Nine testimonies for Women’s Day
Andrea Navea
“There’s still a lot for us to do but I think that having a woman president who puts gender as one of the objectives on the agenda is one of the great challenges which both State and society need to build on.”
Claudia Ferrer and Rafaela Sandoval Ferrer
“It’s really exciting to be here. I’ve always fought for equality, especially in the area of sexuality and what I’d like to show my daughter is that it is possible to build a world together with men, in the economic, work and sexual spheres.”
María del Carmen Marambio
“Women have always been seen as less; as the person who is just there and doesn’t go out. Women are more than this; we long for more things for ourselves. The President will leave behind the legacy of having been the first woman president in South America, but she will also be remembered for giving us a space and pushing us to find out what we are capable of.”
Pamela Silva
“Women continue to be discriminated against at work or in healthcare, for instance with the isapres (1). We want to reassert our rights and today we are here to mark this. The creation of the Ministry of Women and the push to legalize abortion in 3 circumstances (2) have been fundamental and the role of Minister Pascual (3) has been extremely important with this progress.”
Jessica Bustamante
“I’ve taken part many times in the Female Head of Household program (4) and am very grateful. There I have learned IT and other things which have helped to protect me and to value myself as a woman and a mother. It has been a really enormous contribution.”
Macarena Grez Jaraquemada
“Being here is really important to me. I have three children and I raised the first two alone. It’s really hard to get ahead. I think there’s a lack of awareness in the business world, because businessmen still see women as a cost.”
Iris Pizarro
“For the first time, the women in the Pedro Aguirre Cerda municipality have a special department in the Municipal government, and this is thanks to the wonderful work by the Mayoress. Having a Ministry has also been very important, because we have somewhere we can go, where they’ll listen to us, where we know that one way or another they can protect us.”
Fresia Arellano and Margarita Faúndez
“I’m on Chile’s paralympic team and I’m visually impaired. For me, doing this sport shows that everything is possible, regardless of whether we’re women or men. I’m a Pan American champion and have a bronze medal from the World Championships. Being a woman has not stopped me from succeeding in what I do.”
Camila Rozas
“As a women’s band (Taconeras), the President’s speech represents us. There are not many spaces for bands like ours, but what we like doing is pushing ourselves into the realm of music and being able to take our cumbia music everywhere. Our message is to invite women to do or undo whatever they want.”
(1) Isapres are private healthcare insurance companies.
(2) This refers to the bill to permit abortion in three very specific circumstances.
(3) Minister Claudia Pascual is the Director of the National Women’s Service (Sernam).
(4) This is a Sernam program to help women gain skills to help them get jobs.