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Today's Topics:

   1. ASTRA Bulletin #7 (41) (Elwira Chrusciel)

Message: 1

Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:34:56 +0200

From: "Elwira Chrusciel" <astra3@astra.org.pl>

Subject: [Beijing+10] ASTRA Bulletin #7 (41)

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New Page 2     CEE Bulletin on Sexual and Reproductive Rights  No 7 

(41) 2006 

Sexual and reproductive health and rights constitute fundamental
human rights, form a vital aspect of the women?s empowerment and are key to
the achievement of gender equality. 

      BURNING ISSUE 

       According the organizers of the XVI International AIDS Conference
which will take place in Toronto between the 13th and 18th of August, 
the list of 20,000 participants expected to attend the event includes
former presidents Mary Robinson of Ireland and Bill Clinton of the United
States, HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit from Norway, Bill and Melinda
Gates and Richard Gere. The scientific programme of the meeting will
be particularly strong and will trace new trends in basic and clinical
research, epidemiology, social science and policy. Out of the record 
number of nearly 13,000 abstracts submitted, over 4,500 have been selected
for presentation: 366 as oral presentations, 199 as poster discussion and
4,000 as poster exhibition. Apart from the presentation of the latest
research, the conference will provide the delegates with an opportunity
to explore how best to prevent HIV and provide access to treatment and 
care. In a number of sessions, the conference will address interalia
empowering women and girls as a major priority for an effective response
to the epidemic. It also includes sessions on the importance of women?s
reproductive health and rights, including the rights of sex workers.
The newly designed key challenge sessions will facilitate the exchange
of information and sharing of experiences to address the following
challenges: 

      ? accelerating research to end the epidemic; 

      ? expanding and sustaining human resources to increase revention 

and treatment; 

      ? intensifying the involvement of affected communities; 

      ? building new leadership. 

      The organizers reported that two million USD have been allocated for
an International Scholarship Program which will allow 815 applicants out
of 16,000 who applied to take part in the gathering. Most of them are 
from resource-limited countries. However, in some cases people who had
been granted scholarships by the organizers have been denied Canadian
visas. The problems have been experienced by applicants, some of whom
are living with AIDS, from Nepal, Nigeria, India, South Africa,
VietNam, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Fiji. The International AIDS
Society is trying to solve these existing problems and prevent others
from occurring by holding emergency meetings with Canadian officials.

     More information on the conference schedule, including satellite 
sessions and affiliated events is available at: www.aids2006.org 

      REGIONAL UPDATES  

       Bulgaria: Retrial of medical workers accused of infecting Libyan 
children with HIV. Five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian physician 
plead not guilty to the charge of infecting Libyan children with HIV.
They claim that they were forced to confess by Libyan officers who
used psychological torture measures against them during the interrogations. 

The medical workers were sentenced to death by firing squad in May 2004,
but the Libyan Supreme Court overturned the convictions in December 
2005 and ordered the retrial in the lower court. The retrial began in
May. The attorneys for the accused say that the June testimony of Libyan
medical experts was inaccurate and contradicted forensic evidence. 
They requested that international HIV/AIDS experts be allowed to testify
at the retrial. In 2005, Luc Montagnier, the co-discoverer of HIV, 
testified that HIV was present at the hospital where the defendants
were employed prior to their arrival.

      Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report 

      Czech Republic: Decreasing sale of condoms. The decreasing fear of
HIV infection and the popularity of modern contraception seems to be the
reason for the drop in the sale of condoms in the Czech Republic. According
to the experts, 54 percent of Czechs have had unsafe sex which places 
the country 12th in the ranking of 41 states. Czechs have become less 
cautious about HIV/AIDS than at the beginning of the 1990s since the 
dramatic forecasts concerning the spread of the epidemic proved to be 
wrong. In the years 1985-2005, 827 HIV-positive people were registered.
118 of them died.

      PUSH

      Georgia: Reproductive health project for youth. In June, the
Inter European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development 
(IEPFP), UNFPA and the EU launched a three year project to promote
youth reproductive health in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The 
project, entitled Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in the 
South Caucasus, is a large scale initiative aimed at young people 
aged 15-24. It is designed to reach at least 50 percent of the 
region?s 2,860,000 youth. With the three year budget of 2,9 million
Euros, the project aims at empowering young people to protect 
themselves from unwanted pregnancies, STIs (including HIV) and gender
based violence by providing them with access to comprehensive youth
friendly SRH services and products. 

      http://www.iepfpd.org 

      Georgia: Gender Network and Media: Integration and Mutual 
Empowerment - Fourth International Conference of Journalists. The 
meeting took place on 1-3 July, 2006 in Tbilisi, Georgia. The event
was organized by Gender Media Caucasus Journalists Association.

      The conference focused on the issues of effective cooperation 
between the media and local gender networks. The participants were 
journalists working on gender problems as well as non-governmental 
sector activists working in cooperation with the media.

      The goals of the conference were to analyze cooperation between 
the networks and media of the post-soviet region, and to work out
future joint actions. Elwira Chrusciel represented the ASTRA 
Bulletin crew during this meeting.

      ASTRA 

      Kyrgyzstan: the initiative to stricken the abortion law 
overturned. The parliament of Kyrgyz Republic decided that the 
initiative of the Ombudsman to restrict abortion law is unjustified. 
The proposal aimed at introducing criminal liability for women and
medical workers terminating 12-22 week pregnancies for social reasons. 
The initiative was strongly opposed by Reproductive Health Alliance and
other NGOs of Kyrgyzstan, who in response initiated an advocacy program
for women?s right to abortion. ASTRA Network sent a letter to Kyrgyz 
Republics Representatives expressing concern caused by the proposed 
repressive sanctions. The letter also conveyed confidence that the 
President of Kyrgyz Republic, Members of the Parliament, and the 
Government will not allow the adoption of the Ombudsman?s proposition
because it violates fundamental human rights and contradicts both 
national and international legislation. Reproductive Health Alliance,
Kyrgyzstan; 

http://www.astra.org.pl/kyrgyz_abortion.pdf

     Poland: Abortion case admissible. The European Court of Human 
Rights declared the case of Tysiac v. Poland admissible. The Court 
stated that the application "raises serious issues of fact and law 
under the Convention, the determination of which requires an examination
of the merits." Alicja Tysi?c, now awaiting the Court?s decision, 
was refused abortion although the pregnancy could severely damage 
her eyesight. 

Polish law allows the termination of pregnancy if it puts the woman?s
health or life at risk. 

      Federation for Women and Family Planning

      Poland: ministry of education against the EC human rights manual. 
Roman Giertych, the minister of education and the leader of the 
ultra-conservative party, League of Polish Families, dismissed the 
director of the Center for the Professional Training of Teachers for 
publishing and promoting the official manual of the European Council
aimed at preparing young people to participate in the life of civil 
society and democratic state. One of the reasons Giertych found the book
unacceptable was that it recognized gay and lesbian rights. Although his
decision has raised protests from teachers, youth and civil society 
organizations, the minister has not changed it. 

      Federation for Women and Family Planning 

      ASTRA granted observatory status. ASTRA ? Central and Eastern 
European Women?s Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 
has been accepted to be an observer at the HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum
of the European Commission for the term until the end of August, 2007. 
ASTRA

      GLOBAL UPDATES   

      Finland: Ban on the purchase of sex services. In June, Finnish 
parliament approved a law partially banning the purchase of sex services.
Under the new law, paying for sex services of an individual who is a 
victim of human trafficking or pimping carries a maximum penalty of six 
months imprisonment. The parliament rejected the draft law criminalizing 
all purchase of sex services as well as the bill banning the sale of sexual
services.

      PUSH

      Ireland: The Alliance for Choice, a national grassroots organization, 
has called for abortion to be legalized in Ireland after statistics had been
published by the British Department of Health. The data indicate that each 
day, 15 Irish women travel to Britain to have an abortion. In 2005, 5,585 
women from Ireland terminated their pregnancy in Great Britain. 

      http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0705/print/abortion.html; 

WUNRN IPPF: New executive director. Dr. Gill Greer, the executive 
director of the Family Planning Association of New Zealand, has been 
appointed the new Director-General of the International Planned 
Parenthood Federation (IPPF). Dr. Greer will be taking up her post based
at IPPF?s London office in September, 2006 following the retirement of 
current Director-General, Dr. Steven Sinding. www.ippf.org

     European Union: Discrimination against Roma Women. In a report 
adopted in June, the European Parliament called for measures to combat 
the extreme levels of multiple discrimination faced by Roma women. Roma 
women are among the most vulnerable people in Europe. The Parliament urges
the Member States, among other issues of concern, to prevent and outlaw 
coercive sterilization, provide redress for such abuse, promote family 
planning and alternatives to early marriage. It also calls for eliminating 
racially segregated maternity wards, measures to help victims of domestic 
violence and vigilance regarding the trafficking of Roma women. According
to the Parliament, the situation of Roma women should be a key criterion
for evaluating states of readiness for accession to the EU.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/
014-8637-152-06-22-902-20060531IPR08614-01-06-2006-2006-false/default_en.htm# 

    European Court of Human Rights: Abortion case rejected. The case 
D. v. Ireland that could challenge the ban on abortion in Ireland has 
been declared inadmissible by the European Court of Human Rights on the 
ground that the applicant had not exhausted domestic remedies since she 
had not brought the case to the Irish courts. The case was brought before
the ECHR by a woman who was pregnant with twins in 2002. After the antenatal
tests indicated that one fetus died in the womb and the second had a fatal
chromosomal abnormality -Trisomy 18, or Edward?s Syndrome - she decided to
terminate the pregnancy. She did not seek legal advice on her eligibility
for abortion in Ireland and instead obtained an abortion in the UK. 
Abortion is allowed in Ireland only in the case of ?a real and substantial 
risk to the life of the mother?. The applicant claimed that the lack of 
abortion services in the case of lethal fetal abnormality and the present 
law infringe on her rights. The Irish Family Planning Association who 
lodged an amicus brief in support of the complaint in 2005, said that 
the ECHR declaration was disappointing. 

IFPA informed the media that it facilitated the complaint of three women 
living in Ireland who were challenging abortion restrictions. 
According to IFPA, the basis of their complaint is significantly different
from that made by ?D? and ECHR decision is unlikely to have implication on it. 

http://www.echr.coe.int/echr; http://www.ifpa.ie/news/index.php?mr=125 

       Court of Justice of the European Communities: Medical treatment broad
in EU states. On May 16, in the case of Ivonne Watts v. Bedford Primary
Care Trust and Secretary of State for Health, the Court of Justice ruled 
that the patient?s national health services should reimburse her/him for 
the cost of hospital treatment provided in another member state even when 
the service is provided for free in the country of residence. According to 
the Court?s judgment, the patient can be refused authorization to receive 
treatment abroad if the health insurance fund ?shows that the waiting time
does not exceed the medically acceptable period having regard to the 
patient?s condition and clinical needs.? The Court?s judgment may prove
important for women in EU states who are denied access to abortion services
to which they are entitled within the legally defined timeframe. 

      Rzeczpospolita,   Court of Justice of EC: 

www.curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp06/aff/cp060042en.pdf 

     Science: Condom use lowers the risk of HPV-related disease. 
A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reports that 
women whose partners always use condoms are 70 percent less likely to acquire
HPV infection than women whose partners use condoms less than 5 percent of 
the time. In almost all cases, cervical cancer is caused by HPV. The study 
was performed by researchers from the University of Washington. It provides
evidence that condoms are effective in reducing the risk of HPV. Until this 
study, solid evidence proved that condoms prevent pregnancy, HIV infections 
and, in the case of men, gonorrhea.

      PUSH

      Science: Womb transplants. According to scientists from Sahlgrenska
Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden, womb transplant in humans should be possible
within five years. Scientists have recently succeeded in transplanting 
uteruses in sheep. They claim that in future the best wombdonor would be 
the recipient?s mother or older sister in order to minimize the risk of 
immune rejection.

      http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=2618

      UPCOMING EVENTS 

      IAPAC European Session 2006. The International Association of 
Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC) and the European AIDS Clinical Society 
(EACS) will co-host the third annual IAPAC European Sessions in Budapest. 
They will take place on 12-13 October 2006. This year's Sessions include: 
implications of a decade of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), 
navigating ARV drug resistance, sociobehavioural Aspects of HIV Care and 
emerging issues in HIV Care. 

      To see the full program and outstanding faculty presenters, visit 
the IAPAC Web site, www.iapac.org 7th Congress of FIAPAC. International 
Federation of Professional Abortion and Contraception Associates organizes 
its 7th annual congress, ?Freedom and rights in reproductive heath?. 
The conference will take place on 13/14 October 2006 in Rome, Italy. 
The preliminary program of the meeting is available at: 
http://www.fiapac.org/e/RomePrelProgr2.html 

 
     World Youth Forum. The annual World Youth Forum (WYF), which will 
bring together 140 young persons from over 35 countries will take place 
from 10-15 August in Bucharest, Romania. More information is available 
at: www.youth-policies.org   

      LINKS   

      Women on Web: the on-line abortion help service for women living 
in countries where access to safe abortion services is restricted. 

      The website is: www.womenonweb.org 

      PUBLICATIONS    

      Reproductive Health and Human Rights: Integrating Medicine, Ethics and
Law, by Rebecca J. Cook, Bernard M. Dickens and Mahmoud F. Fathalla 
(Oxford University Press, 2003, 554pp.)  is now available in French, Spanish,
Portuguese and Chinese translations, and forthcoming in Arabic.  The book is
designed to equip health care providers and administrators to integrate 
ethical, legal, and human rights principles  in protection and promotion of
reproductive health, and to inform lawyers and women's health advocates about 
aspects of medicine and health  care systems that affect reproduction.  
More information and updates to the book are available at:

http://www.law.utoronto.ca/faculty/cook/ReproductiveHealth.html

     Preventing unsafe abortion and the consequences: priorities for research 
and action, the book edited by Ina K. Warriner and Iqbal Shah, is now available
for free download online from:  

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/07/10/PreventingUnsafeAbortion.pdf

     Youth?s Voice. Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the
Central and Eastern Europe and Balkan Countries published ASTRA Youth Group 
is now available. Hard copies can be obtained from ASTRA secretariat. 
The electronic version is available at: 

http://www.astra.org.pl/youth_report.pdf

     Woman-centered abortion care: Reference manual. The manual is now available
in Spanish. It is designed to be used by participants during individual 
and group-based courses and also as a reference manual to help participants
refresh and strengthen their skills. Composed of 13 modules, it brings a new
perspective to abortion-care training and service delivery. Features include:
a woman's rights approach to abortion care; unique considerations for special
populations, including adolescents and survivors of sexual violence; guidance
for use of both manual vacuum aspiration and medication-abortion technologies;
and recommendations for monitoring services and making linkages to communities.
This publication is not available online. To order a hard copy, please e-mail 

ipas_publications@ipas.org. 

      Compiled by: Aleksandra Solik

      @@@  @@@  @@@

      All issues of ASTRA Bulletin are available on: www.astra.org.pl. To 
unsubscribe please mail to: info@astra.org.pl. Please refer your friends 
willing to subscribe to ASTRA group to: info@astra.org.pl  

      ASTRA members:ASTRA coordination and secretariat: Federation for Women 
and Family Planning, Warsaw/Poland, http://www.astra.org.pl; Family Planning
 Association of Albania, Tirana/Albania, afpa@albaniaonline.net; Women's Rights
 Center of Armenia, Yerevan/Armenia, wrcarm@arminco.com; Women's Independent
 Democratic Movement of Belarus, Minks/ Belarus, http://www.cacedu.unibel.by/
widm; Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation, Sofia/Bulgaria; B.a.b.e (Be Active,
 Be Emancipated), Zagreb/Croatia, http://www.babe.hr; CESI - Centre for 
Education and Counselling of Women, Zagreb/Croatia, http://www.zamir.net/~cesi; 
Family Planning and Sexual Health Association of Lithuania, Vilnius/Lithuania, 
lithfpa@takas.lt; Latvia's Association for Family Planning And Sexual Health,
 Riga/Latvia, http://www.papardeszieds.lv; Eastern European 

Institute for Reproductive Health, Targu Mures/Romania, icozos@eeirh.org, 
AnA: Romanian Society for Feminist Analysis, Bucharest/Romania, 
http://www.anasaf.r!  o/; Institute of State and Law, Russian Academy of
Sciences, Moscow/Russia, olga@khazova.msk.ru; Novogorod Gender Center, 
Novgorod/Russia, kevi@adm.nov.ru; NGO "Women Health and Family Planning",
Kiev/Ukraine,http://www.whfp.kiev.ua; Habeas Corpus Working Group/Hungary,
http://www.habeascorpus.hu; IPAS, Chapel Hill/USA, http://www.ipas.org; NGO
Pro Choice Bratislava, Bratislava/Slovakia, http://www.prochoice.sk; Center
for Reproductive Rights, New York/USA, http://www.reproductiverights.org, 
International Centre for Reproductive Health,Ghent/Belgium, http://www.icrh.org,
Bulgarian Family Planning and Sexual Health Association, 
Sofia/Bulgaria http://www.bfpa-bg.org, Women's Center,Tbilisi/Georgia, 
http://www.womancenter.org.ge , Gender, Education, Research and Technologies,
Sofia/Bulgaria marinova@mbox.cit.bg, Reproductive Health Training Center, 
Chisinau/Moldova, www.medicalabortionconsortium.org; Women's Room - Women's 
Center for Sexuality and the Prevention, Research and Combating of Sexual 
Violence, Zagreb/Croatia, zenska.soba@zamir.net, AN  "Women's Health"/Russia;
Charitable SALUS Foundation/Ukraine, www.salus.org.ua.

      Editorial Committee: Elwira Chrusciel, Evgenia Kulikova, Monika Malicka,
Wanda Nowicka, Entela Shehu,  Aleksandra Solik.

      Supported by: Open Society Institute and International Women's Health 
Coalition     

__,_._,___ 

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*****************************************

	Crédito: Alex Ibañez/Presidencia de Chile

SANTIAGO, jul (IPS/Patagonia Ciber Fem) - ¿Qué factores impiden a las mujeres acceder al Poder Legislativo? ¿Cómo han funcionado las leyes de cuotas en América Latina? ¿Qué tan cerca está Chile de aprobar una norma de ese tipo para aumentar su todavía bajo porcentaje de representación femenina en el parlamento?

Las leyes de cuotas, o acciones positivas que contrarrestan los obstáculos que enfrentan las mujeres para acceder a cargos de decisión bien sea del Poder Ejecutivo o del Poder Legislativo, consisten en fijar un porcentaje o número mínimo de representación femenina, ya sea en los puestos de designación del gobierno, o bien en las listas electorales de los partidos políticos.

"En general, en América Latina las cuotas han funcionado bien, ya que han acelerado significativamente la presencia de las mujeres en el Poder Legislativo, especialmente cuando se trata de leyes bien pensadas", dijo a IPS Marcela Ríos, una de las autoras del estudio "Cuotas de Género: Democracia y Representación", publicado en junio por la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Flacso), con apoyo del Instituto Internacional para la Democracia y la Asistencia Electoral.

Las estadísticas así lo confirman. En aquellos países de la región donde se han aprobado leyes de cuotas para el parlamento, las mujeres ocupan en promedio 20,3 por ciento del total de los asientos de los parlamentos, mientras que en los que no cuentan con iniciativas de este tipo sólo detentan 13,7 por ciento.

Este mecanismo es altamente valorado por la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (Cepal), la cual estima que de no aplicarse cuotas de género en los países de América Latina, habría que esperar hasta el año 2052 para que las mujeres ocuparan apenas 40 por ciento de los escaños parlamentarios.

Los sistemas de cuotas de género pueden crearse por la vía constitucional, legislativa o por iniciativa de los propios partidos políticos y "se sustentan en la visión que las condiciones sociales, por sí solas, no solucionan las desigualdades existentes en una sociedad", por lo que el Estado debe intervenir a través de la generación de "acciones positivas".

Actualmente, 50 países han adoptado leyes de este tipo en el mundo, 11 de ellos en América Latina y el Caribe, con cuotas que oscilan entre 20 y 40 por ciento.

Argentina fue el primer país de la región en aprobar este sistema para el Poder Legislativo, al fijar un porcentaje de 30 por ciento tanto para la cámara baja como para el Senado.

Le siguieron Costa Rica, México y Paraguay en 1996, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brasil, Panamá, Perú y República Dominicana en 1997, Venezuela en 1998 (aunque después prescindió de este mecanismo), y finalmente, Honduras en el año 2000.

Colombia es el único país con una ley de cuotas para el Poder Ejecutivo, el cual establece una proporción de 30 por ciento de mujeres en los altos cargos de decisión de todos los organismos del Estado.

Al analizar 18 países de la región, 11 con leyes de cuotas y siete sin este mecanismo, Flacso constató que en los primeros, la presencia de las mujeres en los respectivos parlamentos creció en 9,5 puntos porcentuales entre 1995 y 2004, mientras que en los segundos lo hizo sólo en 2,9 puntos.

Sin embargo, estas leyes no aseguran por sí solas un aumento de la participación política de las mujeres, continúa el estudio. La efectividad de la "cuota" implementada depende de la naturaleza del sistema electoral de cada país y de la dinámica de los partidos, los cuales actúan como "porteros" en los procesos electorales.

Las leyes de cuotas logran su máxima eficiencia en los sistemas de representación proporcional, que utilizan listas cerradas, y cuando la ley exige que las mujeres ocupen los primeros renglones, de manera que tengan posibilidades reales de resultar electas.

Estos factores explican el gran éxito obtenido en el crecimiento de la representación femenina entre 1995 y 2004 en el parlamento bicameral argentino, con 28 por ciento, y en el Congreso legislativo costarricense con 19,5 por ciento.

En tanto que el impacto del mecanismo es menor en Ecuador, México, Panamá, Bolivia y Perú, donde la representación femenina parlamentaria creció entre siete y 15 por ciento.

República Dominicana, por su parte, muestra un "bajo" 5,6 por ciento de incremento del número de parlamentarias, mientras que Brasil y Honduras han obtenido hasta ahora "nulos" resultados, manteniéndose por debajo del promedio mundial (16,6 por ciento).

A juicio de los investigadores, la realidad de Brasil "ofrece una evidencia dramática de la necesidad de redactar este tipo de leyes con sumo cuidado", que incluyan mecanismos de sanción ante el incumplimiento.

En Chile, la representación de las mujeres en el Congreso (12,6 por ciento) está por debajo del promedio mundial.

"Hoy en día no existe igualdad de competencia para ingresar al parlamento chileno" debido al sistema electoral que rige en el país, y al comportamiento de los partidos políticos, que no cuentan con incentivos para incluir a un número mayor de mujeres, aseguró Ríos.

A pesar de que el procedimiento electoral utilizado en este país es considerado proporcional, las listas son abiertas y la baja representación por distritos (con dos escaños por cada uno) dificulta el acceso de la población femenina.

Aunque el programa de gobierno de la presidenta Michelle Bachelet incluye una propuesta de ley de cuotas, las críticas a tal propuesta han llevado al Poder Ejecutivo a pensar en otras alternativas, tales como la promulgación de protocolos por parte de los partidos políticos, en los que se comprometan a incluir a más candidatas, comentó a IPS Laura Albornoz, ministra del Servicio Nacional de la Mujer.

Bachelet formó un gabinete paritario, con igual proporción de hombres y mujeres.

"La mitad de la población chilena no tiene acceso a los lugares donde se toman las decisiones del país, y el origen de este problema es la tradicional segregación de la mujer al ámbito doméstico. Por eso, como gobierno, estamos analizando distintos mecanismos para revertir esta situación", explicó Albornoz.

En estos momentos, gracias a un proyecto de reforma constitucional presentado por el gobierno hace un mes al Congreso, se discute la modificación del sistema electoral chileno. Esta moción ya incluye la creación de un incentivo financiero para que los partidos políticos incluyan más candidatas en sus listas.

Pero la aprobación de ésta y otras medidas todavía está en entredicho. En una encuesta realizada por la Corporación Humanas a 111 diputados y diputadas, donde se les consultó si estaban de acuerdo con una ley que garantizara la presencia de mujeres en el Congreso, las y los representantes del ultraderechista partido Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) se manifestaron 84,8 por ciento en contra.

En la coalición de gobierno tampoco hay apoyo absoluto. Solamente 52, 4 por ciento de los congresistas del Partido Demócrata Cristiano se mostraron a favor.

"Nosotros creemos que la discusión se está partiendo de atrás para adelante. Antes de legislar acerca de una ley de cuotas, que privilegiaría a una elite del país, se debería poner atención a las reales condiciones que no permiten que las mujeres entren a la política", dijo a IPS Karla Rubilar, diputada de Renovación Nacional (RN), partido de derecha liberal.

Rubilar, cuya colectividad se ha manifestado públicamente en contra de esta ley, plantea que los partidos no discriminan a las mujeres, sino que son ellas quienes no desean postularse, inhibidas por una actividad que requiere de "un alto nivel de sacrificio personal", con reuniones hasta muy tarde, además de trabajo los fines de semana y días festivos.

Una postura similar tiene el ex candidato presidencial de la UDI, Joaquín Lavín, quien señaló en una columna de opinión publicada en el diario El Mercurio que la participación política no es un tema prioritario para las mujeres chilenas, dado que ellas tienen problemas más serios, como el acceso al mercado laboral, la desigualdad de sueldos y la violencia intrafamiliar.

Ninguno de estos temas es excluyente, responde la investigadora de Flacso, para quien existe gran ignorancia acerca de las leyes de cuotas y de los resultados que se han obtenido en los países que las han implementado, lo que se suma a la "resistencia por parte de algunos sectores a cambiar las reglas del juego".

La secretaria nacional de RN y ex diputada Lily Pérez advirtió en una entrevista que las cuotas "generan una situación de menoscabo para la mujer", dado que colocarían en tela de juicio sus capacidades. Pérez puso como ejemplo la elección de Bachelet, quien habría triunfado gracias a sus "méritos, trabajo, reconocimiento y preparación" individual.

No obstante, Ríos aspira a que durante la actual administración se apruebe una ley de este tipo, "porque es un mecanismo probado en otros países, que resuelve rápida y efectivamente el problema de la baja representación de las mujeres en los cargos de elección popular", apuntó.

En tanto que Albornoz confirmó que se trata de una de las prioridades del actual gobierno, que finaliza en 2010. (FIN/2006)