Be a woman in Cuba: a daily odyssey

In a Cuba plunged into a deep economic and social crisis, being a woman has become a daily challenge. The shortage of basic products, disproportionate domestic burden and lack of economic opportunities affect millions of Cubans, especially those living in rural areas.

For Daudi Hermelo, an activist in Pinar del Río, survival is priority. “We have no pancito that is 25 pesos, for a child to get up the next day for school, what can the woman think of makeup, to be scented? It is quite difficult, ”he says in conversation with Martí News.

Hermelo explains that many women in the countryside resort to coal production to survive.

“Look, that is a Tizne Prieto in Las Naras … because they have to do it to be able to feed their family. If you saw their feet, they are full of cracks, because it is very difficult to reach a couple of boots or tennis, ”he says.

Given the crisis, some women have taken extreme paths to survive. Yanaisy Curbelo, Mother Habanera, says that many have no choice but to resort to prostitution.

“You have to do since, unfortunately, prostitution, to the most unpleasant work. A normal business without stealing anyone either, because here everything is a crime, ”he says.

Access to hygiene and personal care products is another challenge. “A package of intimate (sanitary pads) of 10 units costs you 800 pesos. The shampoo to wash your head, 3 thousand pesos, more than a retiree salary, ”says Curbelo.

The resident in Havana, María Mercedes Benítez, activist of the Women’s Network of Cuba, points out that the challenges go beyond the economic crisis.

«The main problems of women in Cuba today are the wage gap, the disproportionate burden of domestic work that falls on women and girls, work violence, child marriage, sexual harassment and harassment, and gender stereotypes,» he lists.

For those women who oppose the government, the situation is even more critical.

From Palmarito de Cauto, in Santiago de Cuba, the opponent Maidolis Oribes denounces constant surveillance and repression suffered by activists.

“We are monitored 24 hours. State security makes us impossible. My family suffers every time they have taken me detained. My mother suffers from the heart. My husband has heart disease because he says he can’t sleep peacefully. My daughter, with 15 years, has a pressure of 200 because she lives in shock, fearing that they disappear at any time, ”he says.