“Many countries” from Latin America have “a very big debt with women” that “they cannot be in the political world safely”denounced this Friday the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) of the Organization of American States (OAS).
This was stated by the Brazilian expert Leila Linhares Barsted at a press conference together with the Peruvian Marcela Huaita Alegre, the Bolivian Lourdes Montero Justiniano, the Costa Rican Sylvia Mesa Peluffo and the Argentine Susana Charotti, after a three-day visit to analyze acts of violence symbol against women politicians in Argentina.
Linhares Barsted pointed out that in Brazil there are “numerous cases of political violence against women, particularly at a time when the presence of women in Parliament has expanded” and recalled the serious case of the murder in 2018 of the activist Marielle Franco.
Montero Justiniano recalled that Bolivia has a law against political violence after the death of a councilwoman and pointed out that “the massive presence of women in all spheres of representation” receives a “very strong” negative reaction that can cost one’s life, for which called for “concrete prevention measures.”
In a regional look, Montero Justiniano indicated that “There is much agreement (in) that hate speech is central to the dehumanization of the victims” and? “They generate this climate of impunity for violence, insults, gestures and possibly death”of “Create that logic that it is not wrong to say anything to him, as if he deserved it”.
The Committee held a hearing this Thursday with the Argentine vice president, Cristina Fernández -who suffered a failed attack on September 1 that the Justice is investigating-, who presented a 96-page report on “the violence exerted” and the “assassination attempt” against the former president (2007-2015).
“It is significant that in all of Latin America the two most notorious women vice presidents have suffered attacks against their figure”said Mesa Peluffo, also regarding the attempted attack on the vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, last January.
Mesa Peluffo pointed out that the attacks were against these women “because they have dared to climb a lot” and it is “a message of domination” and of “they have to stay in their place” and explained that so “probably many women are not going to want to be vice president”; that’s why, “from the symbolic it is very dangerous ”.
Charotti added that the committee notes that, “As women advance, political violence has advanced and so has the cruelty of violence.”
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
