Raquel Camaña
Raquel Camaña was an Argentine teacher and activist who campaigned for the inclusion of sexual education in the school curriculum.
Early life and education
Camaña was born in Buenos Aires in 1883. She was trained at the National Teacher Training School in La Plata, Buenos Aires, by American teacher Mary Olstine Graham. She also attended courses at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires, including Logic, taught by José Nicolás Matienzo, and Psychology, taught by José Ingenieros.Activism
Camaña was a socialist and was interested in eugenics, arguing that the masses should be taught the conditions necessary for healthy reproduction to alleviate poverty. In 1910 she presented her thesis "the Sexual Question" to the Argentine Public Hygiene Society, who unanimously approved her recommendation for the inclusion of sexual education in the school curriculum. She was invited to attend the Third International Congress on School Hygiene in Paris, France, the Congress of Pedagogy and Hygiene, held in Belgium, and talks held at the Ateneo de Madrid in Spain.Camaña also established the League for the Rights of Women and Children, organised Argentina's First National Congress of Children in 1913, and published an article linking motherhood and democracy in 1914.
When Camaña applied to the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires to cover a substitute position in the Chair of Education Sciences, she was rejected as a candidate because of her gender. This prompted her to write about sexual prejudices faced by teachers for the journal Revista de Derecho, Historia y Letras.