- Girls and adolescent women in Latin America and the Caribbean lament the absence of public policies to stop violence.
- They suggest creating spaces for training in human rights to prevent violence against girls, adolescents and women.
Within the framework of November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and with the aim of making visible the difficulties that girls and women face in exercising their rights, the initiative #Weaving NetworksChildhood In Latin America and the Caribbean, as part of the #NiñezPrimero strategy, it organized the Virtual Latin American Seminar: Machismo and adult centrism as triggers of gender violence experienced by girls.
This activity was developed through virtual conferences, where international experts addressed the following topics: How to make violence against girls and adolescents visible in Latin America and the Caribbean? How to challenge practices that harm the development and lives of girls and adolescent girls? and How do we weave networks to stop violence against girls and adolescents in the COVID-19 Era?
In dialogue, the panelists explained that machismo and adultcentrism are harmful practices that affect the integral development of girls and adolescent women, resulting in an increase in violence, femicides, sexual abuse, adolescent pregnancies and forced child pregnancies. .
In this regard, Juan Martín Pérez García, Coordinator of the Incitativa #TejiendoRedesInfancia in Latin America and the Caribbean, pointed out that these problems are manifested in all social and cultural strata, and are transmitted through sexist language, unequal upbringing at home, the coexistence of the couple, the subordination in decision-making, the rejection by the opinions of the girls and boys, among others.
In this sense, Pérez stressed the importance of making violence against girls and women visible, to strengthen public prevention policies and implement programs on gender equality. "Sexist violence has many expressions, that is why as a society and as a state we have the obligation to carry out preventive actions to eliminate machismo and adult-centeredness."
Regarding this, Celia Medrano, Specialist in Human Rights of Girls and Adolescents with a Gender Approach, added that the normalization of domestic violence as a form of discipline and as an exclusive problem of families, constitutes situations that encourage and they reinforce violence against women; For this reason, he highlighted the need to create training spaces to uproot these sociocultural practices in society. "The issue of violence is not a matter of women who are defending girls, but it is a social issue."
In this context, Nora Schulman, representative of the Argentine Committee for the Rights of the Child, Argentina (CASACIDN), added that this action not only affects the lives of girls and women, it also affects the development of a society; For this reason, it suggested that the states implement public policies with a gender perspective, prevention strategies that consider education as a tool to prevent violence and create training spaces to empower girls and women in their rights. "We must make girls visible by educating all those who have contact with girls, boys and adolescents, from teachers, midwives, nurses, doctors, judges and police, mainly to avoid revictimization."
Likewise, Deisy, a young Colombian woman, said: “it is important to empower girls and women so that they begin to identify which are the situations that violate their rights, that they can seek help and how they can access justice. In the same way, adults must make an analysis of past events to know why violence is normalized, what were the failures and how it can be changed ”.
For her part, Isabel Fulda, Deputy Director of the Mexico Elected Reproduction Information Group, pointed out that another way to challenge the practices that hinder the development of women and girls is through the reformulation and implementation of intersectional public policies. “We must have broader visions of what it means to guarantee the rights of girls and adolescents, visions that listen to the voices of the affected people, this implies directly listening to girls, adolescents, women with disabilities, persons deprived of liberty and other sectors ”.
Finally, the specialists indicated that adultcentrism, machismo and racism and discrimination are sociocultural constructions that promote the abuse of power and make the most vulnerable sectors of society invisible, such as women, girls, boys and adolescents.
For this reason, Friné Salguero, Simone de Beauviur Leadership Institute, Mexico, added “Everything has to do with relationships where power and privilege are unequally distributed, this has led to the creation of public policies lacking a gender perspective, youth, and childhood, and from an adult-centered and patriarchal perspective, leaving out all the groups that have been on a scale of domination of power, excluding them from their rights ”.
In the same way, Sacubel, a 14-year-old adolescent from the Codigo Escuela feminista, Mexico, stated: “We have grown up in their systems where men and adults impose any opinion of women or girls against women; for this reason, the world is not a very pleasant place to live and that is why we must take actions to change it "
In conclusion, Alexis Sorel, Red Democracia y Sexualidad, México¸ stated that it is important to look for alternatives to stop violence against girls and adolescents, mainly in the context of the pandemic; For this reason, he insisted on the need to create spaces for dialogue to listen to the opinions of girls and boys, identify the real causes that contribute to the increase in violence and implement efficient public policies and in accordance with the context of each sector. “As adults, it is very difficult for us to understand that this new generation advances very quickly and that we can learn from them; today equity and equality are necessary ”, he concluded.
Also participating in the dialogues were Yasmira, a young Colombian human rights activist, Jennifer Haza, representative of Melel Xojobal AC, Mexico, Claudia Alonso, Feminist, expert on human rights in childhood and adolescence in Mexico, and Wendy Figueroa, Director of the National Network of Refugios, Mexico.
Watch the videos of the three days of the Seminar: Machismo and adult centrism as triggers of gender violence experienced by girls, held on November 24, 25, 26, 2020:
How to make violence against girls and adolescents visible in Latin America and the Caribbean?
How to challenge practices that harm the development and lives of girls and adolescent girls?
Look at the video How do we weave networks to stop violence against girls and adolescents in the COVID-19 Era? here
About:
#ChildhoodFirst It is a strategy that provides guidance for the care of children and adolescents in emergency situations.
#Weaving NetworksChildhood, is a project co-financed by the European Union that seeks to contribute to the strengthening and consolidation of a platform for the defense of children and adolescents in 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of Derechos Infancia Mexico AC / #TejiendoRedesInfancia and in no case should it be considered that it reflects the views of the European Union.