Women in Chile

Women in Chile

Michele Bachelet, who served as the first woman President of Chile from 2006 to 2010.
Gender Inequality Index
Value	0.360 (2012)
Rank	66th
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)	25 (2010)
Women in parliament	15.8% (2014)
Females over 25 with secondary education	72.1% (2010)
Women in labour force	51.7% employment rate, data from OECD, 2014
Global Gender Gap Index
Value	0.6670 (2013)
Rank	91st out of 144

The lives, roles, and rights of women in Chile have gone through many changes over time. Chilean women's societal roles have historically been impacted by traditional gender roles and a patriarchal culture, but throughout the twentieth century, women increasingly involved themselves in politics and protest, resulting in provisions to the constitution to uphold equality between men and women and prohibit sex discrimination.

Women's educational attainment, workforce participation, and rights have improved, especially since Chile became a democracy again in 1990. Chile legalized divorce in 2004 and is also one of the few countries to have elected a female president. However, Chilean women still face many economic and political challenges, including income disparity, high rates of domestic violence, and lingering gender roles.

Women were granted the right to vote in 1931 and 1949 during Chile's presidential era. Also during the era, thousands of women protested against socialist president Salvador Allende in the March of the Empty Pots and Pans. While under Augusto Pinochet's authoritarian regime, women also participated in las protestas, protests against Allende's plebiscite in which women voted "no." During Chile's time under dictator Pinochet, the state of women's legal rights fell behind most of Latin America, even though Chile had one of the strongest economies in South America. Chile returned to democracy in 1990, leading to changes in women's lives and roles within society. Since the return to democracy, Chile's government has invested more political and economic resources to expand social welfare programs than before. The Concertación political party has been in power since the end of Pinochet's dictatorship, and from 2006 to 2010, Michelle Bachelet of the party served as the first female President of Chile.