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ARGENTINA: EFFECTS OF THE CRISES ON WOMEN

COUNTER-REPORT TO THE CEDAW COMMITTEE - January 2004

Document written by Argentine NGO: ADEUEM, CELS, CLADEM Argentina, FEIM, Feministas en Acción, ISPM, Mujeres en Acción and ACDH¹.

INDEX

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: PROPOSALS

PART 1. GENERAL PANORAMA. CURRENT SITUATION

1.1.   Main aspects of the Argentine economy in the post-convertibility

1.2.   Main aspects of the political activity at the beginning of the year 2004. Popular social movements. Women´s role

1.3.   Action of the government since the crises began in matters of gender

A)      Institutionalism

B)      Legislation

C)      Public policies and their impact on women

PART 2. SUBJECTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO THE CEDAW THAT TOOK PLACE IN 2002 AND 2003

2.1. The International Protection of the Women´s Human Rights (hereinafter HHRR): Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

2.2. Poverty. Women´s specific situation

2.3. Labor´s market panorama. Gender discrimination

2.5. Health´s Rights without discrimination

2.6. Prevention of family, domestic or gender violence

2.7. Prostitution and women´s sexual exploitation

2.8. Education

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¹ Editorial Staff: Cecilia Lipszyc, Andrea Pochak, Leah Tandeter, Cristina Zurutuza, Soledad Araoz, Mabel Bianco, Cecilia Correa, Susana Pastor, Belkys Karlen, Romina Ojagnan, Antonia Portaneri, Noemí Aumedes, Ester Nani, María José Libertino.

APPENDIXES

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: PENDING POINTS AND PROPOSALS

1)       Main Points of concern:

Although the country suffered a worsening of the economic, social and political crises in the year 2002 —from which it is still recovering— the national state has not taken the subject of gender into account as a topic for the public agenda.

·         The Optional Protocol to the CEDAW has not been ratified.

·         The state negotiation —particularly in the provinces— is not very transparent and there are few mechanisms for the control and monitoring in behalf of the citizenship.

·         The statistics and information for the monitoring of public policies are scarce, not very reliable and with little access. There are few mechanisms that allow the civil society to control and learn about the effective compliance of plans and programmes meant for women, as well as to take part in those decisions.

·         Argentina is a federal country and we are concerned about the persistence of cliental practices, which are almost feudal, in many provinces where the political classes are being recycled thanks to the corruption and authoritarism.

·         The high rate of unemployment and the current employment contracts law benefit the unstable labor, from which the main victims are women, particularly the young ones.

·         Cultural sexist stereotypes still remain within the culture as well as in families.

·         The services of sexual and reproductive health reveal a high level of irregular implementations in different areas of the country. Abortion is still being punished. Proper attention to the non-punishable abortion is still pending.

2)       Pending Aspects. Proposals (legislation and public policies)

·         To ratify the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW in order to guarantee the effective protection of women´s HHRR.

·         To improve the citizenship´s access to information regarding governmental acts and implementation of public policies (statistical system, institutionalism, budgets, flow charts, etc.). Inclusion of the non-remunerated housework in the national statistics.

·         To reorganize the Woman´s National Council (WNC) and guarantee its management in an efficient and pluralistic way.

·         To include the subject of gender throughout the different Ministries of the national and provincial Cabinets.

·         To create unequivocal actions and equality plans regarding opportunities in the labor sphere and in the fight against poverty; as well as in the national, provincial and local institutional environments.

·         To guarantee and universalize free and public systems in the caring of children.

·         To fight in an efficient manner the way women are treated and their sexual exploitation.

·         Suitable sexual education in public and private schools regarding the formal educative system of every level. More commitment from the Ministry of Education and effective implementation in all the national territory.

·         To guarantee sufficent access for women in public programmes of sexual and reproductive health, which at the same time must improve their serving quality (informed consent, advising offices, and qualified personnel).

·         To extend throughout the country the legalization of voluntary sterilization.

·         The desincrimination of abortion. To guarantee adequate and free assistance of non-punishable abortion in different moments of the public health. Advance towards the legalization of the abortion.

·         To create a new legislation that ensures the integral protection of children and adolescents. To abolish the present law.

Key questions to be made to the Argentine State. Woman´s National Council

·         Which is its hierarchical-administrative-functional position within the Executive Branch of the government? Which is the role that the WNC plays regarding the highest decisions of the Nation State?

·         Does the WNC have its own budget? How has the budget been developed during the last year? Is it enough to maintain the objectives and programmes that were planned? Why aren´t the national reports made altogether with the NGO?

·         Has the Woman´s Federal Plan been implemented in an ongoing way or has it suffered from interruptions? If so, what kind of interruptions were these and why did they occur? What will its future be?

·         Which are the measures to be taken by the Nation-State in order to oversee those public policies meant for women? Are there departments or budgets designated for the creation of instruments, mechanisms or indicators?  Why is it that a great number of the statistics continue being prepared without breaking down the information according to sex?

·         Why haven´t the Women´s NGO been incorporated to the Councils in charge of the supervision of the Plan for Men/Women ´s Head of Homes?

INTRODUCTION

After the worsening of the crisis that started by the end of the year 2002 (which boosts the problems already present in Argentina), the country slowly began its reconstruction. Whatever looked like a country at the edge of its dissolution, started recovering aspects of its institutional life, but not without great costs. The most important one was the historical record of people: adults and young ones, particularly children  (boys and girls) living in poverty or abject poverty. The social lack of equity, unemployment and a strong crisis in the credibility of the leaders complete the panorama. However, by the end of the year 2003 public polls showed high levels of optimism and hope, without it be being clear if there are justified or well-founded reasons at all.

The current report, drawn up to be presented to the Committee that examines the action of the government regarding the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter CEDAW), tries to concentrate in some items which are considered critical in the responsibilities assumed by the Argentine State as regards discrimination of gender. Furthermore, certain initiatives of the civil society which were regarded as interesting have been included. Both for the Committee and for Argentina said session complements the one carried out in August of the year 2002 that took place with the 5^th report of the Argentine State. We must remember that in said occasion the Committe did not question the State in a thorough way due to the importance of the same and to the crisis that had taken place, and that was why the State was summoned to a new meeting two years later, that is to say, around the middle of the year 2004. Consequently, the information hereinbelow must be taken into consideration as an updating of the Counter-report that the NGO subscribing the same presented in August of the year 2002², and not as a complete document without considering the preceeding one.

Nowadays, Argentina is going through hard times, which are difficult to evaluate or predict. At this moment the president, who took on in May 2003 as a result of the elections, enjoys a great positive image (more than 80% at the moment of writing this report), but the country has one of the highest public debts in the world³, and it is currently in partial default: the international organisms have been satisfied, but that was not the case of the thousands of owners of public debt bonds. Politicians are strongly questioned and there is a continuous recycling of the executive and legislative positions all over the____________________________________________________________

² Document: "Women´s Rights: a pending debt of the Argentine State". Edition from ADEUEM, CELS, CLADEM Argentina, FEIM, ISPM, Mujeres en Acción, Feministas en Acción. Buenos Aires , July 2002.

³ The external debt has increased, even more, during the militar dictatorship and for that reason many citizens consider it partly ilegitimate.

 country. Some provincial governors, senators, etc. have pending lawsuits with the Justice. There are great inquiries towards trade union, businessmen and ecclesiastical leaders. "Mega-cases" have appeared where the corruption is said to have extended to important government employees of the different branches of the State (some even from the presindency) and these cases are lost in the laberynths of a judicial system also highly questioned ⁴.

We consider that some of the data and analyses hereinpresent constitute useful weapons so that the Committee of the CEDAW might have a larger and more complete overview of the Argentine phenomenon, and also because it will help the Women´s movement in Argentina in the task of building a country more equitable, supportive and trustworthy, with better and equal opportunities for men as well as for women.

Buenos Aires, January 2004

PART 1. GENERAL PANORAMA. CURRENT SITUATION

The Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) are basic human rights granted to every person whose operational capacity continues being a pending debt in our country. Said debt is being suffered particularly by women due to their well-known vulnerability because of their burden in the domestic care and the raising up of their children. The ongoing discrimination that is due to their gender is deeply rooted and stays in our culture which aggravates this situation especially with the governmental policies that have shown to be inefficient. Nowadays, as it was before, the worsening in the crisis has found that the main victims are women, both boys and girls, children or youths.

Beyond the epicrisis of the year 2001 and the specific impact of the moving out of the convertibility, the current situation of Argentina is the result of a long history. Taking into account the last 30 years, the fundamental cause are the neoliberal policies promoted and backed up by those plans of structural adjustment imposed by international financial organisms and carried out by different governments, militar as well as democratic ones, with different supporting parties⁵.

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⁴ The AMIA´s terrorist attack (1994) which ended in 86 deaths and more than 200 wounded people; bribes in the Senate to approve the labor flexibility law; smuggling of weapons to countries that did not have permission to acquire them; the explosion of an arsenal that was caused to cover up the shortage of ammunitions are only some of the events that still wait to be answered.

⁵ This period covers constitutional governments and the militar dictatorship of 1976 to 1983.

Said policies gave priority to the dismantling of the State and the productive machinery —especially the industrial one—, the privatization of the public services and state owned companies, the creation of favorable conditions for the financial speculation, the indiscriminate opening of the market and the great corporative businesses to the detriment of the small producers and the industrialization. The consequence was a speeding concentration of the riches in a few hands, the rise of poverty and unemployment, and the intensification of the segmentation by incomes. In 1975, the population under the poverty line was of 7% whereas now it is 56%. Furthermore, the external debt went at the same period time from 7 thousand million dollars to more than 180 thousand. The period that shows the greatest increase in the debt was the one of the last militar dictatorship. Nowadays, Argentina owes the double of what it produces annually.

1.1   Central aspects of the Argentine economy in the post-convertibility

From the moment the fixed type of exchange finished and was replaced by an impure floating plan, the country modified one of the main macroeconomic variables that had reigned since the beginning of the 90s: the equivalence of the national currency with the dollar. The country suffered from a tremendous worsening of its social crisis which was expressed in a historical jump of its unemployment rates (with the increase of the over-occupation) and poverty.

In spite of said hard indexes, the Argentine economy started to show signs of recovery from the second semester of 2002 onwards and the future expectations register hopes of continuity. The causes are basically three: on the one hand, the floor of the crisis represents levels of economic activity which are very low, and thus, any reactivation seems to be significant. On the other hand, there is a favorable socioeconomic situation of the international prices, which benefits the exportation from Argentina. And finally, the internal devaluation favors the exportations. However, and by the moment, the numbers still hold a negative result. Even though in 2003 the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by more than 8%, in the year 2002 the level of activity was 10% less than in the year 2001, year in which there was a fall of 8% compared to 1998 (the last year of growth in the 90s). This represents important levels of idle activity, which at the beginning will motivate the over-utilization of the material and human existing resources, and will slow down the need for new manual labor and the new inversions⁷.

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⁶ The branches of major dinamism were the metallurgical, the building and the textile branches. There has been registered also a boom in the foreign tourism that favors the change rate.

⁷ Those sectors of the economy with a greater growth and with better perspectives are not, in general, the ones that employ manual labor, and least of all female manual labor. During the year 2002, the sector that registered the highest growth was the industrial one through a process of substitution of imports; however, as from the second semester of 2003 onwards there was a fall in those levels of activity that were placed 15% lower than those of 1998.

Thus, a strong presence of the State will be needed to propel such an expected growth. All this provided that the current growth focuses in certain branches of activities and in few big companies, intensive capital, some of them transnational, which hardly have any gravitation in the creation of employment. Furthermore, many of them, like for example the building activity, have first and foremost, a need of male workers.

1.2   Central aspects of the political activity at the beginning of the year 2004

A central aspect for Argentina is the authoritarism and the lack of seriousness of the leading classes and the institutions in general, which means that the State has scarce mechanisms to guarantee the accountability of the administration and the participation of the citizens in the making of decisions. One of its many faces is the necessary fight against corruption within as well as outside the government; a subject that at present creates great expectations. However, it seems to have points of contact with the regional problems. Latin America is the region in the world that presents more doubts than any other in the matter of democracy as a way of administrating an estate. The "support to the democracy" records positive opinions in 78% of the European population; 69% in the African population, 60% in India, 53% in Eastern Europe and just a 48% in Latin America⁸. Within the region, Argentina shows the lowest indexes of trust in institutions. The confidence in the Catholic Church reaches 56% (one of the lowest in the region, which in average represents 72% of trust, with a maximum of 84% in Brazil) and in the Parliament is of 17% (the regional average is of 24% and the maximum is presented by Uruguay with 46%). During the year 2003 elections were called for legislators and provincial governors, and leaders that had been strongly questioned renewed their terms of office. Yet, the political reform, which the citizenship demands, cannot become a reality.

Social Popular Movements. Women´s Role

The crisis was the silent witness of popular, spontaneous movements of any type that grew, developed and in ocassions declined. Among them, some were aimed at the familiar, community and/or personal survival, and others expressed their social and political discontent which did not find more adequate means of expression. In the first group there are the recovered factories and companies, the cartoneros (men/women collecting cardboards from the streets) and the Barter Club, which as a phenomenon expanded rapidly. _____________________________________

⁸ www.latinobarometro.org. Euro Barometer: Countries that belong to the European Union. Afro Barometer: 12 countries 1999-2001: Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, India, CSDS, 1998. New Democracies Barometer: 9 countries, 2000: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Rumania, Slovenia, Belorussia, Ukraine. Latin Barometer: 17 countries, 2001: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

There were also microenterprises and job trainings´ projects that have multiplied, which were sometimes backed up by NGO or with the technical support of governmental offices.

Among the movements that had tried to channel their social and political discontent, we can very well mention the popular assemblies, the movements of unemployed workers or piqueteros), and the multiplication of communitary dinning places. Many of these social movements go on developing and others have dimished or almost disappeared, like for example the assembly movement (an unprecedented experience for the country), which was generated after the "cacerolazo" (demonstration where saucepans are banged as a sign of protest) of December 2001. It was a horizontal movement centered in the criticism of the leading polititians and hierarchies, organized throughout periodical meetings that were territorially centralised in the neighbourhoods. Unfortunately, said phenomenon started to diminish and at present it has almost no presence in the social life of the country.

The ones that still have a strong presence in the current Argentine society are the movements of unemployed workers or piqueteros, the cartoneros and the factories and companies that were recovered; phenomena which although not new have an everyday presence. While the communitary dinning places have maintained in levels only a little bit higher than the existing ones before the peak of the crisis, the movements of unemployed workers have kept up a constant presence during the years 2002 and 2003, channeling their social protest of the poor and needy ones. We are dealing here with the unemployed population that make public demonstrations which result in the blocking of roads or streets, known as piquetes and that in the end gave them their identity as so. At present, there is a wide range of ideological and political positions inside the movement that have become evident in different demands and positions confronting the government. Even more, the cartoneros —people or families that go through the rubbish and recycle materials such as cardboard, metal, plastic, etc in urban centers— have become part of the habitual social life.

In these popular movements women have, to a large or less extend, a leading role. Even though they recycle traditional roles of maternal nature in tradicional experiences —such as the administration or the support of popular dinning places—, in some cases they have started to back up their own demands. A movement of piqueteras demanded to the Ministry of Public Health the direct reception of contraceptive devices⁹. Said women have also participated actively in the 18^th National Conference of Women (Rosario, Province of Santa Fe, August 2003).

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⁹ At present, a group of women receive every month more than two million condoms and they even distribute them.

As regards cartoneros —sometimes every member of the family works in this activity, including children (boys and girls)— a reason for great concern is that not only is this activity precarious but also highly unhealthy.

The autonomous microenterprises of any kind have multiplied. According to the Home Permanent Survey (HPS) of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) of October 2003, in the City of Buenos Aires the microenterprisers represent the 22,1% of the working force¹⁰. Thus, the NGOs have multiplied their efforts in this direction. The "Employment Clubs" are an interesting experience for young women and women´s heads of homes¹¹ after the bankrupcy. But the most interesting experiences are the factories that have been recovered by their own workers after the bankrupcy. Such experiences have started to become relevant as successful ones because they flourish against the crisis tide and because there has been an incredible increase of business bankrupcies during the decade of the 90s. In this sense, they constitute an alternative example to the traditional ones, and they function in an adequate and solidary way ¹².

1.3 Action of the Government since the crises began in matters of gender

a) Institutionalism

The current administration, which started in May of the year 2003, has been in power for 7 months. Until December of the same year, it was considered that the elect government finished the incomplete term of office of the resigning government (in December 2001), and it would just start its constitutional mandate of four years that will end in December 2007. At the moment, and in spite of the declarations of the current president ¹³, the subject of gender is not a relevant subject in the government´s agenda. As it had been informed before (point II of the counter-report of August 2002), the Woman´s National Council —highest governmental office in the subject— has suffered from an institutional and budgetary lowering of hierarchy¹⁴. At present it is still a programme that depends on the Council of Social Policies; it does not participate in meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers —not even in the meetings of the Ministry of Social____________________________________________________

¹⁰ The rest is composed by employers, 5.7% and salary earners, 72.3%

¹¹ Experience test for the proposal of public policies. Coordinated by the Social and Political Institute of the Woman with the support of CeSTAS and the Italian cooperation, and the help of Fundaciòn Propuesta and the CEIM. Ran by women from popular areas of 3 neighbourhoods of the City of Buenos Aires, suburbs and the City of San Nicolàs (Buenos Aires Province). It combines the training for the formal employment and the microenterprises, and the labor intermediation. Granting of help for the creation of self-employment. www.ispm.org.ar

¹² A particularly interesting example is given by the female workers of the Brukman Factory. With their resistance against eviction, the negotiation with the creditors, clients and judges, and a careful administration, they proved that it was possible to run a factory without their bosses, without layoff and under the worker´s control. Lately, they managed to obtain the legalization of the expropiation of the source of work by the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.

¹³ President Kirchner´s declaration:"... the equality between man and woman is not only declaratory, we are giving clear and concrete samples of our convictions and of our determination to make of this a principle and a frame of real national thought." Launching speech of the Report about Objectives of the Development of the Millenium in Argentina, October 23^rd of the year 2003.

¹⁴ It has been voted at the Senate a Bill that raises it to the category of State Secretariat, but it is still missing the sanction in House of Representatives Chamber to become law.

 Development from which it depends—. It is important to highlight that, on the other hand, the Council of Childhood, an equivalent department which depends exclusively on a Minister, does participate in said meetings. Coincidentally, this ministry is being chaired by the only woman in the National Cabinet.

In spite of this, in the analysed period there was significant progress, which we consider encouraging. One of it was the beginning of a renovation and purification of the National Supreme Court of Justice. In 1995 it increased the number of its judges to 9 members, appointing several ones addicted to the Executive Branch of the moment. From that moment onwards the Supreme Court was heavily questioned for its inefficiency, political partiality and corruption. The current admnistration of the government accelerated the impeachment proceeding and the quitting of three of its members, among them, its president. At present the election of new candidates is under process, while one has already assumed the position. It is particularly interesting that the governement has created an unprecedented mechanism in the appointment of the new judges, which includes an open period for possible challengings in behalf of the citizenship and a public hearing where the candidate answers the same. The decree-law number 222/03 foresees in its article 3 that at the moment of the consideration of each proposal it will be taken into account the composition of the tribunal to reflect, among others, the diversity of gender. There was also the renewal of the leaders of the armed forces and of security (Federal Police and of the Province of Buenos Aires), even if the problem of the urban security has not been solved yet, nor the suspicions of corruption have found a fuller and more exact answer.

As regards women, there are no active policies that promote their participation (except for the feminine quota, of 1991). One of the few exceptions seems to be the appointment of a woman -Carmen Argibay- made known on December 29^th, 2003, as a candidate to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. In all the history of the country there was only one woman in this Court, but it was during the militar dictatorship. The current nominee is member of the International Hague Tribunal; she defines herself as a devoted defendant of women´s rights, in particular sexual and reproductive rights. It is possible to foresee a strong coming opposition of the Catholic Church and of more conservative sectors, which has already started during the first days of January 2004. We therefore consider that the appointment of a woman has just come in handy to settle an old debt. If the announcements that the next candidate could also be a woman (sensitive to gender) came true, then this would represent an adequate public policy in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.

The feminine quota of 30% is still in force at the national Parliament and in the provincial ones, and there is an average female participation around that number. Nevertheless, the number does not speak about the conscience of gender that they might eventually possess; for the time being, their performance is not very satisfactory due to the fact that they answer more to partitian structures than to women´s interests. The access to the higher positions of the executive branch is very much stranded (there is only one female minister), even though these past days a woman sensitive to gender was appointed as head of the biggest Social Service of the country (PAMI) with the third budget (by amount) of the country. As regards the judicial branch, there can be seen an increase in the participation of women, which diminishes as the hierarchical scale rises¹⁵.

b) Legislation

Some legislation that favors the situation of women has been enacted.

National Statutes:

·         Statute number 25.763 Creates the National Programme of Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation (Read further on, chapter about Health).

·         Statute number 25.864 about aspirants to the custody aiming to adopt. January 2004. Requisite: 5 years of residency in the country (Argentina considers illegal the international adoption). It authorizes a unique registry of aspirants.

·         Statute number 25.674 about Syndical Quota. 2003. It establishes feminine quota not only for elected positions but also for processes of collective and labor negotiations.

·         New migration statute-law. December 17^th, 2003. Abolishes the former statute, originated during the militar dictatorship. It guarantees the right to education and health for every inmigrant. It eliminates the obligation to report every inmigrant in an irregular situation. It helps the migration through the MERCOSUR. Still waiting for its publication in the Official Bulletin.

·         Unique Registry of Alimony Debtors Statute¹⁶. Waiting to be published in the Official Bulletin. There are similar statutes in most of the provinces, except Santa Cruz, Santiago del Estero and La Pampa.

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¹⁵ In the National courts of first instance of Capital Federal a 37.7% of the total number of judges are women, and in courts of second instance only 20.95%. In the federal justice the female participation is a little bit lower: first instance 22.58% of the judges and in second instance 14.58%. But in the 24 higher tribunals of the country (provincial supreme courts) from the 16 there is only one female member. There are some differences between the districts: in Córdoba, half of the members of the Supreme Court are women, whereas in 8 provinces - La Rioja, Chubut, Corientes, Neuquén, Río Negro, San Juan, Tucumán and Jujuy - there is not even one woman in the highest Tribunal. Buenos Aires province. Total amount of judicial personnel, every position: 7.433 women and 6.772 men. Judges of first instance in every jurisdiction: 457 women and 824 men (35% of women approx.). Apellate judges: 35 women and 174 men (15% of women approx.). In Courts of cassation there are no women at all. In the provincial court there is 1 woman for 10 men. Said numbers must be compared with the fact that in the Bar Association of Capital Federal 45% of its 55000 affiliates are women; but taking into account the last 3 years, the percentage increased a 54.67%. From the new graduates of the U.B.A. Law Faculty 53.76% are women. Bicentenario Non-profit Organization. La Nación  newspaper, January 2^nd, 2004 www.lanacion.com.ar "Growth of the female presence in Justice".

¹⁶ It refers to the money that must receive the progenitor in charge of the minor, in case of divorce.

·         There was an enlargement of the Antidiscrimination Statute to situations of discrimination due to sexual option.

In negotiation to be sanctioned:

·         Statute of Paternal Consent for men (sanction in House of Representatives Chamber). It puts the Adoption Licenses on the same level with the ones of biological maternity, and it includes men.

·         Statute of access to public information (sanction in the House of Representatives Chamber).

Provincial Statutes of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

·         Induct labor in cases of unviable fetus. (Buenos Aires City). 2003. The labor could be moved forward as from the 24^th week onwards of pregnancy if medical reports establish the non-viability of the fetus. Its text is unfortunately inferior to the report of the National Supreme Court of Justice, which in the same way passes judgement in terms of termination of pregnancy (see annex). Thus, women are compulsed to complete almost 6 months of pregnancy, when medically speaking, an early diagnosis is feasible. Other projects have been presented at the House of Representatives Chamber but no decisions have been made.

·         Sterilization and vasectomy. It has been legalized (before they were considered serious injuries according to the Criminal Code) in 4 provinces: Río Negro, La Pampa, Tierra del Fuego, and Neuquén.

Therefore, some of the relevant subject matters still pending in an adequate legislation are:

·         The decriminalization of abortion. In August 2002, the organizations that subscribe the counter-report denounce a situation that persists in our society: the government still keeps abortion penalized and does not supply adequate assistance in cases provided by law. At present the women´s movement also demands its legalization. Said petition was expressed in the conclusions of the XIII Women´s National Conference (with 15,000 people) and in the Massive Marches of September 28^th, 2003 in all the country. It is important to highlight the fact that in both cases the participation of women from popular sectors, workers and piqueteras was very significant[1].

·         Situation of childhood at risk ¹⁸. The legislation still in force, which dates from almost a century, considers minors as objects; it does not recognize their autonomy and exercises upon them the state "patronage". All this in spite of the fact that Argentina has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (national statute number 23.849) and it has been granted constitutional hierarchy in the modification of 1994 (article number 75, subsection 22, National Constitution).

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¹⁷ XXX

¹⁸ The House of Representatives Chamber sanctioned a law that abolished the ancient, oppresive and inadequate Patronage Law and promoted a law of Integral Protection for Children, but the Senate lost parliamentary state as it took more than 2 years to issue a decision. The subjects that hindered its progress were: the minors´rights to receive sexual education, the age to receive it and the age to receive attention regarding sexual and reproductive health. It was argued that this is opposed to the Parental Rights and Duties law. As well as this one, a project to create the Office for Public Defender for Boys, Girls and Adolescents did not succeed.

c) Public Policies and their impact on women

Social Plans.  Since the beginning of 2002 the Government implemented the Plan for unemployed men/women ´s Head of Homes, the most important one considering the number of beneficiaries. It was conceived as a right for social incorporation, and it gives every family whose head is unemployed the amount of 150 monthly pesos¹⁹. Said plan has meant a great effort made by the National Government in order to extend welfare assistance to an important number of people, a characteristic that has differenciated it from the programmes that made up the politics of the 90s in such matters. This is due to the fact that the plan was born not only as a tool for the social politics, but also and mainly as an instrument to placate a social conflict of unprecedented characteristics that put in jeopardy the continuity of the institutional political system. However, this plan only distributes precarious welfare assistance that is not enough to cover the minimal necessities of the population in an abject poverty situation²⁰. The number of beneficiaries currently goes to approximately 1,900,000 people, women heads of homes²¹ among which only 64.6% have finished their secondary school. About 68% are women²², but this is not a positive action of gender because the traditional practices of assistance used by women are reproduced as regards health care and education of children. The problems originated are:

·         The total amount of the beneficiaries is not even close to the total number of poor people.

·         Its low amount only worked well in things such as a roof to live, considering that it is the minimum income paid in the labor market.

·         There are many questions about the irregular ways in which it is granted.

·         There is no agreement, even inside the government, about the methods of labor consideration, and if they should exist.

·         It leaves without coverage the old men or women who do not have a pension, another source of income or social benefit, but who are not Heads of Homes, which involves a great number of old women²³.

·         It does not distinguish between families according to the number of sons/daughters; thus, it discriminates in a negative way those homes with a greater amount of children.