Facts Reveal Truth About Condition of
Women in Cuba
Celebration August 19,
2023, in Villa Clara of 63rd anniversary of Federation of Cuban
Women.
At present, the
Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) has a membership of more than
four
million women. This organization, which emerged in the early
years of
the Cuban Revolution, is dedicated to promoting the true
emancipation
and integration of women in all spheres of life in the country.
A considerable number of women today occupy positions of high responsibility in the country and carry out important professions such as doctors, architects, engineers, designers, scientists, graduates in legal sciences, history, journalism, and dozens of other disciplines.
Women represent 49 per cent of the people employed in public services. More than 80 per cent of women have a high school diploma or higher level of education. A majority of professional judges and prosecutors are women. They constitute 53.5 per cent of those who work in the system of sciences, innovation and technology; and they represent 69.6 per cent in the health sector. Specifically in the health sector, during the pandemic women represented 64 per cent of the personnel that made up the international medical brigades that provided assistance in more than 40 nations and represented 70 per cent of the scientists who were involved in the creation of the Cuban vaccines ABDALA and SOBERANA to face the COVID crisis.
Cuban medical brigade
arrives in Surinam, March 20, 2020 as the COVID pandemic begins.
Women
made up 64 per cent of the personnel of the international
medical
brigades.
Women are also a decisive part of the business sector. In the Cuban Parliament, they play a transcendental role in the construction of Cuba's model of independent development. They constitute 53.22 per cent of Cuban parliamentarians making Cuba's parliament the second highest in the world for female participation. Cuba was in fact the first country in the world to sign and the second to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
These data are just a sample of facts that demonstrate the important role of women in Cuban society. Only the most backward reactionary anti-women elements can entertain the idea that Cuban women would permit the infamies they describe in their dirty little film. On the contrary, despite the colossal challenges facing the country, including the genocidal U.S. blockade, women in Cuba do not cease making relentless efforts to secure a better future for their families and compatriots. They decide what takes place in Cuba on an equal basis with all Cubans from all walks of life. They implement their decisions by making sure all the conditions are put in place for their realization. They defend what they themselves have created, with their very lives if need be. That is the reality of the Cuban woman.
On women's rights and gender equality:
- The fight against all forms of discrimination against women in all sectors of society has been a priority for the Cuban state and government.
- The Constitution specifically stipulates equal rights and responsibilities for men and women in all areas of society.
- It recognizes, protects and guarantees women's rights to health, including sexual and reproductive health and family planning.
- It recognizes women's rights to education, art and culture, as well as to decent employment and equal pay for equal work.
- Cuban women have the right to retraining in technical, professional and cultural work, vocational training and apprenticeship, and to social security and assistance.
- Working mothers are entitled to maternity leave and social protection during the first year.
- Social protection may be shared between the father and the mother, which promotes co-responsibility in child care and encourages women to stay at work and return to work.
On arbitrary detentions and political prisoners:
- In Cuba there are no arbitrary detentions or political prisoners.
- Detentions are carried out in accordance with criminal procedure for a crime stipulated by law.
- In Cuba, the broad guarantees of due process recognized by law are respected.
- The law establishes the procedures and circumstances that warrant detention.
- The law establishes the terms under which the detainee must be subjected to precautionary measures, be tried or released.
- The competent authorities analyze the decision to continue or not with the criminal process in each case, respecting all the guarantees.
- The decision to continue
or not with the criminal process is based on a rational,
objective,
preventive
and individualized criminal policy.
- Common criminals cannot be presented as "political prisoners" or "human rights defenders".
- It is regrettable and saddening to see how fictitious lists of detainees are fabricated by those who distort the Cuban reality, in the service of the subversive policy of a foreign power.
Freedom of opinion, expression and the press:
- The freedoms of opinion, expression and press are fully recognized and protected by the Constitution and legislation.
- As in other countries, these rights cannot be used to violate the law.
- The material conditions necessary for the exercise of these rights are facilitated by the fact that, by constitutional mandate, the fundamental means of social communication in any of their manifestations and media cannot be privately owned, which guarantees that they are used exclusively in the service of the people and in the interest of the nation.
- The Cuban State has created and continues to strengthen extensive instruction and education programs in all spheres and stages of people's lives.
- These instruction and education programs, open to all without discrimination, are aimed at increasing people's ability to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and opinion in a responsible and uninterrupted manner.
- Strengthening access to the Internet and the development of digital platforms are a priority for the Cuban government.
- Internet access has allowed the Cuban people to have access to more information from diverse and pluralistic sources, to form and express their own opinions on the most varied phenomena and issues of the country and the world.
This article was published in
Volume 53
Number 7 - September 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53072.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca