AMERICAS SOCIETY: Americas Quarterly's New Issue Covers the Quest to Close the Gender Gap in Latin America

Americas Society/Council of the Americas issued the following announcement on October 19.

"Given the enormous challenges facing Latin America in 2020, achieving true equality between men and women by the end of this decade might sound impossible," write Americas Quarterly's (AQ) editors in its new issue. But, closing the gender gap may just be "the best post-COVID recovery plan possible," they say.

On the cover, Costa Rica's Vice President Epsy Campbell Barr symbolizes the power of being a role model and that "despite old machista stereotypes, the region has already made significant progress in the last 20 years."  However, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed some of these advances toward gender equality. Studies show women are doing a higher percentage of unpaid household work, putting professional opportunities aside as a result; households have experienced increased domestic violence and unemployment is rising faster among women.

Maria-Noel Vaeza provides innovative solutions to finance women entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean. Cecilia Tornaghi profiles Luiza Trajano, the head of one of Brazil's largest retails, highlighting how she is fighting gender violence within and outside of her company. Hugo Ñopo analyzes how men can build gender equality by playing a bigger role in work at home. Rosa Celorio explores necessary enforcement of strong gender violence laws to create change in Latin America. Mitra Taj looks at organizations that help working-class women gain opportunities in science and engineering. Susan Segal discusses the importance of mentorship in career advancement.

Other articles in this issue include:

  • AQ's Top 5 Champions of Gender Equality
  • How Are Countries Faring? by Leonie Rauls
  • How to Make Quotas Work, by Jennifer M. Piscopo
  • Women in Security Forces, by Ambassador Jean Manes and Admiral Craig Faller
  • She Dared to Be a Candidate, by Isabel Castillo
  • Argentine TV's New Normal, by Jordana Timerman

The issue is being rolled out, and all content will be available on October 29, 2020 at americasquarterly.org. Read the full issue in PDF.

Press inquiries: To learn more, to request interviews with the authors, or to request a republication permission, please contact AS/COA Media Relations: mediarelations@as-coa.org 

Original source can be found here.