Temporary special measures to achieve substantive equality for rural women in Chile

Abstract

This paper analyzes how the adoption of temporary special measures recognized by international human rights law, particularly Article 14 of CEDAW, can accelerate the empowerment and economic autonomy of rural women, ensuring their effective participation in rural development, transforming inequality contexts, and promoting substantive equality. Rural women represent almost 6% of Chile's population and face structural and intersectional discrimination and deep inequalities, disproportionately experiencing poverty and hunger, as well as limited access to land and natural resources. In Chile, although there are solid legal bases for implementing these measures in Law No. 20,820, their specific application to rural women has been limited. As recommended by the CEDAW Committee in its concluding observations on the Chilean State's eighth report, the State has a duty to adopt these measures to accelerate substantive equality for rural women.