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"We have proven that in Cuba it is not only men who fight.  Women also fight."
-Fidel Castro
In March of 1952, Castro organized a group of men and women to fight against and rebel against the Batista dictatorship.
Haydee Santamaria, Vilma Espin, and Celia Sanchez were a part of the national directorate.  Never again would the ratio of women revolutionary leaders and men revolutionary leaders be so high.
Celia Sanchez was the first woman to participate in cambat in Cuba in 1957.  Castro's brother, Raul, called her "our helping hand", adding, "we are going to have to name [her] the official mother of detachment."
In 1976, the new constitution codified the government's new public concern with women's rights.  The goal was equal rights in marriage, earnings, employment and education.
Sex discrimination was made punishable by a witholding of nation rights and imprisonment.
Women's rights were followed by a Family Code that noted men were to share all household work when women were gainfully employed.
To make it easier for women to combine work and family life, the government did not only change the law and moral code, but aslo assumed responsibility for the tasks which women previously had and eased the remaining household tasks.
In 1976, women were excluded from nearly 300 jobs due to "health reasons."
In the early 1980s, the government reduced social support for working women  They created a five-year Plan that called for no increase in the rate of women's participation in the labor force.