It was not until 1945, when the Charter of the United Nations was signed, that the International Women’s Day became the first international agreement that established the principle of equality between women and men.
From these years, the International Women’s Day took on a new global dimension. The growing international movement has helped make the commemoration a unifying element, strengthening the support for women’s rights and their participation in the political, social, cultural and economic spheres.
The Cuban Revolution was a clear example of the female empowerment. From January 1st, 1959, multiple conquests for women and their social emancipation occurred. The Revolution glimpsed the need for an organization that would bring them together, that would defend their interests that would watch over their weaknesses and inequities, as well as the recognition of their human potential. That is when the Federation of Cuban Women was born.
Great Marianas exalt our history and dress it in color. But the work of conquests in terms of gender does not only include the past in Cuba. Nowadays, women reach prominence and gain ground in various sectors.
Cuba is one of the countries with the greatest presence of women in the Parliament, the same happens in other aspects of the society. During the pandemic, Cuban women have been on the front line, side by side with men, as in every task: in the family, in science, in the health care.
This vision is supported by a clear political will of the Cuban State on female empowerment and the achievement of the social achievements in favor of gender equality in the country.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel Bermúdez called for Cuban women to be increasingly emancipated in the Revolution after evaluating several of the measures included in the National Plan for the Advancement of Women, approved in Presidential Decree 198 of 2021 and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic.
Today, part of the history of Mariel Container Terminal S.A. has women as the protagonist told in the first person. Currently, we have a workforce of 509 and 101 are female, who are present in all areas of our Terminal and they fulfill various tasks and responsibilities: from the task of ensuring the structural maintenance of our facilities, and also the commitments in the heart of the port operations.
Meanwhile, of the 17 cadres that we have in the company, 3 of them are represented by women. Thus, TC Mariel is another example of the transforming role of women in the development of a fairer society.
From a historical perspective, March 8th, proclaimed the International Women’s Day, it defends opportunities and rights that have been historically reserved for men. A battle for equality and it has naturalized an ancient culture of domination and exclusion.
It is no longer just basic rights already achieved in terms of gender, but also the physical and the psychological integrity, the possibility of deciding about our body, sexual orientation and gender identity, equal pay and respect in work spaces, the distribution of other forms of domestic and care work, respectful and equitable relationships, just to mention a few.
Starting from there, feminist struggles allow us, day after day, to continue revealing gender inequalities, the domestic and sexual violence.
We live in times of establishing alliances, of explaining and adding. History has opened glorious pages of female confirmation. For those who opened the way, in addition, we have to claim what is missing. While the challenges are there, the first step is to seek for a more just world for all.