Bibiana Aído: ‘Latin America is advancing the gender agenda in the most sophisticated way’

“It will take a political, economic, or religious crisis for women’s rights to be called into question again.” The new regional director of UN Women for the Americas and the Caribbean, Bibiana Aído (Alcalá de los Gazules, Spain, 48 years old), quotes the French feminist Simone de Beauvoir to assess the recent attacks by some countries in the region against ministries for women. In recent years, Argentina, Panama, and Ecuador have eliminated these departments under the pretext of cutting public spending, despite the enormous challenges faced by half the continent’s population. Gender-based violence remains an emergency: in 2023, 3,897 women were victims of femicide in Latin America and the Caribbean — at least 11 women died every day simply for being women.

In the world’s most unequal region, poverty often disproportionately affects women. And conversely, they are underrepresented in politics: only 35.8% of parliamentary posts are held by women. “The challenges are there in various areas because many gaps remain,” Aído acknowledges in an interview with EL PAÍS. One of these gaps is political violence, a topic of great interest to her. More than 17 years ago, when she was appointed Spain’s first Minister of Equality at just 31 years old, she understood that she had become “a target of the patriarchy simply for existing.” The difference, she asserts, is that at that time, she didn’t even know how to identify that type of violence. “You normalized it in a way. It was like the price of being in politics. You were supposed to put up with it, to receive insults every day. Today, fortunately, I think we have been able to debate and reflect much more on this, and Latin America is becoming a benchmark and a beacon, with laws that specifically address political violence, and with political participation strategies that include elements for its prevention.”

Almost two decades later, after having held various positions at UN Women in the Americas — from New York to Ecuador and Colombia, countries where she was a representative — in September she became the regional director of the organization.

Question. What are your main challenges in this new role as head of UN Women at this challenging time?

Answer. I think we are at a tremendously complex moment with multiple intersecting crises — economic, political, environmental, and social, with high levels of polarization and insecurity — and with a backlash, a threat to the rights agenda in general and the women’s rights agenda in particular. Faced with such a panorama, I think we have many reasons for hope. It is also the region that is advancing the agenda in the most sophisticated way, where debates are taking place, for example, on political violence, on the nexus between climate change, care, and gender. It is the region capable of approving a commitment like the Tlatelolco Declaration, signed at the Regional Conference on Women, which recognizes the right to care, to receive care, and to self-care. I think it is something very different, something that is putting the region at the forefront, making it a benchmark, a beacon for other regions of the world. I believe it is a region with a very solid regulatory framework, advanced in many areas, and with a very vibrant feminist movement and very interesting female leadership, not only at the national level, but also at the local level, which I think gives us a lot of reason for hope and to believe that it is possible not only to stop the regression, but to continue moving the agenda forward.

I believe the priority is to continue advancing an agenda that takes into account territorial and local issues. Change also comes from the ground up, and we can’t lose sight of that. We must focus heavily on intersectionality, particularly on women in situations of greater vulnerability: Afro-descendant women, Indigenous women, women with disabilities — because we are not all the same. Inequality has many layers, and the situation of highly educated white women who want to break the glass ceiling is not the same as that of women stuck on those sticky floors. Considering intersectionality will be crucial. And we must continue to mobilize funding and resources at a time when we know multilateralism is facing enormous challenges. At this moment, when the winds aren’t as favorable as we’d like for the agenda we defend, it’s crucial to continue building alliances among those who are committed, but also to try to bring in those who aren’t yet convinced, to work more with men, because this isn’t an agenda of women against men, but rather one of women and men against an obsolete, decadent, inefficient system that harms us all: patriarchy. And we must continue working in intergenerational, public-private networks, in alliances between international cooperation and the women’s movement. Networks are what sustain us. In difficult times, they are what save us.

Q. Why is it important for men to be actively involved so as not to lose all that the decades-long struggle for equality has achieved?

A. The thing is, feminism benefits society as a whole. This isn’t about women versus men; I believe it has to be about women and men against an inefficient system that does tremendous harm to us all. And I think patriarchy has been clever in trying to create division, to deepen existing gaps, or to tell boys, especially younger ones, using social media, that feminism harms them when, on the contrary, feminism also benefits men, and patriarchy is its real enemy.

There was a very interesting moment with a diverse, cross-cutting feminist movement in the streets, with women from different generations, and men joining in. I think that generated fear, and they were clever in developing strategies to try to stop the clear progress that was coming. However, we mustn’t give up. I think that feminism, as a historical movement, has achieved something unimaginable over all this time. We have to view it with perspective, because sometimes we say, “Well, we’re in a moment of regression.” Yes, but what are the advances that have actually been made in these decades? It’s incredible how women have increased their education. Today, more women are graduating from universities, they have entered the workforce en masse, and they are in leadership positions...

Q. Within the region, if we’re talking about setbacks, is there any country that particularly worries you?

A. I wouldn’t mention any specific country, but it’s more important than ever to have data, evidence, and to work with hard statistics that allow us to demonstrate how gender equality is good for countries: from an economic perspective, in terms of democratic development, and in terms of more efficient and fairer societies. Let’s not fall for the nonsense, as some might say, that this agenda shouldn’t be so politicized, since it’s positive from any perspective. I’m more afraid that authoritarianism and conservatism will use this as a weapon when gender equality is positive for societies and good for all cities and countries, and I think we have the evidence and the data to continue educating people about this.

Q. The UN is dedicating its week of action this November 25 to digital violence. What does it consist of?

A. Digital violence is real. It’s not something that only happens on social media. Between 90% and 95% of all online deepfakes target women. According to recent surveys and studies with UNESCO, 70% of women report experiencing some form of violence, including sexual violence, on social media. It’s time to raise awareness and promote non-violence online, highlighting the impact this has on life, especially for adolescent and young women, and its association with very high levels of bullying and suicide. The idea behind this campaign, this “Join Us” strategy, and the 16 Days of Activism is to bring visibility to the statistics on this reality of digital violence and call on governments to take action, adopt public policies to prevent it, and work with the platforms themselves.

Unfortunately, I think we’re lagging far behind, even by international standards, in this field, which is advancing at a much faster pace. And let’s not even get into the world of artificial intelligence and algorithms, which are still largely dominated by men. We need to change that too and try to increase the number of women in decision-making roles in the world of artificial intelligence. Women currently represent only about 30% of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. Supporting greater participation of women in developing solutions is also crucial for us.

Q. The Mirabal sisters, Latin American women — who were tortured by the Dominican dictator Trujillo — inspired the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Who inspires you within the Latin American feminist movement?

A. I learn from all of them every day. It’s an inspiring feminist movement, diverse, but not scattered. When they know they have a goal, they are able to unite until they achieve it. A transformative feminist movement that, despite the pressures, doesn’t stay silent, and that’s important because it keeps moving forward, pursuing transformations; a movement that has managed to bring visibility to issues like gender violence with campaigns like Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) or the green scarves, for example, with the issue of abortion rights in the case of Argentina. It’s a movement that inspires and a movement that acts, that has clear objectives and designs strategies until it achieves those objectives. In that sense, I learn from them every day about the ability to generate strategy and that here, no one gives up, that it’s always possible to keep walking together.

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