Colombia

Quality-of-Life Issues

Social and cultural tradition dictates that a woman's primary role is that of wife and mother. The average age of marriage is the early 20s. The 2009 fertility rate was 2.2 births per woman. Skilled healthcare practitioners attend 96 percent of births. The infant mortality rate is 17 per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality rate is 130 per 100,000 live births. The state social security system provides women with 12 weeks of paid maternity leave at 100 percent of their wages. The Hispanic cultural practice of machismo shapes gender roles, although it is becoming less prevalent in urban as opposed to rural areas. Men are expected to provide the family's main financial support and make household decisions. Women are expected to place their husband's wishes above their own. Women perform most of the domestic chores and childrearing responsibilities, although men often serve as the disciplinarian.

Female school attendance rates stand at 87 percent at the primary level, 71 percent at the secondary level, and 33 percent at the tertiary level. Many children drop out of school to work. Women who receive a higher education are mainly from the upper and middle classes. The 2009 literacy rate for both genders stands at 92 percent. More than half of the population lived below the poverty line in 2001. Although public health standards have been improving, the lack of adequate safe drinking water supplies and sanitation remain problems. Rates of diseases such as malaria also remain high. Other problems include violence against women, trafficking in women and children for the sex trade, kidnappings, narcotics trafficking, instability and conflicts with paramilitary and guerrilla organizations, and human rights violations.

Colombia has rapidly urbanized, leading to problems overcrowding and a lack of housing. The average life expectancy is age 66 for women and age 58 for men. A woman's socioeconomic class also largely determines her public role, especially in urban areas. The upper class is mainly composed of whites, the middle class is mainly comprised of mestizo and mulatto, and the lower class is mainly black and indigenous. Many urban upper-and middle-class women avoid working outside the home because to do so would damage the family's honor and social status. These women do play [Page 310]prominent roles in public institutions such as social groups and churches.

Gender Gap

Most lower-class women must seek outside employment out of financial necessity. Approximately 69 percent of women participate in the labor force. Women make up 49 percent of the paid nonagricultural workforce but only 4 percent of professional and technical workers. Key employers include agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing. Women represent the bulk of primary school teachers and large but diminished percentages at the secondary and tertiary levels. There is a gender gap in terms of the average estimated earned income, which stands at $4,898 for women and $7,902 for men, and unemployment rates, which stand at 13.82 percent for women and 8.69 percent for men. Sexual harassment is pervasive.

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