Archive for the ‘Women and Politics’ Category
Women’s Issues in the Electoral Campaign
Candidates Ollanta Humala and Alan Garcia have paid lip services to women’s reproductive issues during this electoral campaign. Leading Peruvian feminists have little hope things would change if either of them is elected.
Forum on Sexual Diversity and Electoral Platforms
Representatives from APRA and Union por el Peru will present their party platforms to promote sexual diversity on Wednesday, May 31.
Read also:
– Los homosexuales y Ollanta Humala
– MHoL Communique addressed to Presidential Candidates
– Roundtable: Electoral Platforms Against Sexual Discrimination
– Jaime Bayly Responds to Mrs. Humala
Electronic File Supporting Lourdes Flores Appeals to “Popular Will & Divine Justice”
You will need PowerPoint to see this file, which is circulating by email Download file
Roundtable: Electoral Platforms Against Sexual Discrimination
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Photo: J. Bazo
Oscar Ugarteche, Belissa Andía, Vicente Otta, Sandra Vallenas, Susel Paredes y Víctor Andrés García Belaúnde Velarde
Universidad del Pacifico and Weblog Peru Election 2006 Roundtable “Peru Election 2006: Analysis of Policy Platforms to Support Sexual Diversity”
Maxwell Cameron & Fabiola Bazo
March 20, 2006
Under the auspices of Universidad del Pacifico, a roundtable on “Policy Platforms to Support Sexual Diversity” was held on Friday, March 10, 2006. What follows is a brief summary some of the key issues and conclusions that emerged from the discussion.
Lourdes Flores Changes her Position on Contracts with Investors
During a speech for the Ideele radio network Lourdes Flores stated that one of her first actions as president on July 28, 2006 will be to request to the Contraloría General de la República to audit all the contracts between the Peruvian state and private enterprises. Her goal would appear to be two-fold: (1) to not allow her competitors to monopolize the issue, and (2) to appear less beholden to private sector interests.
Catholic University 2004 National Survey on Exclusion & Discrimination
Encuesta Nacional sobre exclusion y discriminacion social. Informe Final de analisis de resultados. Estudio realizado por DEMUS entre agosto y setiembre del 2004.
Universo: 1600 personas en zonas urbanas y rurales de 14 departamentos del Peru. Download file
¿Se puede celebrar el día internacional de la mujer en el Perú?
Source: La Primera, 8 de marzo del 2006
El Día Internacional de la Mujer se celebra desde hace más de ocho décadas. Cada 8 de marzo, mujeres y hombres que trabajan por sus causas, conmemoran a nivel mundial los esfuerzos que las mujeres han realizado por alcanzar la igualdad, la justicia, la paz y el desarrollo, y aunque el Perú no se queda atrás en cuanto a la celebración y toma de conciencia sobre este importante tema, todavía la participación femenina en la vida política, económica y social sigue siendo limitada a nivel de toma de decisiones. Según la última encuesta de la Universidad de Lima, la mayoría de mujeres siente que la sociedad peruana las discrimina porque aún se vive en una sociedad machista. Candidatas a la presidencia, congresistas y la Defensora de la Mujer opinan sobre los escasos logros de la mujer peruana.
Encuesta de la Catolica: 43% de las mujeres votaría por Lourdes Flores
Source: La Primera, 8 de marzo del 2006
Según la encuesta del Instituto de Opinión Pública de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú realizada entre los días 24 y 26 de febrero, el 43% de las mujeres a nivel nacional votaría por Lourdes Flores Nano, mientras que sólo un 29% de los hombres haría lo mismo.
Martha Chávez: Existe una “Encuesta Secreta” del gobierno
Martha Chávez, aspirante a la presidencia de Alianza por el Futuro, afirmó que el gobierno oculta los resultados de una supuesta encuesta que ubica a Ollanta Humala (UPP) en el primer lugar con 21% de intención de voto, seguido por Alan García (APRA) con 20%, desplazando a Lourdes Flores (UN) al tercer lugar con 19%. Chávez se ubicaría en el cuarto lugar con 15%. La candidata fujimorista insistió en acusar de que “el andamiaje del toledismo está puesto al servicio de Humala”.
Social Barometer Lima & Callao, February 28-March 2, 2006: Women & Politics
Survey conducted by the Grupo de Opinión Pública de la Universidad de Lima.
Sample: 605 men and women interveiwed in 36 districts of Metropolitan Lima and Callao. Margin of error: +/-4.07% Download file
Catholic University Urban Poll – February 24-26, 2006: Gender & the Elections
Survey conducted by the Instituto de Opinión Pública de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú between February 24-26, 2006.
Sample: 1,767 men and women in 77 districts in 19 urban provinces from 17 departments Download file
Gender as a political weapon
Tyler Bridges has written an interesting report on women in politics in Latin America. His story profiles Lourdes Flores and Michelle Bachelet as examples of the growing importance of women in the region’s electoral politics. The topic of gender in politics has become increasingly polemical. On Friday, in a bizarre statement that has been widely repudiated, first lady Eliane Karp suggested that Flores, who is single, should give birth as women do in indigenous communities — without clinics, medical instruments, and risking malaria and other diseases — in order to appreciate the conditions in which indigenous women live.
Congressional Candidates Challenging Discrimination in Peru
Fabiola Bazo
March 3, 2006
Susel Paredes, Jana Villayzan and Tito Bracamonte, congressional candidates for the Socialist Party, gathered with a group of friends and supporters in a local chifa on the evening of March 3. Representatives from human rights organizations, academia and the arts joined the candidates, who were feeling boosted by the results of the latest Catholic University national poll. The poll gave the Socialist Party more than 5% of voter intentions; it also found that more than one third of the voters interviewed in Lima would approve of the election of a gay or lesbian candidate for congress.
Susel Paredes, Congresional Candidate
Photo: J. Bazo
Paredes is a long time member of the Socialist Party. She was chosen congressional candidate through internal primaries. To win the internal election she travelled across the country seeking to win the support of labor and grassroots organizations as a lesbian candidate. She was ranked 5th out of 35 candidates.
Tito Bracamonte, Candidate to Andean Parliament and former president of the Homosexual Movement of Lima (MOHL)
Photo: J. Bazo
Jana Villayzan, Candidate to Andean Parliament
Photo: J. Bazo
A note on the gathering (in Spanish) can be found at: Diario de Lima Gay
Susel Paredes, defensora de los derechos de las minorías sexuales
Source: Perú 21, 3 de febrero del 2006
El diario Perú 21 conversó con la ex actriz de telenovelas y ahora abogada defensora de los DDHH en la ONG feminista Flora Tristán, Susel Paredes, quien postula como candidata al Congreso por el Partido Socialista. Entre sus propuestas está la defensa de los derechos de las minorías sexuales, para lo cual tuvo que hacer pública su orientación sexual.
Susana Villarán vs. Ollanta Humala
En declaraciones al diario Correo y, tras manifestar su indignación por la agresión que sufriera la semana pasada por militantes y simpatizantes del Partido Nacionalista Peruano (PNP) en un mercado de Ate-Vitarte, la candidata presidencial de la alianza Concertación Descentralista (CD), Susana Villarán, retó públicamente a su lider Ollanta Humala a un debate de plan de gobierno tras calificarlo de “machista”.
Alternative Voices Running for Congress
La República, 23 de enero del 2006. Fotos: Arturo Pérez
En una muestra de tolerancia y respeto a la diversidad sexual, partidos de izquierda apuestan por el cambio para que los sectores marginados por su opción sexual tengan opción de representatividad en el Congreso. Por el Frente Amplio de Izquierda postula Belissa Andía y por el Partido Socialista se presenta Susel Paredes. Ambas cuentan con amplio respaldo en sus respectivos partidos: Belissa Andía (Manuel Andía en su DNI), es apoyada por el Comité de Izquierda por la Diversidad Sexual dentro del Frente Amplio, y Susel Paredes obtuvo el quinto lugar en las elecciones internas del Partido Socialista y podría llevar ese número en la lista de candidatos.
Lourdes Flores on the Campaign Trail
Maxwell A. Cameron
January 21, 2006
A note in La República provided advance notice of a walk with Lourdes Flores through the working class district of Independencia, in the northern cone of Lima. We grabbed a cab and arrived at the meeting place a few minutes before the walk was to begin at 2:45 pm. At first, we could see no sign of any campaign activity as we strolled along Avenida Tupac Amaru until, at last, we spotted a couple of late model SUVs—the shiniest cars on the street. They proved to be the advance crew.
We loitered for a while, chatting with journalists and members of Flores’ entourage while waiting for the presidential candidate. Finally, a campaign bus arrived carrying a group of supporters, followed by a large silver SUV. We formed a caravan and headed toward the hills, arriving at the end of a paved street in the neighborhood Tupac Amaru Payet. Flores emerged from her car and was immediately surrounded by enthusiastic supporters, including congressional candidates Lourdes Alcorta, Pepe Kleinberg, and Gaby Pérez del Solar.
Photo: M.A. Cameron
Someone offered a glass of chicha, which Flores accepted with pleasure. From the sidelines, a couple of women from the barrio called for Flores to speak. One shouted “Lourdes, don’t forget the poor.” But the candidate did not stop to speak at that point. The plan was to move on foot along dirt paths carved by usage around a hillside densely covered by ramshackle and precarious houses, some made of matt, some wood, and the more solid ones of brick. Some of Flores’ entourage were unimpressed. One referred pejoratively to the neighborhood as “un asiento bien telaraña” (in local slang, a very poor settlement).
Photo: M.A. Cameron
As the entourage moved through the neighborhood, the crowd swelled. Some were curious, others genuinely supportive. One onlooker said she supported the candidate of Unión Nacional because she is a woman. Why was that important? “Women think better than men” she said, they take care of the household economy. “Men work hard, but they don’t distribute.” Another bystander expressed similar views. “A woman should have the opportunity,” she said. “There have been so many men elected and they have done nothing. Women are more intuitive in many ways.” She particularly liked Flores because of her honesty. An elderly woman approached us to say she hoped Flores would improve education, particularly civic education and vocational training.
Photo: M.A. Cameron
When we emerged from the narrow dirt paths of the barrio back onto paved streets, Flores stopped to speak with the press. The crowd was hushed as the candidate took questions from the media. At one point a water balloon was tossed into the crowd, either by someone seeking to make a point or just for amusement.
Photo: M.A. Cameron
What is Missing in this Picture?
Lourdes Flores, unlike Valentin Paniagua, gives the impression of wanting the presidency. She has a reputation for being a good listener, and her public statements are coherent and intelligent. Moreover, we were able to observe enough spontaneous expressions of support from onlookers to believe that her support base outside the affluent districts of Lima is real, especially among women. Consistent with her low negative ratings, we saw no clear expressions of hostility from the people in Tupac Amaru Payet.
Yet Flores and her supporters looked more than a little out of place in this working class, mestizo, barrio. One member of Flores’ entourage said she emerged from a similar walk so covered in dust that she had to take off her clothes in her garden before entering her house.
How deep is the connection between Flores and her potential supporters? The candidate was not met by local organizing committees or leaders, nor given a stage on which to speak directly to the local folk. If there were local organizing committees, or grassroots leaders involved, they were given no prominence. In the absence of such connections with the community, Tupac Amaru Payet seemed to serve as a stage for a public appearance designed to reinforce Flores’ image in the media as someone concerned with the plight of the poor. The inauthenticity of the event was made all the more dramatic by the contrast between the white, middle class supporters of UN, who were bused into the barrio, and the poor, cholo inhabitants of Tupac Amaru Payet who seemed not to be linked to the candidate in an organized way.
Photo: M.A. Cameron
The Bachelet Effect
Source: Carlin, La Republica, January 17, 2006
Interview with Susana Villaran
Frente de Centro will have a woman in its slate
Frente de Centro is considering 3 women for the second vice-presidency: Rosario Sasieta (“Senora Ley”), Patricia Donayre (former Frente Independiente Moralizador) and Maricarmen Alva (niece of Javier Alva Orlandini). They are all members of Acción Popular.
Source: Archivo diario La República
Rousseau, Stephanie. 2005. “Peru”, in Sharing Power. Women, Parliament, Democracy, edited by Yvonne Galligan and Manon Tremblay. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp.91-105. Download file
Lourdes Flores wins PPC’s primaries in Lima
En una jornada impuesta por el formalismo, Lourdes Flores Nano arrasó en las elecciones internas del Partido Popular Cristiano (PPC) para elegir a su candidato para la Presidencia de la República, presentándose como candidata única tras la declinación de Ántero Flores-Aráoz; competencia que hubiera sido la ideal para el fundador del partido, Luis Bedoya Reyes, pues careció de la intensidad y expectativa que enmarca a toda competencia política y habría fortalecido la dimensión política del partido
Es destacable la masiva movilización de sus bases: 155 mesas organizadas en 112 provincias y un padrón electoral con más de 140 mil militantes. El resultado parcial en Lima, al 39,17% de las boletas, Lourdes Flores había alcanzado el 99,87% de votos, mientras que en provincias hubo algunos problemas con el recuento de votos.
Una lamentable foto que pasara a la posteridad publicada en el website del PPC y varios diarios locales muestra a Flores con Luis Bedoya Jr.
Establish minimum of women and men who must integrate list of candidates to the Congreso de la República
El Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) estableció el número mínimo de mujeres y varones que deben integrar lista de candidatos al Congreso en los distritos electorales para las elecciones generales del 2006, mediante la resolución 304-2005-JNE publicada en el boletín de normas legales del diario El Peruano.
¿Que nos ofrece Lourdes Flores Nano (Unidad Nacional)?
La virtual candidata a la presidencia de la República por Unidad Nacional ofrece un gobierno ordenado, austero y de progreso basado en una sana economía social de mercado para recuperar la confianza ciudadana con “cambios medulares” en la política educativa, sanitaria y empresarial del país.
El Comercio Set 27, 2005
ONPE promovera la participación política de la mujer
La Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE), con el auspicio de la Comisión Europea, presento el proyecto Promoción de la Participación Política de las Mujeres en el Perú, con la finalidad de incrementar la participación de las mujeres en los espacios políticos.
ONPE Set 27, 2005
Una candidata en ascenso continuo
Segun Luis Benavente, del Grupo de Opinion Publica de la Universidad de Lima, y Víctor Díaz, Idice, el sostenido crecimiento de lideresa de Unida Nacional (UN) será difícil de mantenerse y representa la fotografia de un instante ya que las preferencias electorales son cambiantes en el electorado peruano.
Lourdes Flores Nano sigue encabezando las encuestas sobre preferencias electorales
Los resultados se mantienen favorables para la lideresa de Unidad Nacional, mientras que Valentin Paniagua ha logrado un repunte en relacion al mes anterior.
21 political parties signed pact to bridge gender gap in politics
On July 4th, 2005, representatives from 21 political parties signed a pact in a ceremony that marked the 50th annivbersary of Peruvian women’s right to vote. The event was orhanized by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Reform (IDEA), Asociacion Civil Transparencia, Manuela Ramos and Flora Tristan. Each signatory party agreed to include a gender perspecyive in its government program to be drawn up for the 2006 election campaign and to creat mechanisms within its party to guarantee equal opportunities and promote effective participatin of women.
Source: IDEA website
Women’s political representation in Peru
According to a study by the International Institute for democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the levels of women´s political representation in Peru remain below the country´s 30% quota target, notwithstanding advances in the last decade:
– women account for 22% of Peruvian elected officials, with great variation between levels and positions;
– one of every six (18%) of Peru´s national legislators are women;
– less than 3% of Peru´s mayors are women.
– women make up 26% of municipal council members.
Women, Political Parties and Electoral Reform in Peru
Lourdes Flores solo buscará alianzas con otros partidos después de primera vuelta
El Comercio Set 19, 2005
Lourdes Flores se despunta con 30% de apoyo popular
Encuesta realizada solo en Lima le da a Alan García 15,6% y a Paniagua 14,5%.. A nivel nacional, mantiene su ventaja sobre García, pero distancia es de solo cinco puntos.
Peru 21 Set 17, 2005
Por Óscar Miranda
Barometro September 2005: Intención de voto de Lourdes Flores sube a 30.4%
The Next President–A Woman?
A recent poll suggests Peruvians are willing to consider voting for a woman for president.