Survivors of violence that support victims

The death of María Belén at the hands of her partner (a State agent), that of a girl only 8 months old whom her father, also a policeman, ordered to be killed in April in order not to pay her alimony or the aggression by another agent against a woman on the Vinces boardwalk a few days ago before the passive gaze of people, they are just the tip of the iceberg of violence against women, a serious problem that requires bold and comprehensive responses for which neither the State nor society are prepared.

The debate on whether the State is responsible for these deaths is on the table and for this reason, Idea Dignidad feels the need to provide information that helps people understand that this is a human rights and public health problem.

We focus on three aspects: femicide from the legal point of view, from the psychosocial point of view and on the role of the media.

What do we need to understand?

• Gender-based violence is not a minor issue but the basis of almost all violence that exists.
• Gender violence is rejected in speeches, but naturalized in everyday life and those who question it are branded as exaggerated or destabilizing. On the other hand, the aggressors are not singled out or questioned.
• All gender-based violence begins with subtle, almost imperceptible violence that is naturalized in jokes, in double meaning attitudes or comments, in making women sexual objects, etc.
• This violence is increasing until it becomes so serious that it is very difficult to reverse its consequences.
• When violence is exercised by persons invested with State power (police, public servants, teachers, medical personnel, etc.), there is a double responsibility: criminal and that of the State, because its main function is to protect rights, not violate them.
• Only the most serious cases come to light and almost never the focus is on questioning the aggressor and his behaviour.
• The laws that punish gender violence are ineffective if they are not accompanied by cultural changes.
• These changes are the responsibility of both the State and society as a whole: we need education for equality in all spaces: families, schools, universities, communities, institutions, companies...
• The empowerment of girls and women is insufficient if men are not taught new masculinities from childhood free from the abuse of power.
• There are no public policies in Ecuador that address gender violence and consider these and all the factors involved. It is the responsibility of the State to create and sustain them and of society to demand them and monitor their compliance.

Links:

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