Women in Uruguay

Women in Uruguay

Paulina Luisi was a prominent Uruguayan feminist leader, and also the first Uruguayan woman to graduate as a physician.
Gender Inequality Index
Value	0.367 (2012)
Rank	69th
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)	29 (2010)
Women in parliament	16% (2014)
Females over 25 with secondary education	50.6% (2010)
Women in labour force	55.6% (2011)
Global Gender Gap Index
Value	0.6803 (2013)
Rank	77th out of 136

Women in Uruguay are women who were born in, who live in, and are from Uruguay. According to Countries and Their Cultures, there is a "very high proportion" of Uruguayan women participating in the labor force of the South American country. The Uruguayan legislation maintains that the women of Uruguay have equal rights to power, authority, and privileges". In reality, however, women are still not occupying "higher economic, professional, political, social, and religious positions". In relation to the political arena, UN Women reported that a 2012 study made by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) ranked Uruguay as being "103rd out of 189 countries in terms of representation of women in Parliament" and that "only 12 per cent of the current members of the Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies in Uruguay are women".

Notable women

One prominent Uruguayan woman is Paulina Luisi. Luisi was a leader of the feminist movement in the country of Uruguay. In 1909, she became the first woman in the country to obtain a medical degree and was highly respected. She represented Uruguay in international women's conferences and traveled throughout Europe. She voiced her opinion on women's rights, and in 1919, Paulina started the force for women's rights in Uruguay. By 1922, the Pan-American Conference of Women named Paulina Luisi an honorary vice president of the meeting and she continued to be an activist until Uruguay gave women the right to vote.

Domestic violence

Domestic violence is a very serious problem, especially so-called crimes of passion, which continue to be tolerated under Article 36 of the Penal Code (The passion provoked by adultery) - Artículo 36. (La pasión provocada por el adulterio). Since 2013, there have been ongoing political efforts to remove this provision from the Criminal Code. Before 2006, perpetrators of rape could avoid punishment if, after the assault, they married the victim. Uruguay's law against domestic violence is Ley Nº 17.514, enacted in 2002.

Abortion

Main article: Abortion in Uruguay

The abortion law of Uruguay is very liberal compared to the other Latin American countries. In 2012, Uruguay become the second country in Latin America, after Cuba, to legalize abortion on demand (during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy).

Women in politics

Unlike most other Latin American countries, women are not very present in politics. Uruguay has one of the lowest percentage of women in politics in Latin America.

See also

• Uruguayan people
• Culture of Uruguay
• Human trafficking in Uruguay

Further reading

Asunción Lavrin, Women, Feminism and Social Change: Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, 1890-1940 (Nebraska Press, 1995)