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Gender politics

Adela Zamudio(AZ)- Today is known as a group of women to empower and educate indigenous women about the development system among men and women, and also to let them know how to be involved in community development.

A retired nurse Nancy and her daughter Ana who are middle-class women in Bolivia, work for this AZ and are trying to get an empowerment training class. Empowerment training, is used under the term of gender politics[12], which means it is only for women. A project was created for women to have an economic opportunity to help them advance in economic development. They were given the option to create a stone pathway and were going to be paid for their work. If this project is what the women wanted to do, then Nancy and Ana would bring the project proposal to the mayor’s office in order to start the project. However, the women did not like this idea, because they thought their opportunity would take away from their husband’s opportunity to earn money. Another reason was that there was an additional burden of responsibility is placed on the women besides taking care of their families. The women asked for the proposal to include men. In the end, the Nancy and Anna proposed to analyze the differences in power between men and women, with the poor and middle class.

Bolivian women have a different perception on the AZ and its purpose when it comes to economic opportunity and community development. The women’s perception is to have men get local jobs so there would be no need in traveling a far distance to their job. This idea was presented by the local government. The project proposal was to help the women improve themselves and their community. The women wanted to give men the opportunity also, which creates a competition between the two genders.[13]

Gender policies

In 2009, the Vice-Ministry for Equal Opportunities of 2009 was created by the UK Ministry of Justice to promote women’s rights by making public policies within the whole country. These would consider the rights of indigenous women.

In the same year, another organization was created. Bono Juana Azurday (BJA)[21] is a conditional cash transfer,[22] which assists a particular group of people living in poverty by giving them cash for a period of time. In return the group of people would have to agree act and do certain behaviors. BJA was made to help children’s education have security for the elderly. However, when this organization was created it did not involve or coordinate with no women’s agencies or the government’s gender organizations. As a result, the women’s issues were ignored completely and their rights suppressed.

The CCT program, BJA, had a more negative effects on the women than positive, according to the indigenous women of Bolivia. The women were required to go to education classes, participate in maternal health activities and go to family planning sessions. They were not educated about their rights. In addition, women had to surrender their rights to reproduce because of the BJA regulations. For, example, women would have to wait two years to have another child in order to have another cash transfer, but if they did conceive a child then the second cash transfer would be post-poned.

Another obstacle for Bolivian women nearing labor is that they are required to give birth in hospitals instead of their homes. This requirement allows them to receive proper maternal care. However, the women would have to walk or travel a far distance in order to get to the nearest hospital. There is a health clinic serving as a waiting place for them before they are about to go into labor. With the different atmosphere of hospitals and waiting clinics, and with differences between hospital staff and the indigenous women, there is a gap of misunderstanding of cultural tradition and the BJA’s regulations.

The progress women made with the CCT program is that they were able to gain self-confidence through financial services. They were able to have more control over the money inside the household. Also, indigenous women had access to their own documentation and for their children. This allowed them to be recognized by the Bolivian government in order for them to have the same rights as other citizens.

The main goal of the Bolivian CCT program was to concentrate on women’s needs and create gender equity. However, the cash transfers were given to the women in order for them to take care of their children and their maternal health. It also gave them an opportunity to create a social network while moving to urban areas. The CCT program helped the welfare needs of the indigenous women. The CCT program did not pay much attention to the women’s voice, give them more opportunities in order to move forward in the economy or could help them participate more as a community. There was a feeling of discrimination between the indigenous women and the staff workers, because the women did not speak Spanish and were not able to communicate effectively. The gender equity did not improve between men and women because the women were not able to improve their economic social status with the financial help they received.[23]

The term Chachawarmi[14] means to have men and women be represented equally. It is a traditional concept among majority of the Aymara people who live in the Andes of Bolivia. A study in 2009 focused mostly on Aymara activists in how they associate traditional customs, state politics and native activism. They believe that women and men are different, and therefore they have different responsibilities within the Chachawarmi system. They also believe that men and women complement each other with their roles and responsibilities.

Aymara people of Bolivia are advocates for their cultural customs and socio-political equality, and also the equality between men and women within their community. However middle-class feminists don’t agree with the Chachawarmi tradition. The feminists convey the idea that Chachawarmi is a system that undermines the Aymara women’s participation because they do not engage much in the discussions or community meetings. Aymara women find other ways to voice their opinion, by making certain clothing products and singing songs.

The Aymara community stated they do not want to trade in or in other words be decolonized from their traditional customs if they agree to live in accordance to the political laws and policies. Another reason for not wanting to be decolonized is because the Chachawarmi has been around since their community was established, and their way of living has remained the same. There is no direct solution to this debate between gender politics and decolonization of the Aymaran people of Bolivia, but the analysis of understanding the different opinions of it is evaluated.[15]

Labor market

As Spanish is the dominant language in Bolivia, this causes a gap between Spanish speakers, bilingual speakers of Spanish and indigenous speakers, and just the indigenous speakers. The gap is defined by how men and women will learn Spanish and if learned, what market labor participation they will have.

It is found that women have a lower participation in the labor rate than do men.[19] Because they have a lower participation rate, they are less able to have an education. When women don’t have proper education, they will not be capable to have jobs that provide them with a decent income. For women, not knowing Spanish is impairing them to participate in the labor-market as much as men.

Men and women who live in rural areas earn about 20% less than those from an urban area. The reasons are because of the lack of education, and poor education in job training. How much income women and men have in Bolivia depend on where they live and how far they are able to travel.

Men living in La Paz earn a similar amount when compared to men living in other urban areas in Bolivia. Women living in La Paz earn a higher amount of money in comparison to women living in other urban cities of Bolivia. This is because La Paz is closely tied to government departments in which the government supports and encourages women working in the labor force.

In Bolivia, women who know only Spanish earn 28% more than women who are bilingual in Spanish and an indigenous language. Women who are bilingual earn 25% more than women who only speak an indigenous language. For women, the difference in making a certain amount of money in the labor market depend highly on their language skills.[20]

Template:Hippert, Christine. “Women’s Studies International Forum.” Women’s spaces, gender mainstreaming, and development priorities: Popular participation as gendered work in rural Bolivia. 34. (2011): 498-508. Template:Hippert, Christine. “Women’s Studies International Forum.” Women’s spaces, gender mainstreaming, and development priorities: Popular participation as gendered work in rural Bolivia. 34. (2011): 498-508. Template:Burman, Anders. “Journal of Latin American Studies.” Chachawarmi: Silence and Rival Voices on Decolonisation and Gender Politics in Andean Boliva. 43.1 (2011): 65-91. Template:Burman, Anders. “Journal of Latin American Studies.” Chachawarmi: Silence and Rival Voices on Decolonisation and Gender Politics in Andean Boliva. 43.1 (2011): 65-91. Template:Hippert, Christine. “Women’s Studies International Forum.” Women’s spaces, gender mainstreaming, and development priorities: Popular participation as gendered work in rural Bolivia. 34. (2011): 498-508. Template:Hippert, Christine. “Women’s Studies International Forum.” Women’s spaces, gender mainstreaming, and development priorities: Popular participation as gendered work in rural Bolivia. 34. (2011): 498-508. Template:Molyneux, Maxine and Marilyn Thomson. “Gender and Development” Cash transfers, gender equity, and women’s empowerment in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. 19.2 (2011): 195-212. Template:Molyneux, Maxine and Marilyn Thomson. “Gender and Development” Cash transfers, gender equity, and women’s empowerment in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. 19.2 (2011): 195-212. Template:Molyneux, Maxine and Marilyn Thomson. “Gender and Development” Cash transfers, gender equity, and women’s empowerment in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. 19.2 (2011): 195-212.