Title: Constitutionalizing Gender Difference: Implications for Women’s Rights Advocacy in the Southern Cone Authors: Druscilla

Title: Constitutionalizing Gender Difference: Implications for Women’s Rights Advocacy in the Southern Cone Authors: Druscilla L. Scribner, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Priscilla A. Lambert, Western Michigan University Abstract: This paper examines the use of gender in constitutions and its significance for gender equality. New democracies, and some older ones, are increasingly including gender provisions in their constitutions. How do women’s groups and rights advocates utilize these provisions as part of a wider strategy for policy change? Under what political conditions are such advocacy strategies successful in shaping policies that affect gender equality? To address these questions, we trace the political use of gendered constitutional provisions in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, countries that differ substantially with respect to how they have “constitutionalized” gender. Within the case studies we examine three policy areas— family law, gender-based violence, and workplace equality and discrimination—and analyze the interaction between constitutional provisions, national legislation, and local women’s movements. The three case studies demonstrate comparatively how various constitutional provisions provide a legal basis and legitimacy for women’s rights advocacy and influence the content of gender policy.