It is no secret that Colombia has experienced a rough history in regards to women’s rights and gender roles. Politically speaking, Colombia ranked 118th out of 140 countries for the incorporation of women in politics, and was one of the last Latin American countries to allow women’s suffrage. In recent years, however, the country has recognized this issue and one of the most important women’s rights issues within the household, domestic abuse. One important action that has been made was enacting a law that uses education to raise awareness about violence among women within the country, which was aimed not only to save lives, but also encourage women to gain economic independence through employment which has been proven to lead to a lower rate of violence in other countries (UN Women). Although there have been steps made to level the playing field for women in Colombia, there is certainly more that can be done. To further learn about this inequality, I am questioning the imbalance of status between men and women in the country, specifically within marriages, and the oppression faced by wives. 

It seems as though the organization of the household are still distinguished very much by sex. Since the colonial times, men have held a dominant role in the household, often described as machismo, which describes an important way of Colombian life. This idea describes a strict segregation between man and female roles in and out of the house, ranging widely from simple chores to life goals (Segrest, et al.). With this mindset, wives are expected to put their husband’s wishes before their own, which can significantly hold them back in society. Although times have changed and women have gained a slightly more positive role in society, upper and middle class wives often avoid working outside the home in order to preserve family status. Without having the ability to expand and apply their skillset to a range of positions, it is difficult to gain the same economic independence and dominance as their male counterparts. Segrest and her team explored these constructs in Colombia, and determined that there is significant evidence proving these masculine gender roles are not innate, but rather heavily influenced by cultural factors. 

Perhaps the most disturbing inequality within the Colombian marriage is regarding abuse. The National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences reveals that an average of one woman is killed every three days, and 55 cases of sexual violence are reported daily, oftentimes at the hands of husbands and boyfriends. Paula Gaviria, the presidential advisor, claims that now that the nation’s civil war has ended, issues like these will gain more large-scale focus. She says that the unfortunate macho culture of the country, “condones violence, blames women for abuse inflicted on them and perpetuates traditional roles that expect women to stay at home and raise children”. Along with this, women are believed to provoke such violence due to their promiscuous behaviors such as wearing short skirts and being out late in the night (Moloney). It is shocking and disgusting to me that the country’s officials have known about these occurrences for so long and still have done little to help. They claim that it is simply the marital culture that causes these inequalities, and changing the cultural dimensions to more than they can currently undertake. If these cultural normalities continue to be the way they are currently set, not only will Colombian women be able to flourish, but society itself will certainly be unable to grow and prosper at quite the rate that it would otherwise. 

“Step It Up: Colombia Commits to Strengthen Gender Equality Policies, Eliminate Gender Disparities in Education, Reduce Female Unemployment, Implement a Plan on Ending Gender-Based Violence (Updated).” UN Women, United Nations

Moloney, Anastasia. “To End Violence against Colombian Women, ‘Look inside Homes’:…” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 1 Feb. 2018, www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-rights/to-end-violence-against-colombian-women-look-inside-homes-government-idUSKBN1FL6Q0.

Sharon L. Segrest, Eric J. Romero and Darla J. Domke‐Damonte(2003) “Exploring the role of machismo in gender discrimination: a comparison of Mexico and the US”, Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 13-31