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May 4, 2009 -- There is a revival of socialist feminism in Latin America, spearheaded by the Venezuelan and Cuban revolutions.

I have just returned from a workshop on gender-based violence organised by the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Venezuela and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Speakers included Maria Leon, Venezuela's minister of women's affairs, and Nora Casteneda, president of Banmujer (Bank for the Development of Women). The two women explained the gains made by women as a result of Bolivarian socialist revolution in Venezuela. Truly amazing attempts in empowering women towards achieving gender equality were reported candidly by both women, who also outlined the challenges women in Venezuela have as yet to overcome.

Venezuela's Bolivarian constitution is the first in the South (and possibly the world) to recognise women's housework as a legitimate economic activity producing wealth and contributing to the social welfare of the population: "The State will recognise household chores as an economic activity that creates added value, produces wealth and social welfare. Housewives have the right to social security according to the law" (Article 88). As Maria Leon explained, in Article 88 "the work of all previous generations of women are also recognised and valued".

In March 2007 the right of women to live a life free of violence became an organic law enacted by the National Assembly of Venezuela. Now the law must be effectively implemented. This includes setting up special courts or legal units to handle cases of violence against women across the country, with some 19 courts already set up, covering all regions. These courts were described as ``new institutions of the Venezuelan state to eradicate violence against women''. The first courts on violence against women were set up in Caracas on June 27, 2008.

These courts have the authority to temporarily arrest perpetrators of violence against women and prohibit them from leaving the country. The first dates for the trial should be set 10 to 20 days after the act of violence, with sentencing on the same day with penalties and fines. Appeals processes exist. These courts are also described as ``specialised organs on violence against women'' and as ``weapons in the struggle against violence against women''.

`Cultural change'

According to Maria Leon: "Talking is not enough. Laws are not enough. Institutions are not enough. We need a cultural change in our views and outlook." This requires mobilising women to become "a real force, a deterrent force, an army to combat violence against women and to change the notion of women as battered victims and weak human beings". To mobilise women some 25,000 ``points of encounter'' for women are being set up where women have easy access to information and services without cumbersome requirements and bureaucratic regulations. These ``points of encounter'' will consist of at least 10 women, who will then organise more women to create "an army to combat violence against women ... the point is not only to decrease violence against women, but to eradicate it".

The Ministry for Women's Affairs and Gender Equality was set up on March 8, 2009. One of the first activities of the new ministry was to organise a congress of women to consult on the plans and work of the ministry. A key objective of the ministry is to advice the Venezuelan president on ``human development with gender equality'' and the ``active participation in the defence and guarantee of women's rights in the revolutionary transformation of the country''. Linked to this, a key task of the ministry is to ``design the criteria for allocating financial and social resources and investments targeting women, especially those who are marginalised and excluded, suffering discrimination, exploitation and violence ... in order to promote a socialist production model with gender equity in the socialisation of the means of production''.

Maria Leon and other Venezuelan women speakers all emphasised the importance of the local popular power structures, the communal councils, in the mobilisation and empowerment of women. According to Leon: "Peoples power, popular power, is most important [and] 70% of the commune councils are headed by women."

Nora Castaneda provided updates on the work of Banmujer. Banmujer is a key political instrument of the revolution in the economic and political empowerment of poor and ethnic-minority women. Since 2001, Banmujer has redistributed wealth of around US$179 million in 106,616 microcredit loans to poor women. In 2008 alone it approved a total of 13,689 microcredit loans worth $35 million.

Developments in Cuba

Meanwhile in Cuba, pathbreaking proposals and measures are being advocated and discussed among the entire population to advance gender equality in relation to sexual rights, spearheaded by the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX). According to CENESEX director Mariela Castro, this year’s celebration of International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia will be held in Havana on Saturday, May 16. It will be dedicated not only to youth, but also to the family, “so that fathers and mothers can better understand their homosexual or transsexual children”.

The National Assembly (Cuba’s parliament) will include in its work agenda an initiative to reform the national family code, which has been in effect in Cuba since 1975 and contains proposals on gender identity and rights of “sexual minorities”. The initiatives include the legal recognition of same-sex unions, whereby they will enjoy the same rights as consensually united heterosexual couples.

In June 2008 a resolution of the Ministry of Public Health legalised the performing of sex change operations on transsexual persons. Resolution 126 establishes the creation of a centre for integral health care for people who are transsexual, which will be the sole institution in the country authorised to carry out total or partial medical sex-change treatments.

This is a far cry from the former Soviet Union, with its idealisation of motherhood, or anything in the experience of the Chinese revolution. And it is a distinct trend in the opposite direction to what is taking place in a number of industrialised countries in the West -- the US and Australia included -- where the trend is to take away a range of even formal rights won in gender equality and related sexual rights.

[Reihana Mohideen is head of international department, Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Laboring Masses) in the Philippines. This article first appeared at Mohideen's blog, Socialista Feminista, and has been posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission.]