FEMINISM IN COSTA RICA

NO.12SUBMITTED TO: MAM IRAM RUBAB

SUBMITTED BY: AFSANA KARIM (ROLL NO.34)

SANA NAZ (ROLL NO.39)

ALINA NOSHEEN (ROLL NO.43)

ABDUL REHMAN (ROLL NO.20)

MUHAMMAD NOMAN (ROLL NO.59)

SAEED AHMED (ROLL NO.17)

MUHAMMAD ISHFAQ (ROLL NO.71)

AMMAR FAROOQ (ROLL )

Feminism is an ideology at women should have equal

political, social, sexual, intellectual & economic

rights..

FEMINISM

Costa Rica is located on the central American isthmus, surrounding the point 10 degree

north of the equator & 84 degree west of the prime meridian,

Its borders both the Caribbean sea(to the east) & the north pacific ocean(to the west), with a total of 1,228 km of coastline(212 km on the Caribbean coast & 1,016 km on the

pacific).

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF COST RICA

Costa Rica granted independence from Spain on September 15,1821,at the beginning there was no voting

system in Costa Rica. On the basis of personal wealth, morals and education leaders were selected.

At the beginning women’s were not considered as a citizen of costa Rica. women’s were not given the right to education,

property rights, political, social and economical rights. women’s were totally excluded from all rights.

In 1824 voting citizens were defined, who were 18 years of age and had a honest job or profession, own a house and have property and capital. women and poor uneducated men were

excluded from right to vote.

HISTORY OF WOMEN IN COSTA RICA

In 1848 women were explicitly excluded from voting when a citizen was defined as male, age 21 or over.

In 1844 women haven’t the right of parental authority.

In 1847 women’s right to receive education formally recognized. “education is a right of all citizens”

specifically, public instruction of both sexes will be uniform throughout the nation.

In 1888 she could exercise the guardianship of her child only when her husband was absent.

In 1888,women were also granted the right to guardianship, but male remained the head of the house. These restrictions were not for a single women, but for a

married women.

In 1869 education become compulsory for both

males and females, but education was not same for

both man and women.

The first girl’s high school in Costa Rica, a

private girls school begun informally in 1841,

changed in 1847 into a legitimate secondary school

to train women to become elementary school

teachers and to teach other important skills.

An 1887 magazine article encouraged parents to

send girls to school.

The costa Rican suffragist movement shared much with movements in Europe & the united states, but it is also displayed unique

characteristics.

as the case in Europe & the united states, women of costa Rica struggled for sixty years in fact to win the vote.

The Costa Rican feminist movement was started by women who had struggled for their education & who often shared specific

characteristics.

During the women’s struggle three dominant institutions jointly and separately enforced and rationalized women’s lack of political rights .

These institutions are the legal system represented by all costa Rican constitutions from 1821 to 1949,the educational system and the

Catholic Church.

SIXTY YEARS OF SUFFRAGIST STRUGGLE IN COSTA RICA(1889-1949)

Costa Rican women in the movement tended to have the following

characteristics…….One parent was an immigrant of European

background.

They had studied in Europe or in united states.

They had participated in international women’s organizations.

They had a professional training as a teachers or doctors & were self-supporting.

They were often from the middle class.

ANGELA ACUNA

Angela Acuna exemplifies these women. Her mother was half

German. Acuna had studied at a girls private school in England and had

attended suffragist meetings in England. Acuna was a lawyer not a

teacher like most costa Rican suffragists.

The role of female teachers in the movement was more central in

costa Rica than in Europe and the united states. Women never staged

large protest demonstrations to gain their political rights.

In patriarchal Costa Rica a deviation from prescribed roles was

severely punished. Consequently, attack on brave women who dared

demand the vote were particularly vicious.

In the early 1900s costa Rica’s newspapers were filled with the cables

from the radical suffragist movement in England. It has an impact on

the costa Rican society and on the local newspaper, people say that it is

ridiculous that women’s are starting political campaigns now family

system will destroyed and there will be no peace in home.

Angela Acuna returned to costa Rica in 1910 and

become the first women to enroll in the boy’s secondary

school for certification to enter the university.

In 1923 Angela Acuna founded the first official

suffragist organization in costa Rica named as Liga

feminista (suffragist league) & she was the first president

& most of its member were teachers.

A few women joined with Acuna to demand the right to

vote’ another group emerged to fight for workers rights

under the leadership of Maria Lsabel Carvajal.

MARIA ISABEL CARVAJAL

In 1931 Carvajal was a founding member of the communist party’ the first costa Rican party to put women’s political rights on their

platform. Carvajal herself supported women’s right to vote, but she fought primarily for workers welfare and did not see feminist

struggle as a separate issue.

In 1929 the organization changed its name to the cultural society & also changed its objectives.

In 1926 Acuna returned to Europe, where she would remained for three years, her absence affected the suffragist struggle &

feminist league become involved in traditional feminine activities.

In 1931 Acuna returned and restored the feminist league again its president & sent another bill to amend constitution, the bill was

about women the right to vote. This time Acuna was joined by other prominent leaders, the proposed amendment would grant the

right to vote to the following women, university graduates, teachers, typist, secretaries, accountants, nurses, women who

completed elementary school and could speak one foreign language, but unfortunately the bill was not passed.

In 1939 the feminist league submitted another demand

to the legislature, arguing that 1848 constitution did not

exclude women. Again the request failed.

The period from 1940 to 1948 is considered one of the

most significant in costa Rican history.

On may, 1943 women & students organized to protest a

proposed electoral reform.

Finally the bill passed on June 20, 1949 after sixty years

struggle of costa Rican women.

In 1949 all citizens male or female, age 20 & above,

could now vote.

Costa Rican women cast their first votes on a

referendum on July 31, 1950.

Three years later, in 1953 costa Rican women voted for

the first time in a presidential election.

First off ’ I think it is a good sign for women’s rights that costa

Rica’s current president is a women’ Laura Chinchilla Miranda.

She is the first women president of Costa Rica and was elected

in 2010, and the 6th female president to be elected in Latin

America.

President chinchilla has started “women continue receiving less

salary for the same kind of job,” in a 2011 Forbes interview.

“Women have a higher unemployment rate in our country.

When you analyze the composition of poverty’ you will find

that most of the families in poverty are being run by a woman.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN COSTA RICA

FIRST WOMEN PRESIDENT OF COSTA RICA LAURA CHINCHILLA MIRANDA

Also, a big issue is violence against women. THE

president mentioned that violence against women is an

issue, so I look it up. I found that men use stupid

excuses to justify their violence. Groups blame sexual

violence on the way that women dress or act. This has

led to there being political protests in the form of “slut

walks.” I think that it is awesome that they are able to

have this kind of protest. If women were to attempt

this sort of thing in Middle Eastern countries, they’d

probably be shot. Costa Rica is a Roman Catholic

country. It is not socially accepted that women are as

sexual as men are. Abortions in Costa Rica are illegal.

The president is against legalizing the morning after

bill.

A WOMEN IN COSTA RICA’S “SLUT WALK” HOLDS

UPA SIGN PROCLAIMING THAT JESUS WOULD

LOVE WOMEN NO MATTER HOW THEY DRESS..

After sixty years struggle the women of Costa

Rica win the right of vote on July, 1949. All

women age 20 and over could now vote.

women of costa Rica were now considered as

the citizen of costa rica.it was a great

achievement for all the women of costa Rica.

CONCLUSION

digital.library.pitt.edu/Cgi-bin/t/text-

idx?c=pittpress;cc…..

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Costa_Rican…..

www.marriam-

webster.com/dictonary/women%20suffrage.....

REFRENCE