On May 24, 2024, the Inter-American Dialogue released the report “Women, Remittances, and Financial Inclusion in Guatemala.” The report, produced by Manuel Orozco, director of the Migration, Remittances, and Development program, provides a financial characterization of women in Guatemala, explores barriers to financial inclusion, and outlines a path toward greater financial independence.
At the inaugural Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver, Colorado, the Inter-American Dialogue and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America convened a high-level workshop entitled, “Women’s Economic Empowerment & the Digital Transformation.”
On February 25, 2021, the Inter-American Dialogue hosted the webinar “The Road to Legal Abortion in Argentina” in partnership with the Embassy of Argentina in Washington, DC, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation Western Hemisphere Region (IPPFWHR). Panelists discussed the winning strategy employed by the feminist movement to promote passage of the law to legalize abortion, the challenges they encountered, and how they leveraged resources to produce a favorable outcome.
A brave whistleblower recently reported that women immigrants at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center have been subjected to gynecological procedures without their knowledge or informed consent. Unfortunately, for thousands of women and girls, these reported violations are just a sampling of the government’s illegal practices of aggression and neglect in its treatment of women seeking to immigrate to the United States.
On July 24, the Inter-American Dialogue and the Seattle International Foundation hosted “Nowhere to Turn: Gender-Based Violence and its Impact on Migration.”
On June 4, the Inter-American Dialogue, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation co-sponsored an event titled “The Crisis of Democracy and Women’s Rights in the Americas.”
Just three days into his presidency, on January 23, 2017, Donald Trump reinstated the so-called Global Gag Rule. The executive order, also known as the Mexico City Policy, prohibits all US federal money from funding international organizations that provide information about or support abortion rights.
Joan Caivano, Jane Marcus-Delgado
Articles & Op-Eds ˙
˙ Latin America Goes Global
Despite taking significant steps towards a more gender-balanced political system –notably the recent adoption of female representation quotas— Colombia, like many other Latin American countries, continues to struggle with the legacies of pervasive social, economic and political inequality that disproportionately affect women. The study gauges the effect that campaign finance has for aspiring female leaders, and puts it in the context of broader social and cultural barriers that hinder women’s political activism throughout the region.
While the overall landscape for reproductive rights showed little change in 2014, there is evidence of glacier-like movement toward easing restrictions on abortion.
Latin American countries have some of the most restrictive reproductive health laws and policies in the world, particularly with regard to abortion. In part this stems from not recognizing reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right. However, imposing legal restrictions on abortion does not reduce the likelihood that women will seek this reproductive health service. Instead, harsh laws compel women to risk their lives and health by seeking out unsafe abortions.
Inter-American Dialogue, Center for Reproductive Rights