As soon as Raul Castro stepped down from the presidency a new report on the status of Cuban women arrives to stir further debate in Washington's Policy circles, among conservative Cubans and among feminists. The report was titled "Women's Work: Gender Equality in Cuba and the Role of Women Building Cuba's Future," which credits the top leaders of the revolution like Fidel and Castro with mandating and enforcing rules and laws guaranteeing gender equality and women's rights, which makes Cuba one of the highest- ranking nations in the advancement of women. The report was written by Sarah Stephens who is executive director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas. After a debate of research in Cuba, Ms. Stephens and her associates train their eyes on the progress women have made in 4 decades and examine whether it can be sustained. Although many of the women living in Cuba deal with sexism and macho ism everyday there are still feel-good elements to women's progress in Cuba. However less than 40% of working age women are employed and on average they earn less than 1/2 of what men make. They also lack female leaders in high ranks of government and party. For now, with its poor economy and lack of jobs Cuba is losing people. In 2011 alone, 40,000 Cubans, more than half of them being women, left the island. "I'm the only one left," a secretary lamented. "All of my friends are abroad."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/world/americas/06iht-letter06.html
1:15 PM, 3/8/13
Alice Gunning
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