The status of women viewed against the background of the United Nations Decade for Women is examined with emphasis on the world context, the Latin American context, and the context of rural women in the region. It describes attempts at categorization of rural women in Latin America based on the main types of agricultural economy in the region and centered on the position occupied by women within the peasant strata and their main activities. It also discusses the many roles of peasant women and the situation of wage-earning women, how much they earn and how they allocate their incomes. The impact of modernization has been analyzed with special reference to the family. Differences in family types are described according to peasant strata and regions within the same country. It appears that official documents have covered the basic aspects of recommendations and policies, sometimes in detail. A six-page bibliography is appended. (SY)