Latina Leaders Unite to Fight Backlash on Gender Equality

By Marlene Peralta

From right to left: Dr. Ana Cepin, Karina Aybar, Alexmi Polanco and moderator, Auretnisse Santos.

A call was made for women's mobilization and participation in electoral politics as the most important way to close the economic gap and achieve gender equity.

This March and for the end of Women's Month, Manhattan was the setting for the first Latina Leaders Summit organized by the National Dominican Women's Caucus. The historic event brought together a diverse roster of prominent women from the United States and the Dominican Republic to discuss the challenges that still exist in achieving gender equity.

Access to education and housing, women's biological and mental health were among the topics discussed at the Summit.

"This [event] is very, very important for the simple reason that if we can look at the backward changes that women have experienced in the last 50 years, we need now more than ever to come together and look realistically at how we work on a united agenda to advance the agenda of Latina women in all its aspects - not only here in New York and in the United States but also globally," added Sandra Harris, Vice President of Government and Community Affairs and member of the summit's organizing committee.

The challenges still facing Latina women are many.

In New York, for example, 70% of people living in shelters in the city are families with children, mostly headed by women. The right to legal assistance is one of the solutions put forward by Jesenia Ponce, a tenants' rights attorney in Manhattan.

The rollback of abortion rights in the United States and Latin America was another of the most prevalent issues at this summit at a time when the Dominican Republic, for example, is the country with the highest rate of teenage pregnancies. Speaker Nicole Pichardo, a women's rights activist in the Dominican Republic, highlighted sex education, access to abortion and access to contraceptives as some of the many measures needed to curb the number of early pregnancies.

We have to stop this "I am Colombian, I am Puerto Rican.We have to unite. Can you imagine if the 22 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean united here, it would be a power. That's what we want," said Zenaida Mendez, co-founder of the National Caucus of Dominican Women, organizer of the event.

Among the prominent speakers, the list included Dominican journalist Altagracia Salazar, former New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot, and New York elected officials Carmen de La Rosa, Amanda Séptimo among others.

A call was made for women's mobilization and participation in electoral politics as the most important way to close the economic gap and achieve gender equity.

"Collective action is what makes us powerful," was the recommendation of prominent journalist Altagracia Salazar during her emotional presentation.

Source: https://www.vamosforward.com/single-post/l%C3%ADderes-latinas-se-unen-en-busca-combatir-el-retroceso-en-la-igualdad-de-g%C3%A9nero