Bolivia ranks as the poorest, most isolated and least developed country within Latin America.
Two thirds of its people are indigenous, the highest number of any country within the region, and 63% of Bolivia's population live below the poverty line lacking access to clean water, electricity, sewage, basic health care and education. Recent indications of growth have not, yet, resulted in a reduction in poverty and the country remains one of the most economically unequal societies in the world.
The very poorest live in rural areas and urban shanty towns; of these the most deprived are indigenous women. Often unable to speak Spanish, such women suffer serious hardship high unemployment, extreme poverty, inequality and social exclusion. The culture of machismo combines with deeply ingrained prejudices to create substantial discrimination towards and violence against Bolivia's indigenous women, severely restricting women's progress towards full, active participation in their own lives, within their families, their communities and their country.
Fact File :
- Population: 8.4 million
- Of these, 50.4% are women
- Two thirds of these women are indigenous
- Over 20% of all Bolivia's women are illiterate
- The figure is higher 37.9% - for rural women
- 38% of the country's labour force is female
- The maternal mortality rate is the highest in Latin America
- 602 out of every 100,000 women in rural Bolivia die in childbirth
- 30,000 illegal abortions are performed every year
- 30% of maternal deaths are a result of complications following abortion
- Only 31% of women have access to and can use viable methods of contraception
- The average fertility rate is 4.4 children
- For rural women the average is 6.4
- Adolescent pregnancy/childbirth rates are 13%
- 7 out of every 10 Bolivian women are victims of physical violence
Vulnerable and marginalised: Women's position in Bolivian society
Successive Bolivian administrations have made some significant advances in supporting women's rights and freedoms. The percentage of parliamentary seats held by women is gradually increasing, although women are still under-represented and their specific needs and concerns not adequately addressed. But the Government has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the optional protocols - the Beijing Platform for Action and the Inter-American Convention to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women. In addition, policies and legislation have been introduced to promote equality between men and women and protect women's rights. One of the most progressive, the Law of Quota, seeks to ensure that every 2nd candidate on a party list is a woman; while the country's Law Against Domestic and Family Violence and the protection of Victims of Crimes against Sexual Freedom in theory at least give women recourse to appropriate criminal justice systems. Bolivia's code of Criminal Procedures even recognises sexual harassment as a civil crime an important recognition as more women enter commercial employment and educational opportunities for some urban women increase.
However despite such progressive reforms, many of Bolivia's poorest, most marginalised women remain ignorant of and excluded from - their country's laws and policies. Laws designed to protect women from discrimination and violence are often not applied at local level, since those responsible for doing so lack both the skills and information. Limited access to basic education, health care and human and civil rights awareness continues to damage women's lives and prevent them from playing their full, active part within their families, their community and their country.
In addition, a powerful combination of tradition and deeply entrenched cultural concepts, particularly that of machismo, restricts social change and hinders women's ability to fully participate in, and benefit from, their country's gradual economic and political development. Bolivian men continue to receive more, and better, education, health care and higher incomes when employed. Bolivian women, particularly indigenous women, are subject to a patriarchal culture which promotes humiliation and domestic servitude and sees all too many women suffer as victims of widespread domestic violence.
Bolivia's women also face serious and substantial risks to their sexual and reproductive health, well being and bodily integrity. With the lowest rates of prenatal care of any country in the region, this inevitably results in the highest rates of death through complications in pregnancy and childbirth. In rural areas of the country, 602 women out of every 100,000 die during delivery. Over half of such births to rural women lack any form of medical supervision or intervention.
Access to legal, medical abortion is restricted to cases of rape, incest, abduction not followed by marriage, or when the mother's health is at risk. However, since it is virtually impossible to obtain legal authorisation, thousands of women risk their lives in illegal abortions. Over 30,000 illegal abortions are performed in Bolivia each year. 30% of all maternal deaths are caused by complications following such abortions.
The majority of the country's women, urban and rural, seek control of their own fertility. Bolivia's average of 4.4 children increases to 6.4 for rural women. And while contraception is available throughout the country, its sustained use is limited to educated, urban women. For rural, poor and indigenous women, most of whom are illiterate, information and access to appropriate contraception is unavailable. Instead, they often rely on unsafe traditional practices, which may further damage their reproductive and physical health while continuing to limit their own control over their bodies. In addition, the rates for adolescent pregnancy and childbirth, while slowly declining, are still high; 13% of Bolivia's girls and young women face economic and emotional responsibilities as mothers that they are ill equipped to deal with damaging their development and restricting their ability to play an active part in their own lives and those of their families.
Bolivian women also face significant discrimination and inequality in terms of employment. Of those women who can find work, they generally earn half the income of a man employed in the same position and with the same education.
Bolivia's precarious economy and its high levels of unemployment create difficulty for many of the country's poorest people. Family members are often forced to begin work at an early age, often with no contractual or employment protection, for low wages. Many work in traditional agriculture or the informal economy, while a deeply entrenched culture of patriarchy restricts women to traditional roles or finds them working in low paid, low skilled jobs. A high percentage of the country's women, particularly those from indigenous communities, have no formal ID or official documents, further restricting their employment opportunities and ability to participate fully in the decision making process of their communities and country.
Our Programme In Depth