Transfer of the international gender agenda to the state of Chile: roles, facilitators and obstacles

Abstract

The following paper analyzes the transfer process of the international agenda on women's rights to the Chilean State during the years 1990 to 2019. The specific objectives of the research are to identify the relevant agendas from the position of those involved in this process. The analysis is based on a theoretical approach that incorporates the studies of diffusion and transfer of public policies, and which is detailed first. From a methodological point of view, process tracing was used to collect the information, which allows us to account for the motivations, perceptions and interests of those who make the decisions and create narratives regarding the transfer. For this purpose, a documentary review and semi-structured interviews were conducted with key figures from international organizations (UN Women, ECLAC Gender Affairs Division), political authorities of the mechanism for the advancement of women (former National Service for Women and Gender Equity and since 2015 Ministry of Women and Gender Equity), public officials belonging to the mechanism since the early 1990s (from the Department of International Relations and other units in charge of mainstreaming gender in the State), and members of the feminist movement (including interviews with Corporación Humanas and La Morada).

The article introduces the topic by referring to the possibility of public policies and the state to transform or maintain gender relations, in so far as the activity carried out by the state is not neutral. In this sense, the feminist movement and women's organizations have played a fundamental role in demanding transformative action from the state, and in contributing to the development of the international agenda on gender issues. The article also briefly describes the development of the international agenda on women's rights since the last decades of the 20th century, including binding legal instruments at the universal and regional levels, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979) and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (1994).  Moreover, it examines the political commitments adopted by states at international conferences (United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the World Conference on Women and the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, among others), which have specific follow-up mechanisms. Subsequently, the political context of the State of Chile and the role played by the feminist movement during the different governments are contextualized.

The results of the research conducted are then presented, establishing which international agendas have been relevant during the period from the positions occupied by the different relevant actors identified.  This includes both those that are binding and those that generate political commitments from the States, mainly the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the CEDAW, the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women and the Montevideo Strategy for the Implementation of the Regional Gender Agenda; a difference is established between the content of certain agendas and the milestones for reporting to the follow-up mechanisms, which may have greater or lesser influence depending on the case.  For instance, reporting to the CEDAW Committee isonsidered a relevant milestone, but not the recommendations issued by that treaty body.

Finally, we conclude by recognizing the main elements of the research results, including who intervenes and what roles the international agenda plays from the different positions occupied by the identified actors (high political authority, public officials, from international organizations and from the institutional feminist movement). In this sense, we conclude by determining that the role played by the international agenda has different functions for individuals depending on the position in which they find themselves: for senior political authorities, the international agenda does not mark a milestone that represents a before and after, but rather supports processes that are taking place at the national level; on the other hand, for public officials, the international agenda plays a more important role, in that it is capable of transmitting new ideas, through which public policy is developed; while for civil society, the international agenda is used to pressure States, and milestones that mark a before and after are recognized. The role of international conferences is recognized by all interviewees as a mediating and supportive role.

In turn, the feminist movement identifies certain milestones as fundamental (IV World Conference on Women), but others are less relevant, such as the Consensuses emanating from the Regional Conferences on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean or the Declarations of the Legal and Social Commission on Women. With respect to Security Council Resolution 1325, it is noted that for the feminist movement this did not constitute a strong demand and that it was implemented due to the will and knowledge of the officials in charge. The relevance of the Belém do Pará Convention in the transmission of new knowledge is recognized by all, particularly for those who did not come from the feminist movement, as those who did had already incorporated the notions of violence from that treaty. In turn, with respect to the CEDAW,the presentation of reports by the state and civil society are all recognized as a milestone.  However, it is also recognized that there is a lack of adequate implementation of the concluding observations regarding the examination of the state by the Committee, and this ends up being used by those who have knowledge on the subject.

Likewise, from a critical analysis, certain final reflections are presented which, rather than closing the research topic, leave the way open to continue expanding the transfer of public policies and the implementation of international recommendations. In particular, this includes the role that institutional feminism can play so that we can speak of intersectional and transformative public policies of gender relations and not of maintaining the status quo.  This remains the goal considering that since the beginning of the 90s public policies have sought to eliminate discrimination and structural violence, and yet this continues to persist.