Michelle Bachelet has become Chile's first woman president. Her March 11, 2006 inauguration marks a deep cultural change in this male-dominated, conservative society, where divorce was legalized less than two years ago, abortion remains illegal, and women often earn up to 40 percent less than men doing the same work. A moderate Socialist, a divorced mother of three, an agnostic and a pediatrician, she campaigned on a platform of continuing Chile's free market policies, while increasing social benefits to help reduce the country's gap between rich and poor, one of the largest in the world.