Gender and Democracy in Cuba

6. Conclusion: Gender Equality and Democratization

6 Conclusion Gender Equality and Democratization Few illusions are held about a switch to Western-style market democracy or Eastern-style perestroika-glasnost, each being seen as a potential threat to women’s gains. No oppositional groupings of import have emerged within the broader political structure, either to the party or to the mass organizations; there is no rival to the FMC, feminist or otherwise. Jean Stubbs, “Revolutionizing Women, Family, and Power” A decade after knowledgeable observers predicted that the Cuban system of government would emerge essentially unchanged from the crisis of the early 1990s, we know that they have been proven right by history. The Cuban Women’s Federation as well as the Communist party remained basically unchallenged , hegemonic forces.1 The continued legitimacy of the regime was rooted in the revolution’s record. The significant post-1959 accomplishments continued to have more weight in the eyes of the citizens than the obvious hardship people endured. The revolution was frayed on more than the edges, but no credible alternatives were in sight. Change was most likely to come from within. The Cuban government was rightfully proud of the country’s record in guaranteeing basic economic and social rights for all citizens. Its policies had been particularly successful in extending these rights to women. Few countries in the world could point to a better long-term record in providing access to health care and education for their female population, even though the system has been under serious strain since the early 1990s. Women’s political participation was also respectable. Women did actively participate in the political process as voters, candidates, and officeholders. In some instances, particularly in the case of women’s representation in the National Assembly, women did exceedingly well. However, the high level of formal political participation could not hide the fact that women held limited decision-making power. In order to assess the Cuban record objectively, we need to put it in a regional and international context. Over the last decade an international consensus has emerged around the call for equal participation of women and men Conclusion: Gender Equality and Democratization / 101 in parliamentary decision-making. The Platform of Action, a main document that focused on issues of gender and women’s rights as key objectives to be pursued by national and international actors, resulted from the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing. The Beijing Platform exhorted governments to ensure a minimum level of representation for women, referred to as a “critical mass”—generally considered to be 30 percent. More recent initiatives have formed around 50-50 campaigns, advocating a fully gender-balanced parliament.2 Yet formal gender parity in political decisionmaking is still in the distant future. At the beginning of 2006, less than 17 percent of the world’s parliamentarians were women. The Nordic countries stood out with more than twice the world average. Across the world there were considerable regional variations, with the Arab countries reporting about 8 percent and the Americas reaching close to 20 percent, yet very few countries come close to approaching gender parity in the composition of their parliaments. Significantly, the percentage of parliaments with less than 10 percent female representation had dropped from 63 percent in 1995 to 37 percent in 2005.3 There were still eight nations that had no female representation in their parliaments whatsoever. In terms of national records, only Rwanda, the Scandinavian countries, and Holland had a similar or better parliamentary gender balance than Cuba. In 2005 Rwanda had almost achieved gender parity with 48.8 percent women. It was followed by Sweden (45.3 percent), Norway (37.9 percent), and Finland (37.5 percent), countries where women parliamentarians were close to being on equal footing with men. These leaders in women’s formal political participation were followed by Denmark and the Netherlands, which approached Table 6.1. Gender Composition of the World’s Parliaments, 2006 (Single or Lower House) Percentage of Percentage of Region Female MPs Male MPs Nordic Countries 40.0 60.0 Americas 19.6 80.4 Europe OSCE (Nordic countries included) 19.0 81.0 Europe OSCE (Nordic countries not included) 16.9 83.1 Sub-Saharan Africa 16.4 83.6 Asia 16.3 83.7 Pacific 12.0 88.0 Arab States 8.3 91.7 World Average 16.6 83.4 Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (February 2006) 102 / Gender and Democracy in Cuba...