Latin America is the most violent region in the world to be a woman. Last year closed with 4,477 femicides, or what is the same, more than 4,000 women were murdered in the region for being women. Faced with a tragedy of pandemic dimensions, state governments develop public policies to curb, in addition to femicides, impunity and promote women's access to justice.
Mexico City prosecutor Ernestina Godoy and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Pentagon Ana María Salazar discussed this and other topics at the table Social Transformations in the Americas: Equality and Social Justice in the Fight against Violence, moderated by W Radio Colombia journalist Valeria Santos. The conversation took place within the framework of the Women of America Forum organized by EL PAÍS, the Government of Mexico City and UN Women.
Both panelists agreed that violence against women should not be addressed only from the field of security and justice, but that it is a change at the social level that also requires new leadership and transversal policies that address education, health, poverty and inequality, among other aspects. The prosecutor said that only in this way have they managed to reduce femicide by 45% in the capital of the country. "Our criminal policy is closely linked to the security strategy in Mexico City and is aligned with the federal government," Godoy said. And he added that the declaration of the alert for gender violence in the capital during the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum was accompanied by institutional transformations, budget, prevention strategies, action protocols, permanent dialogue with civil society and with the relatives of the victims. "From prevention to punishment," the prosecutor said.
Ana María Salazar, Valeria Santos and Ernestina Godoy.Gladys Serrano
Ana María Salazar pointed out that there is a relationship between the generalized violence that the country is experiencing, with more than 100 homicides per day, and sexist violence, with 10 women killed a day. "In Mexico, violence against women is not going to be reduced until the rates of generalized violence in the streets and in homes are reduced," said the security analyst, adding that it is important to address conflicts such as Colombia or Mexico from a gender perspective.
Salazar explained that in addition to physical violence, there are other types of symbolic, economic and psychological violence against women. Ways of attacking women that are still accepted in our society and that can be transformed into more violence, such as the recent threats experienced by the president of the Supreme Court, Norma Piña. "In this world where violence against women is accepted and where one in three Mexican women are victims of physical violence, spoken violence is also reflected in numbers," she said.
Ana María Salazar, Valeria Santos and Ernestina Godoy listen to a message Beatriz Argimón, vice president of Uruguay.Gladys Serrano
In this need to change the normalization of violence, Prosecutor Godoy and the former deputy assistant secretary of the Pentagon recalled that Mexico is taking important steps forward, such as the approval of the Parity Law and the initiative of Law 3de3 so that candidates who have a complaint for harassment, sexual abuse or non-payment of alimony cannot run in the next elections.
The Mexico City prosecutor applauded the strength of the current feminist movement and invited younger women to keep pushing for social transformation. "The most historic ones we managed to make laws, observatories, guidelines and there is still violence. It's up to them to follow them."
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