]Les femmes dans les parlements: regard sur les 20 dernières années, http://archive.ipu.org/pdf/publications/WIP20Y-fr.pdf, page 14. In addition, the same year saw seven women holding minister positions^[15]According to figures from the Council of State,  http://www.parlamentocubano.gob.cu/index.php/consejo-de-estado/, 48% of the Council of State^[16]Ibid., 75% of the presidencies of the courts, 61% of the provincial judges and 51.37% of the supreme judges of the country^[17]According to figures from the Supreme People’s Court, https://www.tsp.gob.cu/jueces. Progress in terms of political representation is real. In comparison and according to UN figures^[18]UN, “El avance de las mujeres hacia la igualdad se estanca”, UN Noticias, October 2020 https://news.un.org/es/story/2020/10/1482722, women in the world occupied 25% of parliamentary seats in 2020 and nearly 22% of minister positions, well below Cuban figures.

At the head of the State, leaders also decided to act. The Cuban State seems to be gradually becoming aware of the deep-rooted inequalities. Since the end of October 2020, Cuba has had a new programmatic document for the empowerment and emancipation of women. The Programa Nacional para el Adelanto de las Mujeres (PAM) was approved by the Council of Ministers on 30 October^[19]DIXIE Edith, “Empoderamiento femenino: Abrir caminos sobre la marcha”, CubaDebate, 6 novembre 2020, … Continue reading and hopes for this new program are high. According to Teresa Amarelle Boué, Secretary-General of the FMC (Federación de Mujeres Cubanas^[20]Editor’s note: Federation of Cuban Women), the aim is to integrate into a single synthetic document the objectives, goals and actions that respond to the Cuban Agenda for Gender Equality. The programme’s areas of action are, among others, economic empowerment, education, prevention, access to decision-making spheres and sexual health. The innovative aspect of this programme is essentially based on the cross-cutting nature of the gender and legal system approaches, on the recognition of structural machismo and the persistence of manifestations of violence.

Furthermore, the improvement of the status of Cuban women is also reflected in the right to abortion. Cuba is one of the few countries in Latin America to have legalized abortion, recently joined by Argentina. It was decriminalized as early as 1936. A woman could then abort only for three reasons: to save her life or to avoid serious damage to her health, in case of rape or possible transmission of serious hereditary disease to the foetus. A certain tolerance towards abortion already existed since some private clinics performed abortions. Official decriminalization took place in 1987^[21]Decriminalization means that a previously unlawful act will no longer be an offence in the future. It is the transformation of prohibited behaviour into authorised behaviour. It should not be … Continue reading From then on, according to the 1978 Penal Code (Article 320.1), it is a crime only if it is committed for profit, by non-medical personnel, without the consent of the person or outside health facilities. It is completely free of charge and can be performed up to 6 weeks of pregnancy. It reflects an important victory for the island’s women and their sexual rights. Sociologist and professor at the University of Havana, Reina Fleitas, also sees it as “an example of a gender-based approach to health”^[22]Agencia IPS,” El derecho al aborto en Cuba, en entredicho tras 50 años legalizado”, CiberCuba, 1 September 2017, … Continue reading“. Dr Alberto Roque, bioethics researcher and activist for the respect of free sexual orientation and gender identity, also recalls that “the right of women to decide on their bodies is inalienable and must continue to be defended in Cuba”^[23]Ibid..

Nevertheless, the realities of this right to abortion need to be nuanced. According to figures from the 2019 Anuario Estadístico de Salud, provided by the Cuban Ministry of Health, under the auspice of, among others, UNICEF, WHO and PAHO, 73 661 abortions were officially performed on women and girls aged 12 to 49^[24]Anuario Estadístico de Salud – 2019, page 167 https://temas.sld.cu/estadisticassalud/2020/05/13/publicado-el-anuario-estadistico-de-salud-2019/. This corresponds to 39.8 abortions for every 100 pregnant women. However, these figures do not reflect reality. According to Maria Elena Benírez Pérez, a doctoral student in economics at the University of Havana, there has been an underestimation of the abortion rate in recent years^[25]BENITEZ PEREZ María Elena, “La trayectoria del aborto seguro en Cuba: evitar mejor que abortar”, Novedades en Población, September 2014 (page 100) … Continue reading. Even if these figures seem impressive, they are much less important than thirty years ago. In 1986, 160 926 abortions were recorded, corresponding to 49.1 abortions for every 100 pregnant women^[26]Anuario Estadístico de Salud – 2019, page 167 https://temas.sld.cu/estadisticassalud/2020/05/13/publicado-el-anuario-estadistico-de-salud-2019/. This can be explained by the low use of contraception on the island: it is estimated that only 76.8%^[27]Anuario Estadístico de Salud – 2019, page 168 http
s://temas.sld.cu/estadisticassalud/2020/05/13/publicado-el-anuario-estadistico-de-salud-2019/ of Cuban women of childbearing age with a registered partner use it. In addition, there are many obstacles to this right to abortion on the island. Dr Alberto Roque, quoted earlier in this article, identified the main difficulties: the robustness of patriarchy as an ideology, the existence of pro-life positions, growing social inequalities, increasing poverty, the State’s economic approaches to low birth rates, and the indiscriminate use of abortion as a contraceptive method^[28]Agencia IPS, El derecho al aborto en Cuba, en entredicho tras 50 años legalizado, CiberCuba, 1 Septembre, 2017 … Continue reading.

Inequalities that persist constrain women

Cuba has seemingly made considerable progress towards an empoderamiento of women in many areas. Nevertheless, the reality is more complex and society still unequal, macho, and patriarchal, as sociologist Clotilde Proveyer recalls in her writings. Traditional gender roles persist, but so do inequalities in the private and public spheres. These preconceived socio-cultural roles, already firmly anchored on the island long before the Revolution, continue to be part of the norm. Cuban women are limited in their actions and status, despite gender-equal legal conditions. Violence — including femicide — is a taboo subject in Cuba, but it is very real. For sociologist Reina Fleitas, “the silence or devaluation of the situation of women is a constant^[29]Ibid.”.

There are many examples of gender inequality. In the private sphere, the distribution of domestic tasks is unbalanced. This first example, which may seem insignificant, is the sad reflection of society and its many disparities. In Cuba, the family is, according to the Constitution, “the fundamental unit of society”. In a society where patriarchy as an ideology persists, women are relegated to the private sphere, often perceived as dependent on men, who dominate the public sphere. The gendered division of household chores continues. Admittedly, it is far from being specific to the island, but it does highlight inequalities.  Indeed, according to the 2016 ENIG, women do more than 86% of the cooking, over 84% of the ironing, and nearly 90% of the cleaning. More than 34% of them take care of sick children and almost 35% of necessary medical appointments^[30]2016, Encuesta Nacional sobre Igualdad de Género, http://www.onei.gob.cu/node/14271  (Chart 3.2).

Furthermore, gender-related violence is a social reality in Cuban society that is not discussed. It is truly a taboo subject, as is femicide. According to the ENIG, 39.6% of the women surveyed (aged 15 to 74) said they had experienced violence in their lifetime in a relationship with a partner and 26.7% had been victims of violence in the last 12 months^[31]Ibid (Chart5.1). Social violence is a social problem on the island. Yet, there is no public policy on the issue. For psychologist and researcher Ailynn Torres, gender-based violence is a social, structural, political and cultural problem that requires public intervention^[32]TORRES SANTANA Ailynn, “La violencia no entra en cuarentena”, Cubadebate, April 2020 http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2020/04/16/la-violencia-no-entra-en-cuarentena/ . In addition, 39.6% of women and 43% of men consider that aggression within a couple (of any kind: physical, psychological, sexual) is a problem specific to the couple, so no one should interfere in it, let alone denounce it in the public arena. Nearly 61% of the population think that women put up with abuse because they inherently like it. Only 3.7% of abused women sought help from a social organization. Thus, the assaults are allegedly justified by these beliefs^[33]2016, Encuesta Nacional sobre Igualdad de Género, http://www.onei.gob.cu/node/14271  (Chart 5.9).

Moreover, femicide – a contraction of femme (meaning ‘woman’ in French) and homicide which refers to the murder of a woman or girl based on her gender^[34]DELCAMP Laura, “Femicide”, Institute of Gender in Geopolitics, May 2020, https://igg-geo.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Traduction-FT-F%C3%89MINICIDE.pdf that is to say on the simple ground that they are women – is extremely present even if not specific to the island. Cuba is one of the only countries in Latin America that does not define femicide in its Penal Code. No law or legal texts regulate, even punish, or classify it as a crime. The last figures provided by Cuba’s official institutions date back to 2016 in its ENIG. During that year, 47 women were victims of femicide on the island. Nevertheless, and to compensate for these shortcomings, independent bodies, concerned about the seriousness of the phenomenon, are publishing their statistics. According to the YoSíTeCreo^[35]YoSíTeCreo, Observatorio de Feminicidios en Cuba https://yositecreoencuba.medium.com/observatorio-de-feminicidios-en-cuba-517649162f1 platform (aiming to help women victims of gender-based violence) and in its latest census on 20 November 2020, Cuba recorded at least 25 femicides and three infanticides documented by independent observers. Most victims were between 15 and 35 years old. These women were mainly killed by their partners (12 of the 25 deaths) or ex-partners (10), and seven of them already had a history. In the remaining cases (18), there were no previous complaints. This organization also opened an Observatory of Femicides which aims to become “a site dedicated to the memory of women who died of gender-based violence^[36]Ibid.”. It also calls for specific regulations to protect women and condemns the authorities’ silence.

Finally, another form of discrimination, which particularly affects Cuban women, is prostitution. When he came to power in 1959, Fidel Castro decided to put an end to the ‘social evil’ that he considered to be prostitution (known on the island as jineterismo^[37]Initially, this term does not have any sexual connotations. It comes from the term jinetero, which means ‘the one who rides a horse’, becoming figuratively the one who exploits the other, who is … Continue reading, a term with a meaning specific to Cuba that is actually to be distinguished from ‘prostitution’). For Castro, “prostitution is a consequence of the regime of exploitation of man by man”^[38]Gay-Sylvestre Dominique, « Prostitution à CUBA (1959-2011) », Diversité Recherches et terrains, 2012, n°3, http://dx.doi.org/10.25965/dire.295, and goes against the socialist egalitarian ideal. Social policies were therefore put in place to eliminate it. Brothels and nightclubs were closed and, through a rehabilitation campaign for prostitutes, sex workers were pushed to find a new job deemed more dignified thanks to training offered by the government. In 1966, the rehabilitation policy was completed: prostitution was officially excluded from the institutional functioning and the Caribbean Island. Nevertheless, it is in reality far from having been eradicated. Many women and girls fall into prostitution, which is now clandestine. In the early 1990s, the government decided to encourage the development of tourism, thus unwillingly promoting sex tourism on the island, as Velia Cecilia Bobes, a doctor in sociology, points out^[39]FUENTE Álvaro, “Aquel que quiere encontrarlos, sabe donde están los burdeles de Cuba”, El País, 8 October 2018 https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/09/17/planeta_futuro/1537200860_839968.html. During this decade, jineterismo gradually became this ‘scourge’ again. The government’s Operation Lacra^[40]Editor’s note: scourge), began in 1998 with the aim of once again eradicating jineterismo, but nothing helped. This underground economy continues to grow.  Successive crises since the … Continue reading”.

Conclusion

The achievements of the Revolution are real. The status of Cuban women has improved in many areas. Nevertheless, the advent of the ‘new woman’ touted by Fidel Castro did not take place. Society remains patriarchal, macho and gender inequalities and stereotypes persist. These elements may explain the rise of feminism and feminist organizations independent of the government. Protests are growing on the island. The second part of this dossier will thus focus on showing the full power of Cuban feminism. The authorities are being singled out for their silence, and initiatives to improve the status of Cuban women are multiplying. Activism tends to move the lines.

To read the second part of this article: here

Bibliography

Publication:

TCHAK Sami, La prostitution à Cuba. Communisme, ruses et débrouille, L’harmattan, Paris, 1999, 162 pages

Article:

ALCAZAR CAMPOS Ana, “Sexual tourism, ‘jineterismo’, tourism romance: diffuse borders in the interaction with the other one, in Cuba”, Gazeta de Antropologia, 2009, Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: http://www.ugr.es/~pwlac/G25_16Ana_Alcazar_Campos.html

Agencia IPS, El derecho al aborto en Cuba, en entredicho tras 50 años legalizado, CiberCuba, 1er septembre 2017, , Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: https://www.cibercuba.com/noticias/2017-09-02-u162416-e192519-nuevos-retos-derecho-al-aborto-cuba-tras-medio-siglo

BENITEZ PEREZ María Elena, “La trayectoria del aborto seguro en Cuba: evitar mejor que abortar”, Novedades en Población, septembre 2014, (page 100) URL: http://www.novpob.uh.cu/index.php/NovPob/issue/view/23

DIXIE Edith, ‘Empoderamiento femenino: Abrir caminos sobre la marcha”, CubaDebate, 6 November 2020 http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2020/11/06/empoderamiento-femenino-abrir-caminos-sobre-la-marcha/

DELCAMP Laura, “Le Féminicide”, Institute for Gender in Geopolitics, May 2020, Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: https://igg-geo.org/?p=1104

FUENTE Álvaro, “Aquel que quiere encontrarlos, sabe donde están los burdeles de Cuba”, El País, 8 October 2018, Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/09/17/planeta_futuro/1537200860_839968.html

GAY-SYLVESTRE Dominique, “Prostitution à CUBA (1959-2011)”, DIversité Recherches et terrains, 2012, n°3, consulté 03/01/2021, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.25965/dire.295

UN, “El avance de las mujeres hacia la igualdad se estanca”, Noticias ONU, October 2020, Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: https://news.un.org/es/story/2020/10/1482722

TERRENO Ania, “Feminismo en las redes, otro reto al silencio”, CubaDebate, 14 August 2020, URL: http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2020/08/14/feminismo-en-las-redes-otro-reto-al-silencio/

TORRES SANTANA Ailynn, “La violencia no entra en cuarentena”, Cubadebate, April 2020, Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2020/04/16/la-violencia-no-entra-en-cuarentena/ 

Thesis:

Julien Souriau “Cuba, côté femmes. Les transformations de la condition de la femme à Cuba au cours des années 1990”, Research thesis, IEP Toulouse, 2004

Legal document:

Penal Code of the Republic of Cuba, adopted on 30 December 1978 URL: http://www.parlamentocubano.gob.cu/index.php/documento/codigo-penal/

Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, 24 Februaary 1976 URL: http://www.parlamentocubano.gob.cu/wp-content/uploads/Nueva-Constituci%C3%B3n-240-KB-1.pdf

Report:

Anuario Estadístico de Salud, 2019 URL: https://temas.sld.cu/estadisticassalud/2020/05/13/publicado-el-anuario-estadistico-de-salud-2019/

2016 Encuesta Nacional sobre Igualdad de Género ENIG, published in 2019 URL: http://www.onei.gob.cu/node/14271

Les femmes dans les parlements: regard sur les 20 dernières années, 2015, Union interparlementaire URL: http://archive.ipu.org/pdf/publications/WIP20Y-fr.pdf

Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible, 2015, Naciones Unidas en Cuba URL: https://cuba.un.org/es/sdgs

Website:

FMC, Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: http://www.mujeres.co.cu/

Red Femenina de Cuba, Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: https://redfemeninadecuba.com/component/content/article/79-blog/2519-hablemos-de-violencia-de-genero-en-cuba.html?Itemid=437

YoSíTeCreo, Observatorio de Feminicidios en Cuba, Accessed 02/01/2021 URL: https://yositecreoencuba.medium.com/observatorio-de-feminicidios-en-cuba-517649162f1

To cite this article : Emeline LEONARD, “Cuban women and their role in society: between progress, persistent inequalities, and the rise of feminism (1/2)”, 01.20.2021, Gender in Geopolitics Institute.