Virginia Vargas

Virginia "Gina" Vargas Valente (born 23 July 1945) is a Peruvian sociologist and a well-known figure in the women's movement in her country.

Biography Virginia Vargas was born on 23 July 1945 in Lima, Peru, the second of four children. Following secondary school, Vargas attended Pontifical Catholic University of Peru from 1963 to 1968. She was initially interested in drama and literature, but later turned her focus to political science.

In 1978 Vargas founded the Flora Tristán Center, a non-governmental Peruvian organization that studies, educates, and lobbies for women's rights. She served as the organization's coordinator and later its director until 1990.

As a researcher, Vargas has studied social movements of the Southern Cone and the role of women in economic development. She took a position as professor at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands for the Women and Development Program, teaching for two months out of the year.

Selected publications As editor "Peasantry in History: A Chronology of the Peasant Movements, 1956‑64" (1981) "Economic and Social Participation of Women in Peru" (1982) compiled "A New Approach: Gender in Development" (1991) "Gender in Development" (1992) "The Triangle of Empowerment", “The Road to Beijing” (1998) El movimiento feminista en el horizonte político peruano . Ediciones Flora Tristán. Lima (2007) Feminismos en América Latina. Su aporte a la política y a la democracia. Colección Transformación Global. Programa Democracia y Transformación Global. Fondo Editorial Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Flora Tristán Ediciones, Lima (2008)

As author "The Contribution of Women's Rebellion" (1989)

"How to Change the World Without Losing Ourselves" (1992)