HAVANA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- For Cubans, it is normal that women and men earn the same wages for doing the same work.
Estela Sarmiento, 42, who works at a government ministry, earns as much as her male colleagues and even heads a department where she is the only woman.
"For Cuban women, this is something normal," Sarmiento told Xinhua, highlighting the significant social and economic gains of Cuba's women.
Cuba's Constitution, passed in April 2019, recognizes gender equality in all spheres of society, and women's contribution to all kinds of productive and social tasks.
In a message posted to Twitter Tuesday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote: "To all Cuban women, who with their work make the Homeland proud, congratulations on Women's Day and thank you for sustaining and raising creative resistance every day."
Cuban women account for nearly 49 percent of the members of the National Assembly of People's Power (the unicameral parliament), 51 percent of provincial governments and 34 percent of municipal governments.
In addition, they account for 53 percent of those working in the country's scientific and technological sectors, and 68 percent of researchers, according to 2019 data.
The female labor force has grown from 37 percent to 39 percent out of a total of just over 4.5 million employed people.
About 4 million women are members of the Federation of Cuban Women, whose current secretary general, Teresa Amarelle, highlighted the recent approval of a comprehensive strategy to combat domestic violence.
The Cuban government approved in October 2020 a National Program for the Advancement of Women, which was put into effect by a March 8 presidential decree in 2021.
Clotilde Proveyer, a professor at the University of Havana and a specialist in gender studies, told local media there were still strong patriarchal conceptions that need to be overcome through cultural change.
"Cubans must broaden their knowledge of rights and understand that gender issues are not only of interest to women, since equality is everyone's problem," said Proveyer. ■
