"The problem of inequality is not just a problem for women, but a problem for the world and the community. Equality between men and women is essential for the world to reach the highest levels of human development and wellbeing.” - Milagros Ortiz de Bosch

iKNOW Politics: How did your career in politics begin? What challenges did you face as a woman political leader, especially being the first vice president of the Dominican Republic? How has your previous training and experience helped you?

Very early on, my family took a stand against the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo (1930-1961). It was really very difficult. At that time, my family was united in combat and was persecuted. So it was natural for my parents and grandparents to include us in that struggle for democracy and equality because in that era of tyranny, the most important thing was to achieve freedom. I think that my spirit was formed through the family. You could often find the opponents of the dictatorship organizing in the living room of my house.

A large number of Dominicans participated in the fight for democracy from these clandestine groups. A woman could be certain that she was taking the same risks as her fellow companions, which was perhaps both a privilege and a misfortune. As a result, there was a certain ease in recognizing oneself as a human being capable of fighting and combating together against the other. The origin of my involvement in politics was the fight against the dictatorship — the passion for freedom and democracy and later the aura or halo that this fight gives, such as recognition from certain social sectors.

I went through what all young people of that era went through: prison, exile, deportation. But as soon as the time was right, I took up the political life on the side that was the most important for me — the struggle for democracy. My involvement in public life began in the year 1961 and at 20 years of age, I might have been the only woman that participated in the revision of the constitutional project in 1963. Professor Juan Bosch, who headed the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), had a large influence on me. I have had the honor of being a senator for two terms (1994-1998 and 1998-2002), as well as vice president and secretary of education (2000-2004).

I have also been involved and contributed to reforms that fill me with much satisfaction. One that I can mention is the reform of the Dominican justice system, which was something I fought for. Today, we have the satisfaction of having a groundbreaking justice system in Latin America. I also contributed to the reform and modernization of Congress. A particularly important event, which could be useful for iKNOW Politics, took place in 1997.

Though I earned a large number of votes, I was the only woman senator. Back then there was a good number of pending reforms in the country to benefit women and we managed to go forward with some of them, such as the Law against Inter-Family Violence, the General Education Law with a gender perspective, the first Women’s Quota Law, the creation of the Secretary for Women, and others. I further collaborated in prompting the creation of a mechanism to organize women from political parties and civil society, such as the Honorable Commission of Women, which was very important for the Senate.

iKNOW Politics: What was the role that women’s organizations and women politicians played in the post-dictatorship Dominican Republic in facilitating and giving other women access to decision-making positions?

I think that Dominican society stagnated and that women, at best, felt too satisfied with what we had achieved. There was also an electoral reform that created the preferential vote, which annulled the triumphs that women had gotten through laws. I think it is important to highlight here that one thing is the law and another is social mobilization. As long as women do not stick together in their votes; as long as men do not feel that women’s votes can impact their access to power; until women manage to not do what society persuades and for our vote to be just regarding social and gender politics, and for women to be trained in social and economic affairs in order to lead change processes in society; as long as we vote based on personal interests and don’t vote together, in an associate sense as women, it is very improbable that the laws will benefit us.

Furthermore, a law is not a change in culture. There is still a need to modify the culture and the political parties. Women must promote new legal reforms and generate political movements that use them. After the movement of 1997, which is the time that I have been referencing, Dominican society became conservative. We have limited achievements such as 6% of women in the Senate, 19% in the Chamber of Deputies, 11% in the municipal governments, and 26 or 27% in the town councils. If one were to observe these percentages, he or she would realize how the numbers decrease as the importance of the public office increases.

These are some of the difficulties in this historic struggle for power. I always say in conferences or events where I have the opportunity to talk to men and women — because men also need to be talked to on the issue that women are not the only ones bound by the problem of gender and discrimination. The following is an example that I always make in university lectures: if I were to break one of the bones in my arm and was in a cast for a long time, the day that they remove the cast I will not yet be able to move it as I do the other arm that was never hurt. The power of women has been in a cast for thousands of years.

It is not a problem of women, but rather of society. For women to acquire the role that they must acquire is a problem of public health, it is a problem of production and of the real struggle against poverty. Notice that the most progressive governments or those that maintain a progressive group of voters are those that take more steps in advancing toward equality. The opposite would be an attempt to maintain the problem of slavery during a time of democracy. The problem of inequality is not just a problem for women, but a problem for the world and the community. Equality between men and women is essential for the world to reach the highest levels of human development and wellbeing.

iKNOW Politics: As you have already mentioned, laws are not enough. Structural reforms are needed to accompany them. From your perspective, what principal strategies do you think must be put into practice in order to achieve real gender equality at all levels of Dominican society?

If I were to take the DNA of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero [current president of Spain] or that of Ricardo Lagos [former president of Chile, 2000-2006], I would find a passion for democracy and a sense of justice. They have the certainty that their role is to achieve a world of equal wellbeing. There is no formula; if there is no political will to do it, there is no commitment to that reality. Education is essential. Women have a role to educate the new generations, especially on equality. Women cannot repeat the pattern of the past 20 years, particularly of being in the household. Today the world is not as it used to be.

iKNOW Politics: The importance of solidarity among women is often highlighted. For example, in iKNOW Politics’ E-Discussion on gender quotas as a way to promote women in politics (June 4-11, 2008), one of the participants from Sudan mentioned that the lack of solidarity among Sudanese women broke what could have been a strong women’s political movement. What has your experience been on this issue and what lessons have you learned?

I have not been a beneficiary of solidarity among women, but I am committed to this solidarity. I have not been a feminist leader. I have been a leader who believes in equality, and who believes in the obligation to achieve full freedom in exercising the human rights of each individual. Therefore, I have an obligation to women and my party had a policy in that regard that I followed with pleasure. Due to my own solidarity, I have never withdrawn from a campaign so that society doesn’t say women withdraw from campaigns. Although many women could have negotiated their votes [for political favors], there was always a small group among those who refrained. I have never expected solidarity from women though I have given them the opportunity to be supportive.

But I do have the honor of having always been very supportive of the cause and very committed to equality. I am continuing to defend, advance and explain the concept of equality, and I am seeking reasons and foundations to keep it progressing. There is a serious problem that I would like to mention here, which is the patronage system. This system is the most terrible weapon against women and that women practice. Women feel that in order to access power they have to have someone to help them through using the patronage system. However, those who help women, diminish their roles. In each era of human evolution extraordinary things happen that can change the course of things.

The patronage system and poverty are two disastrous instruments against women because women become chained by them. Intelligent programs against poverty are necessary. But it is the creation of employment and opportunities, the vision of human development, the ability to choose, that will decide the path women take regarding their own equality. I am both a victim and a beneficiary of different times that I lived through.

iKNOW Politics: You are a woman of a political party. How did you manage to shape your leadership and become a candidate? What do you think of women’s groups in political parties and what would you propose to increase women’s participation in party’s decision-making?

I have always earned positions through internal elections. I was never recommended for an office. Even the vice presidency was decided based on my votes. Political parties in Latin America have gone through different stages. With the presence of Dr. José Francisco Peña Gómez in our party, we had a progressive man, a man close to Lagos, and close to people who go beyond modern barriers. In the political party crisis, given the lack of ideology and the predominance of total pragmatism of power for power, I think that women’s development process, such as in politics, has been decreasing.

I cannot say that Dominican society has become more conservative, but will say that the parties are part of this society. Each contribution that I made was not due to my efforts alone but with the women in my party, with the deputies of my party and all the other parties. If we hadn’t created a force, we would not have been able to develop further. The Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) had quotas even before the quota law was adopted. These quotas were passed through an internal party regulation.

iKNOW Politics: Though there is a clearly unequal distribution of power, it is true that women need the support of men in order to achieve equality. Based on your experience, what are the best strategies of including men in processes that favor the advancement of gender equality, specifically in the area of political participation?

Strategies without a plan, without a project or without an ideology do not go anywhere. First, it is important to clearly understand why one wants to be part of power and one should know what is needed in order to get it. In the candidacies for senate, I had to compete against the strongest men in my party. I had been directing the party bases in my district for a long time, and the advances were extraordinary. We women regionalized the party member registry and enforced accountability. We involved ourselves with the social base. Then, the party hierarchy could not avoid the majority from expressing itself and there was a presence — a movement much more advanced in our party’s political base.

I had never taken part in the patronage system, which hadn’t advanced as it did later as a result of excessive pragmatism, which has become politics in the Dominican Republic since 1996. For that, I won the senate elections twice; the second time I won with 63% of votes. What recommendation would I give? Strategy is knowing that democracy is constituted in the majority. The majority is not made through talking about only one issue, but rather representing and interpreting society as a whole and dedicating yourself to those who need more of our care in order to grow. Choosing points of alliance is fundamental. Afterward, preparing in order to speak on any issue, knowing about economics and history is important as well. Men reduce women through any means. I remember in my party when I made an acceptable commentary, a male fellow party member behind said, “The green-eyed woman that talked first,” in order to highlight that I was woman.

This can be overcome by being a hard worker, training yourself, studying and being representative. If you do not represent, then you have nothing to look for, you will always be the object of a negotiation. I think that, fundamentally, it is necessary to teach women strategies. If they add, you should too. If they divide, you should too. If they make allies, you should too. If they get close to people, you should too. If they have money in order to do something, you have to conceive a plan in order to do the same with new methods, be creative. For example, modern mechanisms to carry campaigns forward are there, but the costs are impeding women from accessing this opportunity. In these issues we must also keep fighting — for example, in how to distribute the funds of political parties that receive state funding without discriminating against women, because this is the aspect of parties that most hinders their participation.

iKNOW Politics: You have been and still are involved in training women political leaders. Several specialists indicate that now is a time when young people feel disenchanted or skeptical — if not downright cynical — of politics. What do you think about this? How do you see the process of forming new political leaders in your country?

The adolescence that I experienced is not the same as that of today. Youths do not have the same interests. Now, young people have the problem of drug addiction, sexual freedom and the decadence of our societies. Today, women go out to work early in the morning and the grandmothers, like me, are not at home taking care of the grandchildren. The government has not thought of a new way to organize society. Who takes care of the children of mothers that work in the duty-free zone or banks?

Who has realized that the family has suffered very important changes and that the government has to somehow revise this situation so that youth can begin to pursue more logical goals of development and growth and can build their own vision of this world? On the other hand, the State does not even understand that women are half of the world or that youth is half of all the worlds. Political parties lack what we demand most such as ethics, transparency, results, representation and fulfillment of promises. So if the State is the sum of all that a country aspires and the country elects someone to direct it, and the people discover all these flaws, what is the inspiration? I think that the economic crisis we are experiencing will sink the Bretton Woods agreements for good and as a result, will have to arrive at a new international agreement.

In this process, it is very possible to find a space to understand new people — youths — and the role of women. It isn’t possible to change one foot’s shoe to one color and the other foot’s shoe to another color. As the beautiful song of Mercedes Sosa goes, “he who doesn’t change everything, changes nothing.” The extraordinary advances in health, in research, stem cells, DNA, technology, etc., require a change in society’s perspectives. Those that stay at the margin do so because they do not have a global sense of what is happening in the world.

This is the time to think about women and young people because it is the only way to defeat poverty at its roots. For people who have been poor for 70 years, it is very difficult to get involved in production, development and growth. But to concede the opportunity or task to create to young people and women who are coming forward is to change the world. Politics is the art of conquering power. Whoever is in power can raise your taxes or university tuition, change school curriculum and your street address, alternate how to orient yourself — by telling you whether you should go from south to north or north to south. Politics gets into sports, it invades everything. When one isolates oneself from politics, this space — since there are no empty spaces — is filled by negative politics. One has to be in politics because politics is the foundation of the State’s organization. Young women have to be in politics.

To isolate oneself from politics is like refusing to breathe, because politics is like air. You and I are sitting here for political reasons. Because you believe that I can tell you something interesting and you are working for an interesting idea, and it is political — both of us are. Then everyone who believes that the world can be better can make it a better place if he or she does politics. This is my message, that is my life and — I must also add — it gives satisfaction. If politics leads from an ideology and a way of acting, it gives infinite happiness. This can be found from the smile of a woman who tells you, I went and complained because my husband was hitting me, to being able to say, there is a social security law that gives me health. I know it’s tough for women, but it is much more beautiful when you choose to do it.

iKNOW Politics: What kind of influence have networks and working in networks had on your work? Do you think they are useful? In this context, what is your opinion on iKNOW Politics?

A few years ago I was called by a group of organizations to be part of a panel on political parties. I believe that the political party crisis is due to a failure to adapt to technology. Parties must function in networks; interests must be linked by a network. I believe in technology, in the facilities that the world of today gives us in order to, for example, converse with so many people that we don’t know, or for them to enter my blog or webpage. So it is clear to me that this is a modern way for us to communicate. I believe that the power to get close to each other and converse is very valuable. There are already various networks of women and I think that the iKNOW Politics project is fundamental.

iKNOW Politics: And as a closing comment, could you tell us if you have any future agenda for the issues we’ve been discussing?

I am organizing my own conferences, either written or virtually. The issues are related to political parties. I also participate in a citizen education program because my impression is that the problems we have in Latin America, particularly in political parties, are due to a lack of active citizenship. I dedicate myself to this with much affection. As part of this program, I collaborate with a radio program in one of the most prominent stations in the country, which has an extraordinary audience. There we explain how to be a community, how to get organized in order to solve a problem, as well as larger, more conceptual issues. We teach people what laws are and how they are created and mainly how to empower themselves as citizens. I am frequently invited to speak at conferences, to converse with people on these issues, and at some point I will have to deal with some party matters.

For now, I am taking a break, waiting to see how this goes, and organizing my life a little bit. I have worked and fought so much that there are many parts of my life that are in little pieces and I suddenly feel that I must stop to put it together like a jigsaw puzzle. Put pieces together and rethink things, because I have talked to you about my successes. We almost always forget the things in which we have failed.