Venezuela sees the role of women in different ways depending on where they live, traditionally women are expected to do housework and can work outside the home, but the work must be related to domestic services. In rural areas, women must share physical labor with men to earn a living. Women are legally equal to men in Venezuela, but live in a patriarchal society that has a national brand of “machismo.” Machismo is the term for men to control and not allow women to be themselves. Although women had equal rights, those who had been active in the struggle for democracy found themselves deprived of its privileges. The Coordinator of Women's Non-Governmental Organizations (CONG), brought together twenty-six women's groups and provided them with a platform to promote women's issues outside the traditional scope of political parties. Women's movements began to decline when the economic crisis hit, oil prices dropped by more than half. Living standards worsened, middle- and working-class women faced increasing financial difficulties and had less time to participate in life....