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Feminism in Argentina has made important strides within the 20th and 21st centuries. From the rise of prominent feminist coalitions and finally achieving suffrage in 1947, to the passage of legislation aimed at protecting some of Argentina's most vulnerable demographics, feminism in Argentina has garnered tremendous victories for women. However, internal issues such as gender-based violence, human-trafficking, and lack of pay equity, are problems the feminists of today's Argentina continue to tackle and attempt to resolve.

Table of Contents

1. History
   1. Reform
   2. Early Efforts
2. Key Figures
   1. Alicia Moreau de Justo
   2. Victoria Ocampo
   3. Carolina Muzilli
   4. Eva Perón
   5. Isabel Perón
   6. Juan Perón
3. Women in Politics
   1. Voter Turnout
   2. Women in the Legislature
   3. Women in the Executive Branch
   4. Women in the Judiciary
4. Institutionalization of Women’s History
5. Important Strides
   1. #NiUnaMenos
   2. Law 26,485
   3. Law 26,364
   4. Constitutional Reform of 1994
6. References

History

Bailey- Reform

Moral reform and feminism worked together to enhance the prosperity and treatment of Argentine women. Before the rights of women in Argentina were protected under the law, they were expected to live their lives according the rules put in place by their husband’s and other men. The most active center for the white slave-trade was Buenos Aires, which was one of the major influences of the Argentine feminist movement. Additionally, the goals of 19th century moral reform movements aligned with the goals of feminists, and women's participation began to flourish. The political party that had success involving women in the political sphere was the Socialist Party, which was very popular in Buenos Aires. Its support for the working class attracted a substantial portion of women who were members of the work force. The most influential women's organization was the Consejo Nacional de Mujeres. It drew inspiration from women's movements occurring internationally and advocated for women to focus on education and political activism. The Club de Madres de Buenos Aires educated women on how to properly nurture and care for their children with the end goal of significantly lowering the infant mortality rate. Rehabilitating prostitutes became a huge focus of the moral reform period, that not only worked to transform the lives of Argentine women, but also, women across South America. Numerous organizations were involved in the reformation of women’s living conditions and well-being. In 1890, Buenos Aires became the first branch of the Women’s Christian Association established in Latin America. Its purpose was to provide young working-class women with affordable food and shelter. The Argentine-Uruguayan Abolitionist Committee worked to reintegrate former prostitutes back into society through moral education, legal advice, and jobs in domestic services. The Society of Beneficence and Society of Saint Vincent of Paul included workshops, schools, and living spaces  for working women. Their goal was to provide women with another option besides working in a factory, which they felt were not suitable places for women to work, and shield them from ideas of  “liberalism, anarchism, and socialism." The goal of the Montevideo branch of the Argentine Profilactic League, founded in 1914, was to educate the public about how and why to prevent the transmission of venereal diseases.

Bailey- Early Efforts

Early women’s movements consisted of the associations, led by female professionals and physicians, campaigning for improvements in sanitation, literacy, and labor conditions. Their objective was to remodel the “civil code” in order t o stop women from being treated as insignificant. They achieved in 1926 when the civil code granted women legal status and the right to participate in the labor force. At the same time, it was difficult to get working women to join suffrage organizations. This is partly due to the false assumption that women were conservative, preferring the preservation of tradition and limit change. However, socialists were quite successful at making support for women’s suffrage seem more attractive to the public.

In the 1920’s, the province of San Juan granted women citizenship under the administration of the Cantoni brothers just as the rest of the nation’s committees were beginning to lose interest. The brothers, both serving as governor of the province,  argued that “women’s moral character and selflessness would reduce corruption in politics." Their decision proved extremely influential when more female than male citizens voted in the 1928 election. The results invalidated the theory that women did not share an interest in politics, which gained momentum for the national movement.

Once Perón was president, feminists dealt with the challenge of not fully supporting the Peronist Party or conservatives. Feminist’s beliefs and those of Eva Peron were at great odds with one another. Even though she was advocating for their participation in politics through charity work, Eva still encouraged women to fulfil their “natural roles”. The obvious difference was where suffrage organizations failed to gain support from working women, the Perón’s succeeded by accepting their vote and political influence.

Key Figures

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Alicia Moreau de Justo

Alicia Moreau de Justo was one of Argentina’s first major figures for Argentine suffrage. As a gifted student and skilled debater, she began her career as an activist early in her adolescence. In concurrence with her natural talent for social justice, she excelled in natural science and was subsequently accepted into Medical Faculty of the University of Buenos Aires in 1907. In 1908, Moreau became a collaborator with the Sociedad Luz, a Buenos Aires-based social justice organization created by the prominent socialist Angel Gimenez, and focused her efforts on educating the working class of Argentina on disease prevention. As an activist, Moreau integrated her medical knowledge with her passion for socialism and social justice, particularly in the area of feminism. During her early years as a practicing physician, she treated primarily sex workers who were essentially forced into their profession out of need, which eventually led Moreau to research the status of women in her society and the growing need for female equality overall. 

Furthermore, Moreau was an active member in the Argentine legislature as one of her primary goals as a feminist and a socialist was to oversee the passage of bills aimed at achieving suffrage and extending the freedom of Argentine women. In 1918, Moreau founded the Unión Feminista Nacional, a branch of the Argentine Socialist party. In 1919, she published the La emancipación civil de la mujer, a feminist philosophy piece that openly criticized the paradoxical sexism in Argentine society. In that same year, Moreau traveled to neighboring countries and to the United States to study the biggest issues for women, including equal pay, comprehensive maternity protection, and suffrage. In 1924, Argentina’s legislature saw the introduction of bill created to add comprehensive protection for working class women and children, with Moreau arguing in its favor before the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. The bill passed and Moreau began to focus her efforts towards the struggle to achieve women’s suffrage. Moreau founded the Socialist Women’s Suffrage Committee in 1930 and published several journalistic pieces created to spread awareness for suffrage. However, widespread lack of understanding for what suffrage entitled delayed the passage of suffrage until 1947.

Along with most Argentine socialists, Moreau opposed Peron and rejected Peronism, which proved to be a devastating move on the part of the socialists as their divided party lost much of its popularity to Peron. Despite this, Moreau excelled in journalism and became one of most important figures of the Argentine Socialist Party, from becoming the editor of their magazine to a member of their executive board. Moreau also lead efforts to unify Argentine socialists and succeed in created a fortified party in 1983, the Partido Socialista Popular.

Victoria Ocampo

A contemporary of Alicia Moreau de Justo and talented writer, Victoria Ocampo was one of Argentina’s most prominent feminist voices. Born into the wealthy Argentine elite, Ocampo was afforded a comprehensive education in France and eventually discovered her love of foreign language and reading. However, as a young woman, Ocampo was a practicer of individualism and social rebellion, often attracting negative attention for her flamboyance and independent nature. Ocampo was acutely aware of the double standards held against women, as she had to abandon several of her ambitions in order to spare her family from any scandal. Trapped in a loveless marriage by 1912, Ocampo turned to writing as an outlet for her personal issues and in 1924, she published De Francesca a Beatriz, which highlighted her breakaway from the Argentine elite and their social injustices. In 1934, Ocampo founded Argentina’s most iconic and highly revered literary journal, Sur. Sur was primarily focused on bridging the cultural gap between Europe, South America and North America, which was a relatively unpopular cause in the time of growing nationalism. Furthermore, Ocampo also opened her own publishing house in 1933, Editorial Sur, and in 1935, published a series titled Testimonios, which chronicled her life and personal perspectives.

As a contemporary of Alicia Moreau de Justo, both women often butted heads as they argued for different schools of thought within feminism. Ocampo was an aristocrat by nature and a liberal, clashing with Moreau’s socialism and propensity to include all of society in her efforts. However, Ocampo often fought against the Argentine government’s efforts to repeal the newly-gained constitutional rights of women throughout the 1930’s. Furthermore, in 1936 she was one of the founding members of the Argentine Women’s Union. When the union moved more politically left, Ocampo stepped down and refused to participate in an organization she felt was too politically polarized.

When Juan Peron’s dictatorial regime rose to power in 1943, Ocampo and several of her contemporaries were categorized as political dissenters because of their anti-Peron stances. Because of her landmark strides for Argentine feminism, Ocampo was awarded several honors, including a Maria Moors-Cabot Prize, a Commander of the British Empire appointment, an honorary degree from Harvard and a Doctorate Honora Causas of the University of Visva Barathi as gift from Indira Gandhi.

Carolina Muzilli

As a political researcher at the dawn of the 20th century, Carolina Muzilli was one of the first to investigate the widespread inequality the women of Argentina faced. Her most prominent statistical study uncovered approximately 200,000 wage-earning women operating out of factories and storefronts in Buenos Aires alone. Muzilli also found that these same women worked long shifts without any worker’s benefits, often severely underpaid in contrast to their male counterparts. Furthermore, the data Muzilli accumulated revealed unfeasible amounts of inequality, which she was only able to gather and effectively transcribe once she witnessed factory work firsthand. The studies Muzilli conducted were ground-breaking at the time, as they were one of the only comprehensive statistical analyses that focused on industrial labor and women’s rights in the workplace.

Bailey- Eva Perón

On the campaign trail, Eva Perón was a female figure who represented the potential impact that women could make on Argentina’s political, social, and cultural affairs. Once she established her role as a leading advocate for women’s rights, she continued to spread awareness through collaboration with legislators and radio broadcasts, educating women on how they could now “take ownership of their legitimate political rights." Eva Perón and her team of supporters adopted a humanistic philosophy that weaved Peronism beliefs and the Catholic Church’s social doctrine, emphasizing that, as Christians, they should be committed to spreading social justice for all. She soon became president of the Peronista Women’s Party, a political organization that would be ran solely by females. Eva also founded the Eva Perón Foundation which provided social justice to women by drastically extending the social aid and work benefits they received.

In Argentina, feminism was characterized as a movement of the upper class, most of whom were not fans of Eva Perón. In their opinions, she not only showed complete submission to her husband and his beliefs, but also, only desired power for herself. Other critics argue that her advocacy for feminism completely fabricated by her husband. Interestingly, Eva Perón did not title herself a feminist, and in her autobiography, La Razón de Mi Vida, she plainly states that “feminists want to be men.” Although she led the way for many women to make their mark on Argentina’s government and politics, arguments over her true character continue.

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Isabel Perón

After the death of Eva Perón, Isabel Martínez de Perón became Argentina’s new first lady as the third wife of dictator Juan Perón in 1961. After the death of Juan Perón in 1974, Isabel automatically became the acting head of state and the world’s first female president. Although this was the first woman to hold the highest executive position not only in Argentina but in the world, Perón was not by any means a champion for the feminist cause. In 1975, a caucus of Latin American feminist parties named the International Women’s Year convened in Mexico City. This body drafted a comprehensive document aimed at acquiring extended rights for the women of Argentina, including: the creation of daycare centers, more worker’s rights and opportunities, the repeal of the Argentine ban on birth control and free abortion, salaries for homemakers, legislative action against white slavery, the end of discrimination against unwed mothers, patria potestad for both mothers and fathers, and the repeal of the law that compels Argentine women to submit to the domicile of their husbands. However, Isabel Perón’s refusal to acknowledge feminism led the exclusion of feminists from this landmark congregation. Furthermore, the only issue to even be introduced to the Argentine legislature was patria potestad, and when the legislature eventually passed a bill that granted it, it was immediately vetoed by Perón. Although Perón’s presidency inherited the civil unrest and economic instability of her husband's regime, her own time in office did little to quell these issues.

Bailey- Juan Perón

Juan Perón’s efforts towards eliminating women’s social and political inequality began years before he became the President of Argentina. While working as the Secretary of Labor, he created plans to provide women with the same civil rights and work rights as men so that men and women would finally be considered equal. He introduced the Women’s Division of Work and Assistance in 1944 and the Statute of Feminine Work in 1945, maintaining his argument that granting respecting women’s dignity at home and in the workplace was vital to upholding the nation’s social order. Perón also heavily advocated for the government to grant women the right to vote before he was imprisoned in 1945. Once he was freed and eventually elected president, proposing a law giving women voting rights was at the top of his political agenda, which he sent to Congress in 1946. After handing over the power to his wife, Eva Perón, the concept of women’s rights gained popularity on a global scale. On September 23, 1947, the law was passed and, for the first time in history, women in Argentina were given the right to vote and actively participate in politics. It is debatable whether or not his support for women’s suffrage was just a ploy to get achieve more votes during election.

Adriana- Women in Politics

Voter turnout

On November 11, 1951, 3,816,654 votes were cast by women, 2,441,558 voting for Juan Perón-Quijano as president. In 1952, twenty-three female deputies and six female senators were elected into Congress.

Women in Legislature

Regarding the representation of women in Argentina's national legislative body, Argentina was the first country to institute a gender quota, officially known as the Quota Law of 1991, for the Chamber of Deputies in 1991 and for the Senate in 2003. For every three names on a party ballot, one must belong to a female candidate. Furthermore, approximately 39% of Argentina's legislative seats are held by women.

Women in the Executive Branch

Isabel Perón was the world's and Argentina's first acting head of state, and subsequently president in 1974. However, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of the Justicialist Party was Argentina's first elected female president in 2007.

Women in the Judiciary

In 1910, Maria Angélica Barredas was the Argentina's first woman to enter law school. Regarding the Argentine Supreme Court, Margarita Argúas was the first ever supreme court justice to be appointed under the dictatorship of Juan Perón in 1971. In contemporary times, Carmen Argibay, an openly pro-choice attorney, was the first female supreme court justice to be appointed under the presidency of Néstor Kirchner. Elena Highton de Nolasco is the only female justice in the Argentine Supreme Court as of currently.

Bailey- Institutionalization of Women’s History

Argentina played an influential role in regulating the fields of women’s and gender studies throughout numerous universities in the Southern Cone. From 1976 to 1983, military regimes that held power in the Argentinian government prevented women’s movements’ involvement in politics, but after they were defeated by the Peronist Party, the social movement was revived. Educational opportunities in women’s studies were created in universities across the country, and women’s study centers began vigorously conducting research on the history of women and feminist movements. Once published as academic journals, this research legitimized the field and allowed for networking between various universities and disciplines. Feminist scholars in Argentina were heavily influenced by American and European scholars who had already made progress in the field, yet offered the chance to incorporate contemporary theoretical approaches and topics of discussion. According to experts Belej and Rey, the goal of the growing field was to incorporate the “women’s narrative” that had been previously ignored.

In the 1980’s, the focus of research shifted from the “concept of women” to “gender” all across the region to allow for investigation of society’s gender roles. Not only were new topics, such as “discrimination, segregation, and subordination” of women now open for debate, but the Spanish word “género” would now translate to not only “genre,” but also, the English word “gender.”

Buenos Aires University established itself as the forerunner of gender studies when the Filosofía and Letras Faculty introduced the Área Interdisciplinaria de Estudios de la Mujer in 1992. Researchers of history, anthropology, philosophy, and other liberal arts subjects collaborated their efforts to politically and academically further the study of women and were soon concentrated in the Interdisciplinary Institute of Gender Studies at the University of Buenos Aires. There, the Boletín de la Área Interdisciplinaria Estudios de la Mujer was published and inspired several other universities in the country to follow their lead. Other distinguished journals included the La Aljaba 2º época, which combined the work of three women’s studies departments from three separate universities (Área Interdisciplinaria de Estudios de la Mujer (Universidad de Luján), Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios de Género (Universidad Nacional del Comahue), and Instituto Interdisciplinario de Estudios de la Mujer (Universidad Nacional de La Pampa), Travesías presented by Silvia Chejter in the School of Social Science at the University of Buenos Aires, and Zona Franca from Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios sobre las Mujeres at the University of Rosario, Santa Fe. These reports played a role in Argentina’s feminist movement by proposing novel theories that gave Argentine scholars in gender studies further credibility.  

Authors Belej and Rey specify the groups in which Argentine women’s history can be categorized, including “citizenship, maternity, labor, Marxism, socialism, sexual liberation in 1960’s,” as well as, “…confinement of women due to madness in second half of 19th century, control of women’s bodies, and prostitution.” More recent research among Argentine scholars taker a closer look at how women played a role in social movements as “political prisoners”and participants of guerilla organizations. Compared to the advancement of gender studies, LGBT studies has lacked the same momentum. Since legislation was passed legalizing same-sex marriage and rights to the LGBT community in 2010, several anthologists have explored relationships between Argentina’s masculine culture and society’s reaction to the forces of homosexuality.

Adriana - Important Strides

NiUnaMenos

A series of protests beginning in June of 2015 and ending most recently in October of 2016 erupted in response to the brutal murders of Chiara Páez and Lucia Perez, as well as the growing issue of femicide, which claims the life of one Argentine woman every day. In 2015, 300,000 protesters marched on La Plaza de Mayo in support of #NiUnaMenos.

Law 26,485

In April of 2009, the Argentine Legislature passed Law 26,485, which acknowledges violence against women and girls comes from institutional discrimination. Furthermore, this bill offered comprehensive action aimed at "...[proposing] fundamental changes in the education system, both in curricula and in textbooks, teacher training, and the inclusion of a gender perspective in the training of the armed and security forces." This bill also offers victims of gender-based violence opportunities for economic, physical and psychological support.

Law 26,364 on the Prevention and Punishment of Trafficking in Persons and Victims’ Assistance

In April of 2008, Argentina enacted Law 26,364, which addresses the protocol outlined by the United Nations to combat human trafficking. In 2012, public outcry ensued after the acquittal of 13 conspirators charged with the alleged kidnapping and forced human trafficking of Marita Verón. As a result, an amendment to the law designated further expansion of victim's rights and enacted harsher consequences for those found guilty of human trafficking.

Constitutional Reform of 1994

In 1994, Argentina's Constitutional Reform offered extended the constitutional status of women. Under this reformation came acknowledgment and enactment of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Quota Law, the law on Protection against Family Violence, the Program “Victims against Violence” and the creation of the Office of Domestic Violence in the Supreme Court.