Chile at the forefront: the only country in the world to create a Constitution with gender parity

“What kind of body should draft the New Constitution?” It was the question on the second ballot of the Plebiscite of October 25. The results, released by the Electoral Service indicate that, out of 7,555,222 validly cast votes, that is, excluding null and blank, the preliminary results are: Mixed Constitutional Convention Option 1,501,793 votes, corresponding to 21.01 % and the Constitutional Convention option 5,646,427 votes, corresponding to 78.99%.

What does that involve? Chile will have a Constituent Convention to prepare the Constitution. Made up of 155 citizens elected by popular vote, it will be the first in the world to give parity with 45% to 55%, of women and men.

So Chile assumes an avant-garde place, surpassing even countries like Iceland and Finland.

When the diversification in decision making does not exist, there is a high probability that the interests, translated into public policies, represent only one group to the detriment of others, in this case, women.

A unique opportunity to strengthen democracy and give legitimacy to the process, dice María Inés Salamanca, from UN Women Chile. Women constitute 51% of the population in Chile, and in this sense, “they allow prioritizing sensitive and transcendental matters not only for them, but for society as a whole.” Having parity in this process and in all of them allows reduce inequalities and transform power relations.

“The convention is going to be constituted on an equal basis, and that is a qualitative leap in representation,” he says. María Cristina Escudero, lawyer and academic of the Institute of Public Affairs of the University of Chile, who highlights that although progress has been made in Chile, for example in the quota law, it is far from being balanced and above the regional averages in terms of representation.

Parity is not faddish, adds the executive director of CommunityWoman, Alejandra Sepúlveda. It is a principle that gives depth to democracy. It makes it possible to advance from a formal equality between men and women – as enshrined in the current Constitution – to a real and substantive one.

“Through the more balanced distribution of power, in the State and autonomous bodies and the recognition, respect and promotion of the specific human rights of women, for example, to live a life free of violence, equal pay, social protection without discrimination on the basis of gender, to the recognition of the value of unpaid domestic and care work and social co-responsibility ”, explains Sepúlveda.

It is the historical claim and the democratic deepening of men and women represented in equal proportion in a body as relevant as the one that will define the social pact on the people who inhabit this territory, he says Constanza Schönhaut lawyer at Corporación Humanas, “Above all, when we know that, in political history in general and constituent history in general, women have been permanently excluded, and therefore our reality, needs and desires are not reflected in country decisions ”.

A principle and a right written in the fundamental charter clears any controversy about its legal existence. In this way, a law that contradicts them would not repeal them, Sepúlveda says, but would be unconstitutional. “So we can advance in a more egalitarian and inclusive country and deepen the quality of our democracy, justice and the development of Chile ”.

For the historian María José Fulfilled, it is a very relevant event. A historical milestone worldwide, which marks a way forward. For many years, there has been awareness of how women have been excluded from politics and public space, “and this invites each process, from assembly to board of directors, to be shaped with a broad view, with different voices, which allows for a vision more complex and closer to reality than if you have only men, because it would imply a bias ”.

The Constitutional Convention has been a great achievement for organized women, emphasizes Escudero. An achievement of so many that they went out to ask for a joint convention. With it, a great opportunity opens up in Chile to dialogue like we have never had, “to discuss important issues for everyone, and that we will also do so under important conditions with parity and with independents, although the indigenous peoples are still pending.”

Political parity is key. As UN Women emphasizes, it is necessary for women to contribute to making decisions that affect their lives. “The parity democracy proposes a new model of an inclusive state, as proposed by the 2030 Agenda, and a new social pact where substantive equality between men and women is a reality ”.

A step that Chile had already taken before, in terms of the vanguard. It was one of the first countries in the world to eradicate slavery. He July 24, 1823, was the first American country and second worldwide, to decree absolute freedom from slavery. Denmark was the first country to decree the abolition of slavery internationally in 1792.

like the Belly Freedom Law, promulgated in 1811, by Manuel de Salas, which established that all the sons and daughters of slaves born in Chile were automatically free at birth, the female vote in 1949 or the recent Civil Union Agreement Law, this convention has in common, says Fulfilled that they are aspects in which I know work for true inclusion.

“They mark a path that allows for the equal right to build the country, where there is no discrimination. There is still a lot to move forward because this does not solve everything, but the fact that the joint convention has won speaks of what people are thinking and living, because discrimination is not just a concept, it is also suffered, “says Cumplido.

A step that continues to be a dichotomy says Daniela Campos Letelier, a member of the Red de Politologas. Chile is a country that is in debt with gender parity, since outside of the constitutional convention that is not fulfilled. “But yesterday, October 25, the country was at the forefront because it would write a Constitution safeguarding gender parity. It is historical, unprecedented and without a doubt important for women and also for feminism ”.

Chile does not have parity at many levels or in the spaces of power, which is why this fact is so important, adds Campos, because it will be the gateway for women to new areas that have been limited for years. “The country is going to be at the forefront with this new Constitution. This joint constituent process must be replicated in new areas to show our capacities in all areas where there are fewer women, that they have the position they deserve and that they have not had in time, but that has been recovering ”.