Acknowledging Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Latin American Constitutions. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2017, from https://rewire.news/article/2008/06/10/ackowledging-sexual-and-reproductive-rights-latin-american-constitutions/

“As Pope Francis Visits Ecuador, Women There Say They’re Losing Ground.” Public Radio International. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Collyns, Dan, and Jonathan Watts. “Ecuador Election: Moreno Facing Runoff as 40% Vote Looks out of Reach.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 20 Feb. 2017. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

“Governments Step Up for Reproductive Rights.” Human Rights Watch. N.p., 28 Feb. 2017. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Guidi, Ruxandra. “Is Ecuador’s Correa Blurring the Lines between Religion and Politics?” The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 05 Mar. 2015. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Mora, E. A. (1991). Ecuador since 1930. In L. Bethell (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Latin America: (pp. 687–726). Retrieved from https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy.rice.edu/core/books/the-cambridge-history-of-latin-america/ecuador-since-1930/01470B5E4EB7A7420BA70DA25269B6D2

Sexual Health as a Human Right: Ecuador’s Unique Model. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2017, from https://www.cfhi.org/sexual-health-as-a-human-right-ecuadors-unique-model

The Struggle for Abortion Rights in Ecuador. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2017, from https://rewire.news/article/2013/04/04/the-struggle-for-abortion-rights-in-ecuador/

The World Factbook: ECUADOR. (2017, January 12). Retrieved January 30, 2017, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ec.html

When I was initially applying to the Loewenstern Fellowship and looking at the different programs I could do, I was immediately drawn to CFHI’s program in Quito, Ecuador: Sexual Health as a Human Right. Partially because when I in high school I had the opportunity to visit the Galapagos Islands and spent a few days in Quito, which I thought was a beautiful and interesting city. Ever since then I’ve wanted to go back to Ecuador and spend more time exploring the country and Quito. Additionally, since I came to Rice and started volunteering at the Women’s Resource Center, I’ve become very interested in women’s health and rights as well as topics like sexual education. I grew up in a pretty liberal town in Massachusetts so it has been interesting living in Texas where many people are much more conservative than I’m used to. I think the opportunity to work with CFHI in Ecuador will help me combine my interests in Spanish and Latin America with my interest in women’s health and sexual education.

Researching and writing this independent study project, I’ve learned so much about Ecuador and the history and current status of women’s health and sexual and reproductive rights in Ecuador. This project has also made me even more excited for my experience abroad working with CFHI in Quito. However, there are still a lot of questions I want to answer. Primarily I’m interested in seeing how the NGO I will be working with, CEMOPLAF is able to operate within such a strongly Catholic and conservative society and political environment. CEMOPLAF provides many services relating to women’s health and sexual and reproductive health, similar to Planned Parenthood in the United States. I think about all the backlash and controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood here in a generally much more liberal environment and wonder how CEMOPLAF is able to achieve its goals in a much more conservative setting. I’m looking forward to talking with employees and volunteers at the NGO to hear about their experiences and their thoughts on the conservative politics and society in Ecuador and how that relates to and affects the goals of the NGO.

I am also curious about the seeming contrast between official policy surrounding sexual and reproductive health in Ecuador and the actual reality women are facing there. Although Ecuador is the only Latin American country to have explicitly guaranteed the right to sexual and reproductive health in its constitution, from my research many of the actions of the president and other policies surrounding women’s health seem to go against the official policy. Many articles I read suggest that women are losing ground in the struggle for sexual and reproductive rights despite the constitutional guarantee. It will be interesting to hear people’s opinions on official policy surrounding these issues so that I can learn more about the actual situation.

Overall, this research project has definitely helped me prepare myself for my experience abroad and I’m more excited than ever for this new experience. I’m looking forward to getting firsthand experience at the NGO because I think I will be able to learn a lot more than I can from articles and online resources. I think that meeting with the employees and volunteers and hearing about their experiences will be very interesting and that I’m going to learn a lot more.

Faculty Connection

For my faculty connection, I spoke with Dr. Leslie Schwindt-Bayer. She is a political science professor and researches women’s representation in Latin America as well as political institutions in Latin America. My conversation with Dr. Schwindt-Bayer was very interesting. We discussed how the Catholic Church influences political institutions in Ecuador as well as the current presidential election.

As Ecuador is one of the most Catholic countries in Latin America, with over 70% of the population practicing Roman Catholicism, Ecuador’s politics are heavily influenced by the church. Dr. Schwindt-Bayer discussed how in very Catholic countries in Latin America, like Ecuador, the political institutions really just follow the practices and beliefs of the Catholic Church. This has a lot of implications for women’s rights, especially women’s right to access sexual and reproductive health, as the church tends to promote a more abstinence-only method of contraception and is very unfavorable towards pro-choice abortion policies. For this reason, many politicians are very hostile to the promotion of women’s sexual and reproductive health. This has been very evident in the research I’ve done on Ecuador so far so it was interesting to hear Dr. Schwindt-Bayer’s comments.

Dr. Schwindt-Bayer also studies elections in Latin America. We talked about how the current President, Rafael Correa, has been the first president to serve a complete term of 10 years in a very long time. Ecuador has a lot of small, divided political parties. For the past few decades, few presidents have remained in office for very long, and different political parties have held different offices. This has caused significant political instability; however, these past 10 years in Ecuador with President Correa have marked a distinctly more stable period for Ecuador. Dr. Schwindt-Bayer suggested that it might be best if the candidate and vice-president under Correa, Lenin Moreno, wins the election. This would continue this period of political continuity for Ecuador as the political party in power will stay the same. This unprecedented continuity could improve political stability in Ecuador and possibly relieve some current issues like the rising debt and corruption.

After talking to Dr. Schwindt-Bayer, I’m very interested to see how the NGO I will be working with, CEMOPLAF, operates in the political and religious climate in Ecuador. The work of CEMOPLAF seems to directly contradict a lot of policy and opinion towards women’s sexual and reproductive health in Ecuador. I’m curious to see how such a progressive organization is able to function within this context. It will also be interesting to see what happens after the election is complete and what changes the new president will make.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/)

Community Connection

When I’m in Ecuador the community organization I will be working with is the NGO, CEMOPLAF, which is part of the worldwide organization Center for Health Market Innovations. CEMOPLAF was founded in 1974 and is located in Quito and focuses on promoting family planning and reproductive health services primarily to young women from underprivileged backgrounds.  They hope to improve education on sexual and reproductive health and provide low-cost sexual and reproductive healthcare to people in need.

This organization addresses the need for better sexual and reproductive education and health services in Ecuador, especially among lower-income populations. Many people in Ecuador have little exposure to this kind of education or these health services due to religious values and stigmas surrounding the topic. CEMOPLAF tries to combat this need by creating outreach and education programs and also by helping people who cannot afford the health services they need.  They work with several other NGOs and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health to provide these services and outreach programs.

I still haven’t received much information about what I will be doing with the organization. I will be volunteering with them, probably working with them on their outreach programs or counselling services. I’m really looking forward to working with the organization and learn more about what kind of services they offer. I think I will learn a lot that I can bring back home. Although, sexual and reproductive health is generally a more open topic here in the United States. It is still certainly controversial and difficult for some people to talk about. I think my time with CEMOPLAF will teach me strategies and ideas for how to discuss these important topics even in conservative environments.

2017 Presidential Election

Presidential Candidate Lenin Moreno (www.theguardian.com)

Since I wrote my Background and Analysis, Ecuador began their 2017 presidential elections. The article “Ecuador election: Moreno facing runoff as 40% vote looks out of reach,” describes the election that will replace President Rafael Correa who has been in office since 2007. In this election, the two frontrunners are the leftist vice-president under Correa, Lenín Moreno and the right-wing candidate Guillermo Lasso. In the election, Moreno fell just short of the necessary 40% of the votes required to win the presidency. The runoff elections will take place in the beginning of April. The new president will inherit an increasing national debt and corruption as well as a variety of other issues.

As Correa has been president for 10 years now, a change in presidency could cause some upheaval in Ecuador. While Moreno would be likely to continue with policies similar to Correa, a win by Lasso or any of the other candidates could cause some serious change in Ecuadorian policy. It will be interesting to see how the new president handles topics such as women’s equality and women’s rights.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/19/ecuadorian-ruling-party-candidate-ahead-in-exit-polls

U.S. Mexico City Policy

Just a few weeks ago, Trump reinstated the U.S. Mexico City Policy as described in the article “Governments Step Up for Reproductive Rights.” This policy ends U.S. funding going towards NGOs around the world that provide abortion services or give information about abortions, even though these NGOs do not use the U.S. government funding from for abortions, rather that money goes to services such as family planning programs, contraception, and gynecological checkups. It is estimated that there are over 225 million women around the world who are unable to access affordable contraception. This policy is likely to increase unplanned pregnancies and prevent millions of women from using contraceptives. In Ecuador, where abortion is severely restricted, women are driven to unsafe abortions and doctors are unable to do anything to help due to the severe laws.

While I don’t think this U.S. policy will affect the NGO I will be working with this summer, it will likely affect many NGOs around Latin America that provide important health services for many women and also educate youth about sexual and reproductive health. Ecuadorian women already face many struggles in accessing adequate healthcare and contraception. This policy will have a serious impact on women around the world and in Ecuador as fewer women are able to access the healthcare they need. When women are unable to access contraception and maternal care, maternal deaths increase due to unplanned pregnancies and complications. I think this policy will only exacerbate the issues women face around the world and in Ecuador.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/02/28/governments-step-reproductive-rights

President Correa: Religion and Politics

The article “Is Ecuador’s Correa blurring the lines between religion and politics?” discusses how President Correa’s policies often seem to come from his catholic background. Religion has influenced Correa’s healthcare, poverty reduction, and education policies during his time in office. While Ecuador has decreased teen pregnancies during Correa’s term it still has the highest teen pregnancy rate in all of Latin America. Correa has also appointed a pro-life, abstinence-only advocate, Monica Hernandez, as the head of the National Interagency Strategy for Family Planning and the Prevention of Teen Pregnancies.

While Correa has publicly supported the use of contraception, he has also made a case for an abstinence-only approach and is strongly opposed to abortion on the basis of his Catholicism. These contradictions indicate how women’s health and access to these kinds of health services are still an extremely controversial and difficult topic in Ecuador. Religion clearly has a huge impact on women’s ability to access necessary health services and also affects many aspects of the nation’s policies.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2015/0305/Is-Ecuador-s-Correa-blurring-the-lines-between-religion-and-politics

Losing Ground in the Fight for Women’s Rights

Graffiti painted by pro-choice advocates in Quito (www.pri.org/stories)

While Ecuador does guarantee access to sexual and reproductive healthcare to all in their constitution, the article “As Pope Francis visits Ecuador, women there say they’re losing ground,” describes how women are continuing to struggle to obtain equal rights and are losing some of the progress they have made. Correa is considered to have some of the strictest policies towards women’s rights and health. Correa and his policies suggest a rise in conservatism that may undermine much of the progress women have made within the last few decades.

This article makes me wonder about how the NGO I will be working with deals with this kind of environment that is so hostile to what they are doing. This article also talked about how it’s very difficult to find birth control commercially. Most pharmacies don’t carry birth control and it’s often necessary to find it on the streets which can be very expensive. It seems like NGOs like the one I will be working with are probably the only way for low-income women to get access to birth control. Reading these articles has really shown me how essential these NGOs are for women in Ecuador.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-07-04/pope-francis-visits-ecuador-women-there-say-theyre-losing-ground

Sources:

“As Pope Francis Visits Ecuador, Women There Say They’re Losing Ground.” Public Radio International. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Collyns, Dan, and Jonathan Watts. “Ecuador Election: Moreno Facing Runoff as 40% Vote Looks out of Reach.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 20 Feb. 2017. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

“Governments Step Up for Reproductive Rights.” Human Rights Watch. N.p., 28 Feb. 2017. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Guidi, Ruxandra. “Is Ecuador’s Correa Blurring the Lines between Religion and Politics?” The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 05 Mar. 2015. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Ecuador: Background and History

Quito, Ecuador (Lonely Planet Images)

Located on the west coast of South America, Ecuador lies on the equator and is bordered by Peru, Colombia, and the Pacific Ocean. Home to the Galapagos Islands, Cotopaxi, the tallest active volcano on the planet, as well as sections of the Andes Mountains and the Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador has a variety of distinct climates and is well known for its unique ecology and diverse natural landscape. Ecuador has a population of just over sixteen million people, 71.9 % of which are mestizo. The rest of the population is primarily comprised of Amerindian groups and people of African and European descent.

Ecuador, originally called Quito, formed part of the northern Inca Empire until the Spanish conquest in 1533. In 1563, Quito, became a seat of government for the Spanish colonial empire. In 1717, along with Colombia and Venezuela, Quito became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, a jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire, until 1819 when the three territories gained independence from Spain, forming a state called Gran Colombia. Ecuador quickly withdrew from Gran Colombia in 1830, and the República del Ecuador, now commonly known as Ecuador, was founded as an independent nation. After many years of regional fragmentation, conflicts and wars over borders, political instability, including several military dictatorships, and dramatic changes in government, Ecuador became a constitutional democracy in 1979. This constitutional, representative democracy has been maintained since 1979, despite continued political instability and several changes to the constitution. The current president, Rafael Correa, has served as president since 2007.

Ecuador’s Flag (Wikipedia)

The official language of Ecuador is Spanish, but a variety of indigenous languages like Quichua are recognized and widely spoken in certain areas of the country. Over 63% of the Ecuadorian population inhabits urban areas, primarily the capital, Quito, and Guayaquil, a large coastal city. Additionally, 74% percent of the population practices Roman Catholicism, and about another 15% of the population practices other forms of Christianity. The rich Ecuadorian culture is defined by the large mestizo population, meaning that most cultural practices, traditions, and celebrations incorporate aspects of both European and Amerindian cultures.

Currently, Ecuador’s economy is classified as developing and relies on commodities, primarily petroleum exports, which have accounted for over 25% of the public sector revenues for the past several years. Ecuador also exports agricultural products, especially bananas, flowers, and cocoa.  In 1999, a banking crisis significantly affected the Ecuadorian economy, increasing poverty dramatically throughout the country. Since 2000, when Ecuador adopted the US dollar as its currency and made many economic reforms, the economy has been growing steadily. However, about 25% of the population continues to live below the poverty line. This rate is much better than it was in the early 2000’s when 40% of the population was estimated to live in poverty, representing significant progress in the last few years. Increased social spending, especially on education and health, has decreased poverty; however, poverty as well as extreme income inequality continues to significantly affect rural, indigenous, and mixed race populations.

Policy Analysis: Reproductive and Sexual Health in Ecuador

This summer I will be working with an NGO in Quito, Ecuador that focuses on providing free or low-cost family planning and related health services to Ecuadorian citizens. The NGO works in 11 provinces of Ecuador to provide reproductive and sexual health services. They operate 26 clinics throughout those 11 provinces, where women can get access to contraception, learn about family planning, and receive gynecological, prenatal, and maternal care. They also work to provide comprehensive sexual education to Ecuadorian communities and spread awareness about reproductive and sexual health topics such as the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy prevention.

El Panecillo, Quito, Ecuador (touristeandoecuador.com)

Women throughout Latin America have long struggled for women’s equality and women’s rights. As Ecuador, and most countries in Latin America, are primarily Roman Catholic and relatively conservative, Latin American women have especially faced difficulties in getting access to high-quality sexual and reproductive healthcare. Additionally, the concept of machismo, or strong masculine pride and sense of masculine power and domination, has been a central component of Latin American culture for centuries. A combination of Catholicism and machismo culture has created a stigma around sexual and reproductive health which has a significant influence in policy and government as well as public opinion on the issues. Although there has been significant progress in the last few decades, today, Latin American countries still tend to have some of the strictest laws in the world regarding reproductive and sexual health, especially regarding various forms of birth control and abortion. The vast majority of Latin American countries do not recognize reproductive rights as a human right.

Within this context, Ecuador actually has relatively liberal policy regarding reproductive and sexual rights. After a long campaign fought by the Ecuadorian Women’s Movement, the 1998 Ecuadorian constitution guaranteed sexual and reproductive health rights to all Ecuadorian citizens, designating sexual and reproductive health as fundamental human rights. In comparison to other Latin American countries, this policy is very progressive. No other Latin American country has explicitly guaranteed these rights in their constitution. This constitution also included provisions guaranteeing gender equality in education, healthcare, property rights, and equal rights in the workplace. The Ministry of Public Health has also launched campaigns in the last few years focused on adolescent pregnancy prevention and control of sexually transmitted diseases.

President Rafael Correa (4thmedia.org)

The policies and campaigns regarding sexual and reproductive rights, as well as women’s rights, suggest that the climate surrounding sexuality and reproductive health in Ecuador is changing. At the same time however, President Correa has some of the conservative views and policies regarding women’s rights and women’s health. For example, Correa appointed a pro-life, abstinence-only advocate as the head of the national family planning program. He has also publicly spoken in favor of an abstinence-only approach.

Despite the constitutional recognition of the right to sexual and reproductive health, actually guaranteeing access to sexual and reproductive health to all citizens has remained a challenge for Ecuador. The deep cultural stigmatization of sexual and reproductive health has created barriers against implementation of these policies. This is evident in Ecuador’s maternal and childbirth statistics. The current maternal mortality rate is 110 out of every 100,000 live births. In developed nations, the maternal mortality rate is usually closer to 10-15 deaths out of every 100,000 live births. In addition, Ecuador has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the Andean region of South America. About 17% of teenage girls aged 15-19 are already moms. Access to safe and legal abortion services is almost nonexistent. These statistics show that although Ecuador has progressive policy regarding this issue, the policy has not been well-implemented and many women are still unable to access affordable sexual and reproductive health services.

Per the constitution, the Ecuadorian government is obligated to guarantee sexual and reproductive rights to all citizens. However, women in Ecuador today face a variety of obstacles that prevent them from exercising their rights, including discrimination, gender inequality, and traditional male-female roles. Despite progressive policy and a shifting attitude towards women’s health and rights, Ecuadorian women today still suffer from high maternal mortality rates, inadequate access to affordable healthcare, a lack of information and education on family planning methods and contraceptives, as well as a lack of easy access to contraceptives.

References:

Acknowledging Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Latin American Constitutions. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2017, from https://rewire.news/article/2008/06/10/ackowledging-sexual-and-reproductive-rights-latin-american-constitutions/

Mora, E. A. (1991). Ecuador since 1930. In L. Bethell (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Latin America: (pp. 687–726). Retrieved from https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy.rice.edu/core/books/the-cambridge-history-of-latin-america/ecuador-since-1930/01470B5E4EB7A7420BA70DA25269B6D2

Sexual Health as a Human Right: Ecuador’s Unique Model. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2017, from https://www.cfhi.org/sexual-health-as-a-human-right-ecuadors-unique-model

The Struggle for Abortion Rights in Ecuador. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2017, from https://rewire.news/article/2013/04/04/the-struggle-for-abortion-rights-in-ecuador/

The World Factbook: ECUADOR. (2017, January 12). Retrieved January 30, 2017, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ec.html