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Honduras Election 2005:
Initially they had demanded fifty percent representation, and in order to make themselves heard occupied the Congress for a week.
"We blocked all the doors, and when the police tried to move us out by force, a group of Congresswomen made a live wall to protect us, with one of them shouting at the police: ‘If you want to pass, it will be over my immunity!’. At that moment we had a very good alliance with Congresswomen from all parties", Suyapa Martínez told us.
She is the co-ordinator of the feminist Collective of Women Against Violence, and is herself the seventh person on the list of her leftist Democratic Unity Party.
"When we had been in Congress for seven days and all were totally exhausted, the issue finally came to a vote. The result was the thirty percent quota.”"
As it now stands, only 12 of the 128 members of Congress are women.
"There will certainly be more of us after the elections on the 27th of November, but that alone will not ensure that the basic problem of inequality is going to be solved."
Alliances
"Many of the women who run for office themselves belong to the power elite in the traditional parties, and focus more on following their party platform than fighting for women’s rights. Still, we are going to try and forge alliances with them whenever possible."
"Even though they are neo-liberal, it is very likely we will be able to co-operate on such issues as domestic violence, something that will not be possible on, for instance reproductive health. Women in the traditional parties are often very religious. Some belong to Opus Dei, an ultraconservative Catholic movement, while others belong to the different evangelical sects."
"For us all of this implies a dilemma in the elections. For example, we can’t hold a campaign around the issue of voting for a woman. In my case, I won’t vote for anyone who is against the right to abortion, regardless of whether the candidate is a man or a woman. The Electoral Law prohibits us from saying 'Don’t vote for her', because that could be construed as a call to abstain from voting, and by law citizens must vote."
"We need to find a prudent formulation, that invites people to vote for women who work to improve reproductive health, for a law to define paternal responsibility, a law against domestic violence and a law to ensure poor women have access to land and titles. It is not an easy balance to hold", says Suyapa Martínez.
"If everything goes well, very well indeed for my party, there will be four feminists in the Congress. So the men can relax, Honduras will hardly become a revolutionary state!", jokes Martínez.
However, she is of the opinion that they, the congresswomen, can make a difference. More than establish alliances across party lines, they can influence debate with a view toward ensuring that gender aspects are not ignored, or only mentioned parenthetically, almost out of mandatory politeness. Further, they can take the floor and denounce abuses of women’s rights.
A demanding profession
Suyapa Martínez also explained that "It is really very demanding in Honduras for women who want to enter political life. While the men have access merely by virtue of being male, we have to prove we are worth our salt – even in my party. I say this critically. When our own parties discriminate against us, why then, the gender struggle becomes more important than the party struggle.”"
At the outset Martínez was placed on the lower rungs of the list of candidates (as occurred with most women in the other parties as well) – that is, in a slate beyond number twenty and thus with virtually no chance of being elected.
However, the women in the Democratic Unity Party managed to make alternation by gender prevail. With that, Suyapa ended up in slate seven, which is important for her campaign, as only the first ten candidates receive state subsidies for their campaign.
Feminist base
However, Suyapa Martínez’ political survival depends not upon money, of which in any case there is little, but on her feminist base. Feminist organisations have financed her electoral brochure, and when she goes house-to-house in the nation’s capital, Tegucigalpa, she is accompanied by young women who recommend her to voters.
She is an influential figure when the Women’s Collective Against Violence convenes all the women candidates to workshops in which they prepare to take over a larger share of the public space. At local level, the Collective trains women candidates for mayor and councillors. These are women who will also be casting their votes for deputies to the Congress.
"I don’t have money for a traditional campaign”, Suyapa Martínez tells. “But there are alternatives. I will use the word-of-mouth methodology. I talk personally to a lot of people, and try to convince them to carry the political message to others."
"Further – and this is really very important – I have good contacts with women journalists that sympathise with our ideas. That gives me access to radio and television, as they frequently invite me to their programmes. The Women’s Collective Against Violence has 16 organisations whose members have friends and families, of course, who in turn also have friends and families."
Honduras: More women in politics… so?
The Electoral Law states that thirty percent of the candidates on the party slates should be women, but no party complies
By Eva RasmussenAt least thirty percent of those running for a seat in the Honduran Congress and the 298 municipal councils must be women. This is mandated by the new Electoral Law, but none of the five parties competing in the elections scheduled for 27 November is complying.
Those women who did manage to get a slate were relegated to the lowest positions on the list and thus have only scant possibilities of being elected. Feminist organisations have filed claims at the National Human Rights Commission and the Public Ministry.
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Suyapa Martínez: When our own parties discriminate against us, why
then, the gender struggle becomes more important than the party struggle.” Photo: Eva Rasmussen. |
"We blocked all the doors, and when the police tried to move us out by force, a group of Congresswomen made a live wall to protect us, with one of them shouting at the police: ‘If you want to pass, it will be over my immunity!’. At that moment we had a very good alliance with Congresswomen from all parties", Suyapa Martínez told us.
She is the co-ordinator of the feminist Collective of Women Against Violence, and is herself the seventh person on the list of her leftist Democratic Unity Party.
"When we had been in Congress for seven days and all were totally exhausted, the issue finally came to a vote. The result was the thirty percent quota.”"
As it now stands, only 12 of the 128 members of Congress are women.
"There will certainly be more of us after the elections on the 27th of November, but that alone will not ensure that the basic problem of inequality is going to be solved."
Alliances
"Many of the women who run for office themselves belong to the power elite in the traditional parties, and focus more on following their party platform than fighting for women’s rights. Still, we are going to try and forge alliances with them whenever possible."
"Even though they are neo-liberal, it is very likely we will be able to co-operate on such issues as domestic violence, something that will not be possible on, for instance reproductive health. Women in the traditional parties are often very religious. Some belong to Opus Dei, an ultraconservative Catholic movement, while others belong to the different evangelical sects."
"For us all of this implies a dilemma in the elections. For example, we can’t hold a campaign around the issue of voting for a woman. In my case, I won’t vote for anyone who is against the right to abortion, regardless of whether the candidate is a man or a woman. The Electoral Law prohibits us from saying 'Don’t vote for her', because that could be construed as a call to abstain from voting, and by law citizens must vote."
"We need to find a prudent formulation, that invites people to vote for women who work to improve reproductive health, for a law to define paternal responsibility, a law against domestic violence and a law to ensure poor women have access to land and titles. It is not an easy balance to hold", says Suyapa Martínez.
"If everything goes well, very well indeed for my party, there will be four feminists in the Congress. So the men can relax, Honduras will hardly become a revolutionary state!", jokes Martínez.
However, she is of the opinion that they, the congresswomen, can make a difference. More than establish alliances across party lines, they can influence debate with a view toward ensuring that gender aspects are not ignored, or only mentioned parenthetically, almost out of mandatory politeness. Further, they can take the floor and denounce abuses of women’s rights.
A demanding profession
Suyapa Martínez also explained that "It is really very demanding in Honduras for women who want to enter political life. While the men have access merely by virtue of being male, we have to prove we are worth our salt – even in my party. I say this critically. When our own parties discriminate against us, why then, the gender struggle becomes more important than the party struggle.”"
At the outset Martínez was placed on the lower rungs of the list of candidates (as occurred with most women in the other parties as well) – that is, in a slate beyond number twenty and thus with virtually no chance of being elected.
However, the women in the Democratic Unity Party managed to make alternation by gender prevail. With that, Suyapa ended up in slate seven, which is important for her campaign, as only the first ten candidates receive state subsidies for their campaign.
Feminist base
However, Suyapa Martínez’ political survival depends not upon money, of which in any case there is little, but on her feminist base. Feminist organisations have financed her electoral brochure, and when she goes house-to-house in the nation’s capital, Tegucigalpa, she is accompanied by young women who recommend her to voters.
She is an influential figure when the Women’s Collective Against Violence convenes all the women candidates to workshops in which they prepare to take over a larger share of the public space. At local level, the Collective trains women candidates for mayor and councillors. These are women who will also be casting their votes for deputies to the Congress.
"I don’t have money for a traditional campaign”, Suyapa Martínez tells. “But there are alternatives. I will use the word-of-mouth methodology. I talk personally to a lot of people, and try to convince them to carry the political message to others."
"Further – and this is really very important – I have good contacts with women journalists that sympathise with our ideas. That gives me access to radio and television, as they frequently invite me to their programmes. The Women’s Collective Against Violence has 16 organisations whose members have friends and families, of course, who in turn also have friends and families."
