The European conquest of the New World altered the lives of indigenous women. European women did not arrive to the New World only for years after the initial invasions. Indian women were continuously exploited in the form of labor, catering, and sexual gratification. Elite Indian women were able to gain a somewhat privileged position through their liaisons with the European men. As more and more European women began to arrive in the New World, Indian women were confined to the bottom of the ethnic and class hierarchy.

"A particular concern of the colonists was that their "purity of blood" be preserved, meaning that no black or Indian people could enter into the family lineage. This in return caused careful controlling of women's behavior. Under the regulation of patria potestad, women remained under the legal authority of their fathers until marriage, when authority was transferred to their husbands."

During the nineteenth century women's public life was limited. Women also still remained legally minors. There were some advances in education which helped some women to enter into professions. There were also alterations of civic codes which ultimately abo

There are many reasons why we are seeing a rise in the number of households headed by women which are in poverty. Women have less access to land, credit and technologies, therefore women farmers have to work longer hours and they have fewer assets and lower incomes than men farmers. Female headed households are likely to be poorer than male-headed households because they have fewer working members of the family, they have lower average wage earnings, less access to jobs and productive resources. Most Latin American women have less education than men. These are some of the key reasons why we are seeing a increase in poor households headed by women.

Barros, Richard, Louise Fox, and Rosane. "Female-headed households, poverty, and the welfare of children in urban Brazil." International Center for Research on Women September (1993): 1-8.

Rosenberg , Mark B. , A.Douglas Kincaid, and Kathleen Logan, Americas, Oxford University Press, 1992.

lished the patria potestad laws in many countries. Latin American women entered the 20th century with better education and legal status but with still restricted roles. Women initiated campaigns for equal political and civil rights. But despite some gains they continued to be discriminated, shaped by machismo, and poor women faced the double duty of family and employment.

Today in Rio de Janeiro there are five police stations that exist solely to handle crimes against women. "While Brazil has advanced from military dictatorship toward democracy violence against women remains endemic. The first national study of the problem, in 1992, reported an average of 337 assaults on women daily."

The problem with women in the workforce doesn't stop there. In households where there is a male head of the house, a women's income is still highly depended on. Female income is often a secondary or tertiary source of income. Many rural families rely upon the work of its female members for most of its food. Traditionally the money earned by men is used only for corn and firewood, forcing the wife to develop her own income in order to provide for other family necessities. With less and less land becoming available for cultivation and unable to produce enough corn for the year, the men are forced to find additional income in order to supplement what they can grow.

Ehlers ,Tracy Bachrach, Silent Looms ,Westview Press, 1990.

There are more and more women working as wage laborers. " Fruit companies in Chile rely exclusively on women for harvesting, processing, and packing fruit. In Columbia women cultivate and pack flowers. In general they are paid

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