Roundup: LatAm promotes female rights, benefits on Women's Day

Latin American nations marked International Women's Day on Tuesday by promoting equal rights and raising awareness of women's issues.

In Chile, President Michelle Bachelet touted a draft bill on Tuesday to decriminalize abortion. The draft proposed to legalize abortion if the pregnancy endangers the mother's life, if the fetus is non-viable or if the pregnancy is the product of sexual assaults such as rape.

The draft bill has already been rejected by conservative legislators. Abortion has been completely illegal in Chile since Augusto Pinochet banned it towards the end of his reign in the late 1980s.

"I think as women, we have the right to make decisions," Bachelet said at a Women's Day event held at the presidential headquarters.

She added that sending the draft bill to Congress marks "a historic step towards affirming women's rights in all areas."

Bachelet also paid tribute to the seven victims of femicide in Chile so far this year, and pledged to enhance the government's "efforts" to prevent and combat violence against women.

In a short video posted on her Facebook page, Bachelet called on men to shoulder child-rearing tasks with women, since "family responsibilities of raising and caring a child (should be) shared equally."

Also on Tuesday, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto unveiled a program in the central state of Aguascalientes to support women to open businesses with easier access to bank loans.

The program provides low-interest credit of 50,000 pesos (2,790 U.S. dollars) to 5 million pesos (279,000 dollars) for women interested in starting or expanding their own small or medium-sized businesses.

Explaining why the Mexican government wanted to promote the project,Pena Nieto said it would "offer women economic independence" to "break any type of bond which in many households generate violence."

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff also said Tuesday that gender equality is "a priority" of her administration.

The Brazilian government has promoted a state-run aid network, such as the "Casa de la Mujer" or "Woman's House," to provide vulnerable women with shelters and medical, psychological and legal aid.

"They are spaces that offer warmth, orientation, rights, where all the services are available to victims of violence," said Rousseff.

In Venezuela, Rebeca Madriz, member of women's rights group Unamujer and the ruling party's Women's Committee, said on Tuesday that the government has taken measures to help "raise women's status," and encouraged women to take part in and "play a decisive role" in promoting social changes.

"The participation of women in politics has taken a significant leap forward, because today the women are key players" in building Venezuelan socialism, said Madriz.

Peruvian Labor Minister Daniel Maurate said Tuesday that despite some persisting income disparities, women's work and wage conditions in the country have improved.

A report by the Peruvian national statistics institute (INEI) showed that women in Peru earn an average monthly income of 285 U.S. dollars, 30 percent less than their male counterparts at 410 dollars.

Still, the number of women in the work force has risen by 23 percent over the past 10 years to reach 6.947 million, with 70 percent working in small or medium-sized companies with five or fewer employees.

In Argentina, women in different cities held demonstrations in protest of gender-related violence and discrimination on Tuesday.

Laura Marrone, a left-leaning lawmaker in Buenos Aires, said despite campaigns to counter inequality and violence against women, obstacles remain.

"We represent more than 60 percent of the precarious jobs, we earn less than men do for the same work, and we suffer from brutal discrimination and workplace harassment," she said.

"The demonstrations demand the declaration of a national emergency due to gender violence (and) a budget equivalent to 0.1 percent of the gross domestic product for 10 years (to fund) the eradication of violence, and promote pro-choice sex education and contraceptives to avoid unwanted pregnancies or illegal abortions so we don't die," said the legislator. Endi