Minister Claudia Barattini announces the creation of a Gender Unit at the Council of Culture

De Culto ,
08 March 2015, Chile

During the commemoration of the International Women's Day, the Minister for Culture said that "equal rights is an imperative for a better democracy."

The Minister of Culture, Claudia Barattini, participated this morning in the ceremony where President Michelle Bachelet led the commemoration of International Women's Day where she also announced the creation of the Ministry of Women.

The event was celebrated at the Plaza of the Constitution and was also attended by the Minister of Sernam, Claudia Pascual and the Deputy Director of Culture, Lilia Concha. In the event the Head of State said that "we all know very well that things cost twice when you are a woman, how hard it is to overcome prejudices, how hard it is when we are exposed to violence at home or outside our homes. We know well that it is one thing to talk about gender equality and quite another to wear the colors of opportunities and equality for women. We must remember that love is action, not good intentions. And action we need to make demands and statements of support true and real. "
She said "we cannot legislate fairly if we do not have a balanced representation. Today is an important day, I'm happy that we can present together here on the International Women's Day, the law that will create the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity. We are taking a decisive step by gender demands, "said President Michelle Bachelet.

After the ceremony, Minister Barattini announced the creation of a gender unit within the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CNCA) that will be led by the journalist and former director of Radio Terra, Pearl Wilson.

The Minister explained the action by stating "women are not the only ones to suffer the consequences of gender inequality as they transversely affect the entire development of the country and to fix that involves all fields of action of the government."
Minister Barattini added that "we believe that a cultural shift that grants women equal rights is imperative for a better democracy. In this task, the arts play a fundamental role because when there is a a sufficient number of women working in the cultural field, they are able to build critical mass and make a difference. "

With the creation of the unit, CNCA meets the requirements placed by the governmental program of President Bachelet that aims to help change traditional stereotypes strongly present in culture, the educational system and the media.
With this move it is expected to that the gender perspective will be incorporated in strategic programs of the Council of Culture, in order to promote artistic creation of women, encourage women's participation in the expressions of living culture, and improve their access to cultural property.
International Women’s Day

The history dates back to March 8, 1857, when a group of workers of a textile company in New York protested to express their dissatisfaction with the abuse they received at work, the extent of the workday and the lack of rights to form trade unions. Although they were violently repressed, this date is remembered as the awakening of working women.

Fifty years later, in 1907, a group of female workers was fired when trying to form a union, giving rise to a new protest in New York. During the march, there was an accident where 120 women died in a fire. The tragedy led to the expansion of the mobilization to other cities in the United States and Europe.

In memory of the dead workers in the incident, in 1912, the 8th of March 8 was instituted as the "International Women's Day" and in 1977 the United Nations General Assembly invited all states to proclaim an annual date as the United Nations day for Women's Rights and International Peace.

Chile began to commemorate this day without interruption from 1936, thanks to the initiative of the Movement for the Emancipation of Chilean Women, MEMCH. Meanwhile, in 1998 it was formally established as the International Women's Day in Chile.

http://portaldeculto.cl/ministra-claudia-barattini-anuncia-creacion-de-unidad-de-genero-en-el-consejo-de-la-cultura/