The Right to Vote
Posted on April 7, 2008 by Cami Martin
It's well-known that women's empowerment and economic development go hand-in-hand — which is another reason to support a Mexican woman's fight to allow women in rural Oaxaca to vote.
Women can vote in places as conservative as Afghanistan, as repressive as Burma and as closed-off as Bhutan, but the L.A. Times reports that women in rural Oaxacan communities cannot vote or run for office.
One woman, Eufrosina Cruz, is fighting for a change in Oaxaca, Mexico's second poorest state. (Three of four Oaxacans live in "extreme poverty.") Her state governor and Mexican President Felipe Calderon now support a change in legislation, which would grant thousands of Oaxacan women the right to vote and run for office.
Women in neighboring Guatemala can vote. Photo: El Canche
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How does the lack of vote translate into poverty statistics?
I'm curious to know how this translates into poverty rates for women vs. men in Oaxaca. I spent about 30 minutes searching online but couldn't find anything. Women traditionally suffer the affects of poverty more than men -- and I've read about the "feminization of poverty" but I would be curious to know the rates of poverty in Oaxaca for women vs. the rates of female poverty in a neighboring state where females played more of a role in local politics.
Does anyone know?
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