Women in Argentina have attained a relatively high level of equality by Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

n standards, and in the Global Gender Gap Report

Global Gender Gap Report

The Global Gender Gap Report was first published in 2006 by the World Economic Forum. The 2010 report covers 134 major and emerging economies....

 prepared by the World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....

 in 2009, Argentine women ranked 24th among 134 countries studied in terms of their access to resources and opportunities relative to men. They enjoy comparable levels of education

Education in Argentina

Education in Argentina is a responsibility shared by the national government, the provinces and federal district and private institutions, though basic guidelines have historically been set by the Ministry of Education...

, and somewhat higher school enrollment ratios than their male counterparts. They are well integrated in the nation's cultural and intellectual life, though less so in the nation's economy. Their economic clout in relation to men is higher than in most Latin American countries, however, and numerous Argentine women hold top posts in the Argentine corporate world; among the best known are Cris Morena

Cris Morena

María Cristina De Giacomi is an Argentine awarded television producer, actress, television presenter, composer, musician, songwriter, writer, former fashion model and CEO of Cris Morena Group...

, owner of the television production company by the same name, María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat

María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat

María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat is a prominent Argentine executive and philanthropist.-Life and times:María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat was born in 1921 to a prominent Argentine family; a grandfather, Federico Lacroze, developed Buenos Aires' first tramway line, in the 1880s...

, former CEO and majority stakeholder of Loma Negra

Loma Negra

Loma Negra Companía Industrial Argentina S.A. is an Argentine manufacturer and the country's leading maker of cement, concrete, and lime.-History:...

, the nation's largest cement manufacturer, and Ernestina Herrera de Noble

Ernestina Herrera de Noble

Ernestina Herrera de Noble is a prominent Argentine publisher and executive. She is the largest shareholder of the Grupo Clarín media conglomerate and director of the flagship Clarín newspaper.-Life and times:...

, director of Grupo Clarín

Grupo Clarín

Grupo Clarín is the largest media conglomerate of Argentina.-Overview:Established as such in 1999, it includes the Clarín newspaper , Papel Prensa , the Artear media company, and numerous other media outlets.Rooted in the successful, 1945 launch of the centrist daily,...

, the premier media group in Argentina.

Following President Juan Perón

Juan Perón

Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

's enactment of women's suffrage

Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...

 in 1949, First Lady Evita Perón led the Peronist Women's Party

Female Peronist Party

The Female Peronist Party, also known as the Feminist Peronist Party and the Peronist Feminist Party, was the women's wing of the Peronist Justicialist Party of Argentina. It was founded by Eva Peron in the late 1940s. After the Peronist Feminist Party was founded, twice the amount of women were...

 until her death in 1952, and helped enhance the role of women in Argentine society. Women played a significant role as both supporters and opponents of the National Reorganization Process

National Reorganization Process

The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...

, Argentina's last dictatorship, in the late 1970s, and the establishment of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, an advocacy group led by mothers of the disappeared, was done by Azucena Villaflor de Vicenti

Azucena Villaflor

Azucena Villaflor was an Argentine social activist, and one of the founders of the human rights association called Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, which looked for desaparecidos .Villaflor was the daughter of a lower class family, and her mother, Emma Nitz, was only 15...

 and, mostly, other women, on the rationale that they would be less likely to be the targets of repression (Villaflor de Vicenti and her fellow founders were murdered by the regime in 1977). Women's rights in Argentina progressed in significant ways following the return of democracy in 1983. President Raúl Alfonsín

Raúl Alfonsín

Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...

 signed laws in 1987 both limiting Patria potestas (the latitude given to a father regarding his treatment of fellow household members, particularly children) and legalizing divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

, helping resolve the legal status of 3 million adults living in legal separation

Legal separation

Legal separation is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de facto separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is granted in the form of a court order, which can be in the form of a legally binding consent decree...

. A congressional bill signed by President Carlos Menem

Carlos Menem

Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...

 in 1992 provides that one-third of the members of both houses of congress must be women, a goal achieved through balanced election slates. As of 2006, there were 29 women in the 72-seat Senate, 86 women in the 257-seat Argentine Chamber of Deputies

Argentine Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....

, two female Supreme Court justices, and three women in the presidential cabinet. The President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...

 was elected in 2007; the runner-up in the crowded field was also a woman, Elisa Carrió

Elisa Carrió

Elisa María Avelina Carrió is an Argentine politician, founder of the party initially known as Alternative for a Republic of Equals , now Civic Coalition ARI ....

.

Argentine women face numerous systemic challenges common to those in other nations, however. Domestic violence in Argentina

Domestic violence in Argentina

Domestic violence in Argentina is a serious problem. In Buenos Aires Province, the special Women's Police Stations and Family's police stations received a daily average of 53 complaints of violence....

 is a serious problem, as are obstacles to the timely prosecution of rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

, the prevalence of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

, and a persistent gender gap

Gender gap

Gender gap may refer to:*Gender differences in a general psycho-social context*Gender pay gap*Income disparity by gender in a purely economic context*The Global Gender Gap Report*Father's rights in child custody determinations of family courts...

 in pay, among other iniquities.

Domestic violence

Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

 reported in August 2008 that a woman died every two days as a result of domestic violence

Domestic violence

Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...

 in Argentina. According to press reports quoting the Buenos Aires Provincial Ministry of Security statistics, 52,351 complaints of domestic abuse were filed at the Women's Police Stations in Buenos Aires Province

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

 in the first 10 months of the year.

The law prohibits domestic violence, including spousal abuse, although the law defines violence against women as a misdemeanor

Misdemeanor

A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...

, and complaints are addressed in civil rather than criminal courts. Family court judges have the right to bar a perpetrator from a victim's home or workplace. The law, however, prescribes penalties for domestic violence only when it involves crimes against sexual integrity, in which case the penalty can be as much as 20 years' imprisonment. However, lack of vigilance on the part of the police and the judicial system often led to a lack of protection for victims. According to a report by the Ministry of Justice National Crime Policy Office, more than 1,000 cases of sexual abuse were reported in the first four months of the year. The office estimated that only one-third of such crimes were reported, with only 10 percent of the cases resulting in convictions. The report indicated that 60 percent of the victims were minors and 40 percent young adult women.

The Ministry of Justice operates mobile units to assist victims of sexual and domestic violence in the city of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. A free hot line serving women in Buenos Aires offers consultations and received complaints. Following enactment of enabling legislation in September 2008, the Buenos Aires provincial government began implementing a register of individuals convicted of sex crimes.

In 2008, family and civil courts in Buenos Aires Province, in compliance with a provincial Supreme Court order, created hot lines to receive complaints of domestic violence and assist victims after normal hours. Criminal courts work with police stations, police offices for women's issues, and prosecutors' offices to enable victims to file domestic violence complaints 24 hours a day. Public and private institutions offer prevention programs and provide support and treatment for abused women. The Buenos Aires municipal government operates a small shelter for battered women; however, few other shelters exist.

In September 2008 the Argentine Supreme Court inaugurated the Office of Domestic Violence, a pilot project to improve access to justice and provide protection for victims in the city of Buenos Aires. The office was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and employed 72 professionals, including lawyers, judicial employees, and medical and psychological specialists. It collected written testimony from victims and educated court officials on how to use such testimony in lieu of oral testimony to avoid revictimization. In the first two months of operations, the office assisted 1,075 domestic violence victims, referring 660 cases to civil courts and 419 to penal courts for further legal action. The office also referred 246 cases to existing free legal assistance services and 210 cases to medical assistance programs.

Rape

Rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

, including spousal rape, is a felony

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

 in Argentina; but the need for proof, either in the form of clear physical injury or the testimony of a witness, has often presented difficulties in prosecuting such crimes. According to the National Office for Criminal Policy, law enforcement agencies received 3,154 complaints of rape during 2005. The penalties for rape may reach up to 20 years' imprisonment, and there were no reports of police or judicial reluctance to act on rape cases; however, women's rights advocates claimed that police, hospital, and court attitudes toward sexual violence victims often revictimized the individual. A Rape Victims Association report estimated that during the year, there were approximately 1,500 rapes in the city of Buenos Aires and its suburbs, of which only one-third of which were reported. According to the National Prosecutor General's Office, 90 percent of rape or sexual assault cases did not result in convictions.

Exploitation

Promotion, facilitation, or exploitation of people into prostitution

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

 is illegal, but it does occur (individual prostitution is legal). Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) consider sex tourism

Sex tourism

Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes.The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary...

 a problem in Argentina, but have no estimates of its extent. Trafficking

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...

 of women to and within the country for prostitution is a problem.

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

 in the public sector is prohibited under laws that impose disciplinary or corrective measures. In some jurisdictions (for instance, in the city of Buenos Aires), sexual harassment may lead to the abuser's dismissal from work, whereas in other areas (such as Santa Fe Province

Santa Fe Province

The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...

), the maximum penalty is five days in prison. No federal law expressly prohibits sexual harassment in the private sector. Lugar de Mujer (Spanish for "Place for Women"), a woman's rights NGO, reported that it received approximately 70 complaints of sexual harassment per month. A survey carried out by the Government Administration Workers Union estimated that 47.4 percent of the women interviewed had been sexually harassed.

Economic discrimination

Although women have in theory enjoy equality under the law since the 1869 enactmnent of the Argentine Civil Code (including property rights), they often encounter economic discrimination

Economic discrimination

Economic discrimination is a term that describes a form of discrimination based on economic factors. These factors can include job availability, wages, the prices and/or availability of goods and services, and the amount of capital investment funding available to minorities for business...

 and hold a disproportionately higher number of lower-paying jobs. Approximately 70 percent of women employed outside the home work in unskilled jobs, although more women than men hold university degrees. According to a 2007 study by the Foundation for Latin American Economic Research (FIEL), men earned 5 percent more than women for equivalent full time work in the Greater Buenos Aires

Greater Buenos Aires

Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...

 area, and earned 21 percent more than women for equivalent part time work, an imbalance explicitly prohibited by law: prison terms of up to three years can be issued for discrimination based on gender.

Limits on reproductive rights

Abortion in Argentina

Abortion in Argentina

Abortion in Argentina is strictly limited by law. Until 2007 there were no confirmed figures of performed abortions; health authorities estimated 500,000 per year , in most cases presumably illegal and often outside proper sanitary conditions. Around 80,000 patients per year are hospitalized due to...

 remains prohibited as of 2010, and is legal only in cases of rape, or where the life of the mother in danger. The Argentine Penal Code 846, moreover, was amended in 2008 to place stricter sanctions against women who seek an abortion, as well as any medical staff involved in the act. These limitations notwithstanding, an estimated 500,000 abortions are performed annually in Argentina (compared to around 700,000 live births), resulting in at least 10,000 hospitalizations due to complications (estimates vary widely) and around 100 deaths (a third of all maternal mortality). According to a recent poll conducted by Catholics for Choice, most Argentineans are in favor of abortion being legal when a woman’s health is in danger (81%), when the pregnancy is a result of rape (80%), when the pregnancy is a result of rape (80%), or if the fetus has severe abnormalities (68%). Access to contraceptives has long been discouraged by a succession of Argentine governments, which instead reward large families with subsidies that rise disproportionately with the seventh child; though Argentine women have long had among Latin America's lowest birth rates (averaging 2.3 births per woman in recent years), the policy has tended to encourage higher birth rates in the lowest strata of society (including women least able to afford large families). Contraceptives are widely used by sexually active Argentine women, as condom

Condom

A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...

s are by Argentine men, and a variety of birth control products can be obtained freely in pharmacies; the Argentine government began their free distribution in 2003.

Advocacy and international law

The National Council of Women carries out programs to promote equal social, political, and economic opportunities for women. The council worked with the special representative for international women's issues, the Ministry of Labor, and union and business organizations to form the Tripartite Committee on Equal Opportunity for Men and Women in the Workplace, which seeks to foster equal treatment and opportunities for men and women in the job market.

In 1985, Argentina ratified the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In 1994, the National Constituent Convention

1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution

The 1994 amendment to the Constitution of Argentina was approved on 22 August by a Constitutional Assembly that met in the twin cities of Santa Fe and Paraná...

 incorporated the ratification of the CEDAW into the text of the new constitution. During the 1990s, some laws began to tackle domestic violence, by empowering police agencies and provincial judicial authorities to establish preventive measures. Although the Government of Argentina ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women in 1996 (enacted in the 1994 Convention of Belem do Pará), not all Argentine provinces have promulgated regulations for its application. Despite the creation in 1985 of the Women's Department under the auspices of the Office of the President, provincial delegations or Women's Sections still have not been established throughout the entire nation.