Until thirty years ago it was unthinkable to call oneself a feminist in Cuenca, the conservative city. The term was so radical that it was considered heresy. That women come together to raise their voices and request equality in all fields was not part of the discourse at that time.
But three decades later, reality has changed. Not as expected, however, it cannot be denied that current generations are increasingly different from those seen in the Basin of yesteryear.
About this transformation, about the changes that women have promoted to gain a space that they should never have lost, were analyzed in a meeting between the Cabildo por las Mujeresthe University of Cuenca and the organization Sendas.
The idea of the meeting was to do a retrospective of feminism in the city, how it has mutated, and what remains to be done.
“The pioneers were accused of everything, they were frowned upon by society. It was not accepted that women entered public spheres because it was understood that women had to be relegated to the domestic sphere, that politics was a men’s thing,” recalls Nidia Soliz, coordinator of the Cabildo por las Mujeres de Cuenca.
But In the nineties there came a time when, little by little, the women of the city began to rise up and demand a place in each of the spheres of society: education, politics and work.
And in the midst of that uprising, March 8 was no longer considered as that day to say and receive “congratulations”but as a distinguished date that year after year has taken a lot of strength to demand the rights of women.
“Perhaps about 25 years ago it began to be institutionalized on March 8. And indeed, at the time, March 8 became a symbolic and important date and positioned by some groups and organizations that worked for women’s rights,” said María Isabel Cordero, executive director of Sendas.
The uprisings, added to the change of concept on March 8, brought important results in education, in politics and in the economic sphere of Cuenca.
But, for that, there were constant struggles that continue today. The pressure for equality to be achieved is no longer just a matter tied to a date or an event.
“We have managed to sustain the scope, and that must be paid attention to. It does not come directly from the state, it does not come from the spheres of power. The transformations come from below, from the social, from the organizations and the movement. And sustaining that also comes from there”, said Nidia Soliz.
outstanding debts
In addition to the collectives, the defense of equity has been promoted from different spaces. For example, the University of Cuenca has a career dedicated to gender and development. This program is the only one that exists in Latin America.
In the field of law, thanks to the pressure exerted by women, the criminalization of violence covers its different types. Until just eight and a half years ago, femicide, in the Comprehensive Criminal Organic Code (COIP) was not considered.
“We still have historical debts. For example, we have vicarious violence that is not yet found in our legislation, which are all those acts that are carried out against the woman through her family, her children. I think we still need to work on that,” said Juan Peña, dean of the Faculty of Jurisprudence at the University of Cuenca.
Although equity is still not fully present in Cuenca, there is no way to deny the substantial changes that have allowed women to settle, and continue to do so, through constant struggles, whose sole purpose is to recover a space from which they should never have been pushed aside by retrograde thoughts. (YO)