During the first third of the twentieth century, several women joined associations to promote legal reforms. Between 1917 and 1934, the Cuban Parliament passed laws regarding women’s legal status, therefore challenging the traditional relations between state, Church and family inherited from the colonial period. Although the Constitution of 1940 incorporated these measures, Cuban women barely took part in state institutions, but their increasing presence in public affairs marked a turning point in their social status. A few women were appointed as Cuban representatives to international organizations, and political parties set up female auxiliaries. Moreover, several women’s associations worked for peace, demanded improvements in the healthcare system, took action towards enhancing education in rural areas and pushed for effective reform of the Civic Code in order to provide equal rights for men and women. African-Cuban women’s participation in these organizations was limited due to discrimination and they in turn set up their own organizations.

This research was financed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, Spain [grant number FPU 12/06945] and also by the project‘El espacio antillano: génesis, circulación y redistribución de individuos, mercancías, ideas, saberes y modelos (siglos XVIII–XXI)’, National Project MINECO (Ministry of Economy, Spain) HAR2015-66152-R, headed by Consuelo Naranjo Orovio, Professor of Research at the Spanish National Research Council.

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