User:Jb2sb/Women's suffrage in Ecuador

History
The Constitution of 1897, written by a fairly liberal Assembly, withdrew all restrictions of gender in regards to citizenship and placed an emphasis on improving the condition of women in society. The record of the Assembly debates includes the following note, dated June 3rd, 1897: “In the first days of the convention much has been done in order to grant women citizenship rights, including the ability to occupy any public office, such as minister of state.” However, while in theory women could exercise all citizenship rights, it was commonly accepted at this time that they could be restricted in the electoral field.

Matilde Hidalgo


During the registration period for the legislative elections in 1924, Matilde Hidalgo, who was the first Ecuadorian woman to complete high school and the first female doctor (she graduated in 1921 from the Universidad Central del Ecuador), attempted to register in Machala to vote in the elections. However, designated officials prevented her from doing so because she was a woman.

Hidalgo filed a formal request and cited the Constitution of 1897, arguing that it does not include any restrictions on citizenship based on gender. Her request was taken all the way to the Council of State, which finally accepted her argument and allowed her to vote in the elections on May 10th, 1924, making her the first woman in Latin America to vote in a national election.

The Council of State provided legal, social, and moral arguments when accepting Hidalgo’s request. With respect to the legal argument, the Council cited the Constitution of 1897, arguing, in the words of the Minister of Government at the time, Francisco Ochoa Ortiz: “there is no legal objection to women registering to vote; and therefore, said woman should exercise her rights and be registered as she has requested.” In the social sphere, the Council stressed that women are part of society and in specific circumstances, the law even grants them the responsibility of controlling their family’s assets. The moral arguments were based in the Council’s opinion that allowing women to vote would boost the country’s morale and that perhaps women might carry out their civic duties better than men.

The incident was picked up on the front page of El Universo, a newspaper distributed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on May 5th, 1924. Hidalgo was praised for her feat and is considered one of the high points in the history of Ecuadorian female consciousness. El Telégrafo also supported the Council of State’s decision, although other editorials from El Universo were opposed to the women’s suffrage movement. In Quito, one newspaper, El Día, supported the ruling while El Comercio was in opposition.

The majority of newspapers that were opposed to women’s suffrage claimed that women “were not prepared” to exercise the right to vote, or that they should not get involved with politics or else “the household would lose its path and become corrupt.” There were also many humorous messages about men becoming housekeepers due to their wives’ absence.

The Constitution of Ecuador in 1929
The public debate that took place as a result of Matilde Hidalgo’s efforts led to the Assembly of 1928. Composed of a liberal majority, the Assembly guaranteed women’s suffrage without any doubt. The 13th article of the Constitution, published the following year, established that all people, “man or woman, older than 21 years of age that can read and write” are considered citizens of Ecuador.

In the following months political parties began campaigns to encourage women to register to vote. The Conservative Party gained the attention of many women by stating that “far from damaging the female vote, our party will contribute to the moralization of elections.” The Liberal Party reminded the public that its party contributed heavily to women gaining the right to vote as it dominated the Assembly at the time of the decision.

Attempted Abolition
During the writing of the Constitution of Ecuador in 1937, Luis Felipe Borja, an Ecuadorian lawyer, proposed that explicit recognition of women’s suffrage be eliminated, claiming that it should be defined in electoral law and that citizenship was not solely defined by the right to vote. José María Velasco Ibarra opposed this argument and other attempts to reduce the electoral register in the Constitution. Borja argued that letting women vote was the same as allowing a priest to vote.

Borja’s stance was strongly rejected in the liberal circles of Guayaquil, although it was supported in Quito, with many writers and thinkers pointing out women’s lack of autonomy as a reason to forbid them from voting. Some notably liberal women also expressed a desire to restrict women’s suffrage. For example, during a public debate, the feminist Rosa Borja de Ycaza, argued that the right to vote was not that important and that “women’s suffrage, without any civic knowledge, only serves as a blind instrument in the greater national context.”

The electoral law finally withdrew restrictions on women’s suffrage and the authorities proclaimed that women could continue voting freely.