The New Constitution: Rights of women and LGBTIQ+ people

Human rights, including the rights of women and LGBTIQ+ people, are recognized in international treaties that Chile has ratified and that are in force. In this sense, there are international commitments that cannot be ignored. This was recognized in the “Agreement for Social Peace and the New Constitution”. For example, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence against Women "Belém do Pará". 

We have to be able to propose, explain and clearly establish the scope of the opening of national law to international law; the position that treaties occupies internally; and the ability to invoke them directly before a Chilean court; and the value of jurisprudence emanating from international courts. 

The philosophy on which the ideals of freedom and equality that sustain some modern democracies rest is that of the liberalism of the “Enlightenment”, which visualized an abstract type of "individual" that supposed in some way to universalize the reality of man, white and with resources . This tended not to make visible the realities and needs of those who did not fit into that category, that is, women, the poor, indigenous, foreigners, etc. In the 20th century, “egalitarian liberalism” and “feminism” emerged that drew attention to the need for basic social institutions to recognize and repair those kinds of injustices that, of social or natural origin, determined people's opportunities. But the idea of liberal equality of the liberalism of the Enlightenment, produced a homogeneity that is not real, ignoring the gender difference and that has turned the concept of "subject of law" into a paradigmatic reference that contributes to leaving intact the power structures that support a sexist legal culture and androcentric.

In Chile, constitutions have been written by and for heterosexual men, therefore, achieving full subjectivity of law has become a challenge for women and the LGBTIQ+ community. To a large extent, the androcentric, patriarchal, hetero and CIS normed paradigm that the law mandates, has failed to recognize the validated social subjectivity for women and LGBTIQ+ people. The constitutional recognition of this legal subjectivity is essential, but it is also necessary to achieve full citizenship for all people, a citizenship that enshrines and promotes the paradigm of equality and enables them to be a full subject of rights without restrictions or obstacles. For this we must recognize the legal subjectivity of women and people of diversity and sexual dissidence, in addition to problematizing the concept of "citizenship" considering the historical exclusion of certain groups, specifically women and people of diversity and sexual dissidence, in order that the consecration of full and effective citizenship is embodied, not just formal.

Alex xx