The Feminist Movement in Puerto Rico: Gender Justice in the Colony

Puerto Rican feminism has always been both a gender struggle and a colonial struggle — because colonialism and patriarchy reinforce each other.

The Suffrage Movement:
- Puerto Rican women fought for the vote starting in the early 1900s
- 1929: Literate women gained the right to vote — a class-restricted suffrage that excluded the majority of women
- 1936: Universal women's suffrage — all women gained the right to vote
- Key figures: Ana Roqué de Duprey (suffragist, educator), Luisa Capetillo (labor feminist), Mercedes Solá (suffragist)
- The suffrage struggle was complicated by colonialism: women were fighting for the right to vote in a colonial government that itself had limited power

Luisa Capetillo (1879-1922):
The foundational figure of Puerto Rican feminism:
- Labor organizer in the tobacco industry
- First woman in Puerto Rico to wear pants in public — arrested for it
- Wrote feminist theory connecting women's oppression to class exploitation
- Advocated for free love, workers' rights, and women's education
- Her feminism was intersectional before the term existed — connecting gender, class, and colonial oppression

The Sterilization Connection:
The mass sterilization of Puerto Rican women (1930s-1970s) is a feminist issue:
- Approximately one-third of Puerto Rican women of childbearing age were sterilized
- Many without informed consent
- This represented colonial control over Puerto Rican women's reproductive capacity
- Puerto Rican feminists have centered reproductive justice — the right to have children as well as the right not to — in response

Contemporary Feminism:
Puerto Rican feminism today addresses:
1. Gender violence: Puerto Rico has one of the highest rates of femicide in the Americas. The declaration of a 'state of emergency' for gender violence (2021) came after years of feminist advocacy
2. Reproductive rights: Access to reproductive healthcare, contraception, and abortion — complicated by colonial legal frameworks
3. LGBTQ+ rights: Contemporary Puerto Rican feminism is explicitly inclusive of queer and trans issues
4. Economic justice: Feminist economists analyze how colonial austerity disproportionately affects women — women bear the burden of healthcare cuts, school closures, and social service reductions
5. Political representation: Women hold significant but still unequal representation in Puerto Rico's government

The Colonial Dimension of Gender Violence:
Gender violence in Puerto Rico has colonial roots:
- Colonial poverty creates conditions that correlate with higher rates of domestic violence
- Underfunded police and courts fail to protect women
- Post-María displacement and stress increased gender violence
- The colonial legal system creates gaps in protection — federal and local jurisdictions sometimes conflict
- Women who experience violence often cannot access adequate services due to austerity cuts

Key Organizations:
- Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer: Coalition of feminist organizations
- Taller Salud: Community health organization with feminist orientation
- Proyecto Matria: Organization serving women affected by gender violence
- Colectiva Feminista en Construcción: Grassroots feminist collective