IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 7 ENGLISH | Page 52

Yet, actions at the UN’s Third World
Conference Against Racism (Durban
Action Plan, 2001), created the project
“Todos Contamos” [We All Count],
promoted by the National Survey of
Homes (ENAHO, 2004).
The Continuous National Survey (ENCO, 2006) introduced an ethnic variable,
and used the denomination AfroPeruvian/Mulatto/Zambo [of mixed race]
for the Afro-descendant population.
There is no information available on
Afro-Peruvian women in the ENAHO
(2004), which published “Más Allá de
los Promedios” [Beyond Averages]
without differentiating for sex or gender.
Nevertheless, every since ENCO (2006),
we now have a database for getting information about Afro-Peruvian women.
According to studies by the World Bank
and the Analysis Group for Development (GRADE), in 2006 the Afrodescendant population climbed to nearly
3 million people (8-10% of the total
population). More current information
can be found in the first Specialized
Study of the Afro-Peruvian Population
(EEPA, 2014), directed by the Ministry
of Culture. It covered a sample of 3,101
homes in seven regions along Peru’s
coast. Ica, Lime, and Piura revealed the
highest percentage, and 27%, 40.2% and
19.6% of the Afro-Peruvian population
was surveyed, respectively. 53% of the
sample revealed Afro-Peruvian women
as heads of household, a high percentage
with relation to male heads of household
(47.7%). This small predominance generates a conversation regarding whether
or not Afro-Peruvian mothers are the

authority figures in their households. To
confirm this fact, field reports from this
and other studies show that this is exactly how it is. EEPA (2014, 23) also reveals that households led by AfroPeruvian women earn less than 750
Soles (about $219 US dollars) a month, a
figure below that of households led by
men, due to persistent inequity in work
wages. Similarly, it was possible to confirm that there are twice as many AfroPeruvian households led by men, rather
than women, with minimum wages of
2,500 Soles (about $731 USD). For Afro-Peruvian women, EEPA (2014, 18)
offers details concerning the fact that
41.4% of them are part of the Economically Inactive Population (PEI), 4% do
not look for work because they don’t
believe they will find any, and 0.7% are
tired of looking for one. One of the main
reasons for not looking for work is
housework (38.5%); this is what 51.3%
of women allege, but only 6.8% of men
do. To the contrary, men more than
women allege that their studies are a
reason for not looking for work (36.8%
vs. 23.4%). Within the Economically
Active Population (PEA), more AfroPeruvians do unskilled labor than others
(29.9%). Many work in the service industry (19.9%), and as machinery operators and artisans (13.6%). According to
the National Population and Housing
Census (2007), 26% of the Peruvian
population does unskilled labor. This
number is almost equal to the number of
Afro-Peruvian persons in 2014 (29.9%).
There is a marked difference between
the kinds of work that men and women

52