Gender relations, authoritarianism and democratization in Chile

Democratization

Volumn 6, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 100-117

  Matear, Ann ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AUTHORITARIANISM; DEMOCRATIZATION; GENDER RELATIONS; WOMENS ORGANIZATION;

CHILE;

EID: 0032741581     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510349908403623     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. See, for example, S. Mainwaring, G. O'Donnell, and J.S. Valenzuela, Issues in Democratic Consolidation (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992); G. O'Donnell, P. Schmitter, L. Whitehead, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Prospects for Democracy (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986); A. Lijphart and C. Waisman (eds.), Institutional Design in New Democracies: Eastern Europe & Latin America (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996); S. Mainwaring and T.R. Scully, Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995).
2. See, for example, S. Mainwaring, G. O'Donnell, and J.S. Valenzuela, Issues in Democratic Consolidation (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992); G. O'Donnell, P. Schmitter, L. Whitehead, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Prospects for Democracy (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986); A. Lijphart and C. Waisman (eds.), Institutional Design in New Democracies: Eastern Europe & Latin America (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996); S. Mainwaring and T.R. Scully, Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995).
3. See, for example, S. Mainwaring, G. O'Donnell, and J.S. Valenzuela, Issues in Democratic Consolidation (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992); G. O'Donnell, P. Schmitter, L. Whitehead, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Prospects for Democracy (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986); A. Lijphart and C. Waisman (eds.), Institutional Design in New Democracies: Eastern Europe & Latin America (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996); S. Mainwaring and T.R. Scully, Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995).
4. See, for example, S. Mainwaring, G. O'Donnell, and J.S. Valenzuela, Issues in Democratic Consolidation (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992); G. O'Donnell, P. Schmitter, L. Whitehead, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Prospects for Democracy (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986); A. Lijphart and C. Waisman (eds.), Institutional Design in New Democracies: Eastern Europe & Latin America (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996); S. Mainwaring and T.R. Scully, Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995).
5. An example might be E. Jelin and E. Hershberg (eds.), Constructing Democracy: Human Rights, Citizenship and Society in Latin America (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996).
6. Violence between family members is often referred to as infra-family violence, conjugal violence or domestic violence. While they share some common characteristics such as the use of physical and/or psychological violence, they are not strictly interchangeable terms. Intra-family violence is the abuse of any family member by another and can therefore apply to violence against children, siblings, partners or the elderly. Conjugal violence shares many of the characteristics of the former, but the relationship between the perpetrator and victim is based on an affective relationship rather than blood ties. The term 'domestic violence' reflects the space in which such abusive acts occur, and that they are facilitated by hierarchical power relations. The latter term is used in this analysis.
7. H.Tinsman, 'Household Patrones: Wife-Beating and Sexual Control in Rural Chile, 1964-88', in J.D. French and D. James (eds.), The Gendered Worlds of Latin American Women Workers: From Household and Factory to the Union Hall and Ballot Box (Durham , NC and London : Duke University Press, 1997).
8. A.M. Gutiérrez, V. Martínez, V. Pereda, F. Pérez, Relaciones Posibles e Imposibles. Sistematización de un Programa de Intervención en Violencia Doméstica (Santiago, Casa de la Mujer La Morada, 1994); Red Chilena Contra la Violencia Domestica y Sexual, 'La violencia intrafamiliar: un problema social urgente'(Santiago, mimeo, undated); N. Rico, 'Violencia doméstica contra la mujer en America Latina y el Caribe: propuestas para la discusión' (Comisión Económica para América Latina Santiago, mimeo, 1992).
9. A.M. Gutiérrez, V. Martínez, V. Pereda, F. Pérez, Relaciones Posibles e Imposibles. Sistematización de un Programa de Intervención en Violencia Doméstica (Santiago, Casa de la Mujer La Morada, 1994); Red Chilena Contra la Violencia Domestica y Sexual, 'La violencia intrafamiliar: un problema social urgente'(Santiago, mimeo, undated); N. Rico, 'Violencia doméstica contra la mujer en America Latina y el Caribe: propuestas para la discusión' (Comisión Económica para América Latina Santiago, mimeo, 1992).
10. A.M. Gutiérrez, V. Martínez, V. Pereda, F. Pérez, Relaciones Posibles e Imposibles. Sistematización de un Programa de Intervención en Violencia Doméstica (Santiago, Casa de la Mujer La Morada, 1994); Red Chilena Contra la Violencia Domestica y Sexual, 'La violencia intrafamiliar: un problema social urgente'(Santiago, mimeo, undated); N. Rico, 'Violencia doméstica contra la mujer en America Latina y el Caribe: propuestas para la discusión' (Comisión Económica para América Latina Santiago, mimeo, 1992).
11. See T. Klubock, 'Morality and Good Habits: The Construction of Gender and Class in the Chilean Copper Mines, 1904-1951', in French and James, op. cit.; T. Klubock, 'Sexualidad y proletarización en la mina El Teniente', in A. Rodo and X. Valdes (eds.), Proposiciones 21, Género, Mujer y Sociedad, Santiago, 1992; A. Lavrín, Women, Feminism and Social Change in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, 1890-1940 (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995); Salinas Meza, R., El Ideario Femenino Chileno: Entre la Tradicion y la Modernidad. Siglos XVIII al XX (Sâo Paulo: Estudhos Cedhal No.8, 1993).
12. See T. Klubock, 'Morality and Good Habits: The Construction of Gender and Class in the Chilean Copper Mines, 1904-1951', in French and James, op. cit.; T. Klubock, 'Sexualidad y proletarización en la mina El Teniente', in A. Rodo and X. Valdes (eds.), Proposiciones 21, Género, Mujer y Sociedad, Santiago, 1992; A. Lavrín, Women, Feminism and Social Change in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, 1890-1940 (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995); Salinas Meza, R., El Ideario Femenino Chileno: Entre la Tradicion y la Modernidad. Siglos XVIII al XX (Sâo Paulo: Estudhos Cedhal No.8, 1993).
13. See T. Klubock, 'Morality and Good Habits: The Construction of Gender and Class in the Chilean Copper Mines, 1904-1951', in French and James, op. cit.; T. Klubock, 'Sexualidad y proletarización en la mina El Teniente', in A. Rodo and X. Valdes (eds.), Proposiciones 21, Género, Mujer y Sociedad, Santiago, 1992; A. Lavrín, Women, Feminism and Social Change in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, 1890-1940 (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995); Salinas Meza, R., El Ideario Femenino Chileno: Entre la Tradicion y la Modernidad. Siglos XVIII al XX (Sâo Paulo: Estudhos Cedhal No.8, 1993).
14. See T. Klubock, 'Morality and Good Habits: The Construction of Gender and Class in the Chilean Copper Mines, 1904-1951', in French and James, op. cit.; T. Klubock, 'Sexualidad y proletarización en la mina El Teniente', in A. Rodo and X. Valdes (eds.), Proposiciones 21, Género, Mujer y Sociedad, Santiago, 1992; A. Lavrín, Women, Feminism and Social Change in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, 1890-1940 (Lincoln, NE and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995); Salinas Meza, R., El Ideario Femenino Chileno: Entre la Tradicion y la Modernidad. Siglos XVIII al XX (Sâo Paulo: Estudhos Cedhal No.8, 1993).
15. C. Pateman, The Disorder of Women: Democracy, Feminism and Political Theory (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989).
16. D. Taylor, Disappearing Acts: Spectacles of Gender and Nationalism in Argentina's Dirty War (Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 1997).
17. S. Walby, Theorising Patriarchy (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990).
18. T. Valdés, S. Weinstein, Mujeres que Sueñan: Organizaciones de las Pobladoras en Chile, 1973-1989 (Santiago: FLACSO, 1994).
19. G. Munizaga and L. Letelier, 'Mujer y Regimen Militar', in Mundo de Mujer: Continuidad y Cambio (Santiago: Centro de Estudios de la Mujer, 1988).
20. In sharp contrast, at the time of writing only a handful of military personnel have been charged and sentenced for such crimes : the number who have faced charges of human rights abuses stands at around 30. A dozen law suits against General Pinochet are currently pending in Chile and several more are pending in various European countries. At the time of writing, Pinochet has not yet stood trial for his crimes in Chile or elsewhere.
21. D. Becker, E. Lira, M.I. Castillo, E. Gomez and J. Kovalskys, 'Therapy with victims of political repression in Chile: the challenge of social reparation', in N.J. Kritz (ed.), Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes, Vol.1 (Washington, DC: United States Institute for Peace Press, 1995).
22. See various chapters in Jane Jaquette (ed.), The Women's Movement in Latin America: Feminism and the Transition to Democracy (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989).
23. With respect to domestic violence, the continuum between the family and society cannot be underestimated. While domestic violence primarily occurs in the home its effects extend far beyond, producing serious social consequences which exact a response from the state through the health system, the law, social services and the police force. There is evidence that the victim's level of productivity in the workplace is reduced; that children who experience violence in the home may present educational problems and are more likely to engage in anti-social behaviour through drug abuse and crime. There are also long-term consequences for the indirect victims of such violence, as models of violence may be transmitted to subsequent generations. Therefore, the direct and indirect costs of authoritarian gender relations are borne not only by the individual but by society at large.
24. J. Kirkwood, 'El feminismo como negación del autoritarismo', Materia de Discusión, (Santiago: FLACSO, 1983).
25. The 1989 elections were won by a coalition of parties from the political centre and democratic left, called the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia. Henceforth in this article, it shall be refered to as the Concertación.
26. A. Matear, 'Desde la Protesta a la Propuesta: Gender Politics in Chile', Democratization, Vol.3, No.3 (1996), pp.246-63; A. Matear, 'Desde la protesta a la propuesta: the institutionalization of the women's movement in Chile', in E. Dore (ed.), GenderPolitics in Latin America: Debates in Theory and Practice (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1997).
27. A. Matear, 'Desde la Protesta a la Propuesta: Gender Politics in Chile', Democratization, Vol.3, No.3 (1996), pp.246-63; A. Matear, 'Desde la protesta a la propuesta: the institutionalization of the women's movement in Chile', in E. Dore (ed.), GenderPolitics in Latin America: Debates in Theory and Practice (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1997).
28. Although the Director of SERNAM sits in the Cabinet, SERNAM is not a ministry, but instead is a state institution which coordinates policies with the ministries responsible for social affairs.
29. For more information on the Chilean experience of integrating gender into democratization see, A. Matear, 'Gender, the State and the Politics of Transition in Chile', unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Liverpool, 1996.
30. Since the law permitting termination of pregnancy on medical grounds was revoked by the military government in 1989 women, particularly poor women, face grave risks to their health and their lives by being forced to continue with a pregnancy or resorting to backstreet abortionists. The question of legalizing divorce was similarly avoided by the Concertación and SERNAM during the first democratic government, although subsequently divorce legislation was presented to Parliament in 1998.
31. Chilean Human Rights Commission, Summary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report (Santiago: CHRC/Centro IDEAS/Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1991).
32. Becker, Lira et al., op. cit.
33. This situation is currently under review in many countries in the region which have submitted bills to Congress to include domestic violence within Criminal law.
34. The Convention Belem do Pará recognises that, while gender violence is based on concepts of women's inferiority and subordination, violence against women can take multiple forms according to race, ethnicity, socio-economic group, status (refugees, displaced persons, migrants); violence may be inflicted in pregnancy, to persons with a disability, against the elderly or the young, in prison, or in situations of armed conflict.
35. Fempress, No.181 (Santiago, 1996).
36. R. Lecaros, Investigación Violencia Doméstica en Mujeres de Poblaciones de Santiago, (Santiago: RIDEM, 1992); F. Muldman Schorr, M.L. Sandoval, Estudio de Necesidades de Mujeres Pobladoras Consultantes a la Red de Información de los Derechos de la Mujer (Santiago: RIDEM/UNESCO, 1991); SERNAM, 'Estudio Comparativo de las Cifras en CIDEM, Postas y Comisarras Sobre Denuncias de de Violencia Intrafamiliar en 5 Ciudades del País Durante los Meses del Año 1991', mimeo (Santiago: SERNAM, 1991).
37. R. Lecaros, Investigación Violencia Doméstica en Mujeres de Poblaciones de Santiago, (Santiago: RIDEM, 1992); F. Muldman Schorr, M.L. Sandoval, Estudio de Necesidades de Mujeres Pobladoras Consultantes a la Red de Información de los Derechos de la Mujer (Santiago: RIDEM/UNESCO, 1991); SERNAM, 'Estudio Comparativo de las Cifras en CIDEM, Postas y Comisarras Sobre Denuncias de de Violencia Intrafamiliar en 5 Ciudades del País Durante los Meses del Año 1991', mimeo (Santiago: SERNAM, 1991).
38. R. Lecaros, Investigación Violencia Doméstica en Mujeres de Poblaciones de Santiago, (Santiago: RIDEM, 1992); F. Muldman Schorr, M.L. Sandoval, Estudio de Necesidades de Mujeres Pobladoras Consultantes a la Red de Información de los Derechos de la Mujer (Santiago: RIDEM/UNESCO, 1991); SERNAM, 'Estudio Comparativo de las Cifras en CIDEM, Postas y Comisarras Sobre Denuncias de de Violencia Intrafamiliar en 5 Ciudades del País Durante los Meses del Año 1991', mimeo (Santiago: SERNAM, 1991).
39. S. Larraín/SERNAM, 'Informe de avance con los primeros resultados obtenidos de la investigación: estudio de prevalencia de la violencia intrafamiliar y la condición de la mujer en Chile' (Santiago, SERNAM, undated).
40. I.M. Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference cited in J. Habermas, Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy (London: Polity Press, 1996), p.419.
41. I.M. Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference cited in J. Habermas, Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy (London: Polity Press, 1996), p.419.
42. N. Rico, 'Violencia doméstica contra la mujer en America Latina y el Caribe: propuestas para la discusión' (Santiago: Comisión Económica para América Latina, mimeo, 1992).
43. Unlike Peru and Brazil, Chile does not operate specialist police stations which are staffed by female officers with training in dealing with domestic violence. However, in addition to the usual police stations, there are mobile units to which incidents can be reported.
44. M. Lagos, E. Lagos, Mujeres chilenas 1992, estudios y encuestas (Santiago: Centro de Estudios de la Realidad Contemporanea ,1992).
45. Interview with Ximena Ahumada, National Coordinator of Programme for the Prevention of Intrafamily Violence, SERNAM. Santiago, 4 Feb. 1994.
46. U. Silva and X. Ahumada, 'Documento de Trabajo No.30, Sensibilización sobre Violencia Intrafamiliar a Carabineros de Chile, 1992-93' (Santiago: SERNAM, 1994).
47. Fempress, No. 160/161, Febrero/Marzo, Santiago, 1995.
48. Source: Chile Domestic http://www.nmis.org/news, 20 May, 1996. The new law makes it compulsory for aggressors to attend a course of counselling in addition to the other sanctions laid down in the sentence, which can range from a fine to community work, or six months' imprisonment, depending on the gravity of the offense.