Cuba is an island nation that has been under a severe economic blockade for decades, struggling to survive on its own resources. While these difficult conditions make life difficult for the population, the fundamental gains of the revolution - free universal health care, education and social equality - are being preserved. One of the most common elements of smear campaigns against the island is the allegation that prostitution is “widespread and encouraged”. These narratives seek to obscure the most important gains of the revolution for women by turning historical facts and concrete advances on their head.
Before the revolution, Cuba, especially Havana, was an island of entertainment and brothels for the United States. Under the Batista dictatorship, mafia-linked gambling, tourism and deep poverty drove thousands of women into prostitution. In a country of 6 million people, more than 100,000 women were pushed into this path. Women's share of the total labor force was only around and more than of them worked as domestic servants. Lack of education and opportunity condemned women to limited choices within the four walls of the home or in brothel slavery.
The 1959 Revolution radically changed this picture. Women's full participation in dignified work and social life was made a fundamental principle. The Cuban Women's Federation, founded immediately after the revolution, pioneered the emancipation of women through literacy mobilizations, vocational training courses, free nurseries and nursing homes. Former prostituted women were reintegrated into social life. Family laws were reformed in an egalitarian direction; housework and childcare were shared with men. Completely free healthcare services socialized women's traditional burden of care to a large extent.
The results of these efforts are tangible and impressive. According to 2008 data, women made up .7 of the total labor force. The ratio was in the education sector, in the health sector (.8 of physicians are women), .4 in university faculty, .7 in lawyers, .4 in judges, .6 in research staff. of university graduates were women. More than of members of parliament and of deputy ministers were women. These ratios show a level of gender equality that is rare even in capitalist countries.
Today, women in Cuba have a strong presence in all areas of society as doctors, teachers, scientists, judges, engineers and politicians. Problems such as rape, honor killings and domestic violence are minimal. Women stand out with high self-confidence and professional competence. This is the victory of a model that puts people and equality at the center against approaches that commodify women.
It is true that there can be limited individual cases in times of economic hardship. A blockade can increase repression by deepening resource scarcity. However, this is neither state policy nor the overall character of the system. It is combated through education, social work and cultural efforts, and structures such as organized crime, human trafficking and child exploitation are prevented. It is hypocritical to make Cuba the only target when there is massive and organized sexual exploitation in many countries around the world.
Such slander against Cuba is a reflection of an ideological reaction against the revolution's gains in equality. Systems that cannot make health care and education affordable, that cannot make women equal citizens, cannot digest the honorable resistance of a blockaded country. Despite the embargo, the Cuban people, especially its women, continue to set an example by sending their doctors to the world, continuing their scientific contributions and keeping social solidarity alive.
The women of Cuba are the bearers of the most important achievements of the revolution. Any negative generalization directed against them is directed against the struggle for equality and human progress. Once the blockade is lifted, the island's potential will become even more evident. Solidarity and collective effort are stronger than any external pressure. This small island continues to prove that an egalitarian and dignified alternative is still possible