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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
The
Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José
Miguel Insulza, today participated in the inauguration of the
Hemispheric Forum "The Convention of Belém do Pará and the Prevention of
Violence against Women: Best Practices and Proposals
for the Future," held in Pachuca, State of Hidalgo, Mexico, where for
two days specialists from across the region will discuss the progress
made and challenges still facing the Hemisphere in achieving gender
equality.
Secretary General Insulza recalled that in the Inter-American Convention
on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against
Women, known as the
Convention of Belem do Pará,
adopted in 1994, the states parties undertook to adopt policies to
prevent, punish and eradicate such violence and defined it for the first
time as a violation
of the human rights of women. The OAS Secretary General appreciated the
steps taken by most countries in the region to implement the
Convention: "Over these twenty years laws have been promoted against
violence, as have national plans, public policies, programs
and projects that have contributed to criminalizing all forms of
violence against women in the public and private sectors, including
femicide," he said.
The OAS leader highlighted that the ratification of the Convention has
had positive effects in maintaining sustained progress towards the
eradication of violence against women. However, he charged that, despite
these efforts, "the persistence of high levels
of violence in the region reveals several challenges that need a
comprehensive and effective response." "Among those challenges, which I
am sure it will be debated in the context of this forum, it is necessary
to consider the poor application of the law and
access to justice, the concentration of national plans on intra-family
violence, the exclusion of other forms of violence, and the emphasis on
care and punishment of violence, neglecting prevention," he said.
"Nonviolence is not an impossible dream, it requires political
commitment and will. I sincerely hope that these two days show everybody
that this commitment and will actually exist," said Secretary General
Insulza, who also noted that during the Forum "we will
talk about poverty in the Hemisphere, poverty that has race and has
gender, because there are a significant number of single-parent
households headed by women, and which suffer much more poverty than
other households in the Hemisphere."
In his message, the leader of the OAS said that the countries of the
region must not only fight to eradicate violence against women, but
should also take steps to end the inequality of women. "Overall, we
identified violence against women with attacks and deaths,
but we not identify it with the humiliation to which they are daily
victims, even verbally, because violence against women is first violence
of humiliation, and begins at home, in the street, at work, and we
forget that we live in a system where we have not
achieved gender equality."
Following this line of reasoning, Secretary General Insulza said there
is no full democracy without gender equality. "Ultimately this is an
undemocratic system, because democracy is for everyone, and half of the
people living in this Hemisphere are women, and
democracy without full equality is not democracy," he said. In this
regard, he called for "strengthening women's political citizenship, and
thereby improving the quality of our democracies with structural
measures to ensure the wide participation of women
at all levels of the state and in all democratic processes."
The OAS Secretary General also stressed in his speech the leadership of
the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) of the OAS in the struggle
for gender equality, and in particular its Executive Secretary, Carmen
Moreno. "Without her, our beloved CIM not
would be what it is today. I have wanted to say this for a long time,
and what better place to say this than here,” he said. Secretary General
Insulza sent a very special greeting to the organizations of women
participating in the Forum, because "they are
what gives life to this event with their contributions, experiences and
concerns."
The Forum is being co-organized by the CIM, UN Women, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Mexico, the National Women's Institute of Mexico, the
Government of the State of Hidalgo, and the Iberoamerican General
Secretariat (SEGIB). The event is being held in
the TUZOFORUM Convention Center, located in the David Ben Gurion Park
in Pachuca.
In the same inaugural ceremony, the Undersecretary for Legal and Human
Rights Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior of Mexico, Lía Limón,
said the Convention of Belém do Pará is a legal mandate for the states
parties, and stressed that it is the only legal
agreement to combat violence against women in the region.
Undersecretary Limón recalled that in Mexico, the government of
President Enrique Peña Nieto is committed to taking action to ensure
gender equality and ending violence against women, "within the framework
of promoting legal equality, dignity and non-discrimination."
In our country we have a national plan until 2018, and public policies
in any area without exception must incorporate a gender perspective,"
said Undersecretary Limon, who also highlighted the creation and
strengthening of centers of justice for women in the
States and Districts of Mexico, where the highest levels of violence
are recorded.
The Governor of the State of Hidalgo, José Francisco Olvera, whose
government is hosting the event, said that the realization of the
Hemispheric Forum " has a special significance because in this way we
support a group of legal changes and new public policies
to combat violence against women.” Governor Olvera recalled that in
2012 the State of Hidalgo signed a framework agreement with the OAS,
which has allowed the State, with the help of the CIM, "to adopt the
recommendations of the Convention of Belém do Pará."
The Governor of Hidalgo also expressed his support for the National
Development Plan of the federal government of Mexico, because "it
contains important measures to combat violence against women," and
concluded his speech saying that "to fight for dignity and
equality courage is required. Let us be brave and not commit gender
violence."
The Executive Secretary of the Ibero-American General Secretariat
(SEGIB), Rebecca Grynspan, in her address about the struggle of women
for equality, said her own promotion to the position she currently
occupies is a demonstration of the results that can be
obtained. "That is why my first statement as Ibero-American Secretary
General was to incorporate the issue of gender equality at the
Ibero-American Secretariat." Executive Secretary Grynspan welcomed in
particular that the Hemispheric Forum gives a voice to
indigenous women.
By analyzing the problems caused by violence against women, Grynspan
noted that studies argue that countries lose up to two percent of their
gross domestic product due to this type of violence, "so I think this
issue has to be addressed by society." “There
will be no human development until we liberate society from this
scourge, until we liberate girls and mothers to build a society that
allows them to live freely and without violence," said Grynspan, who
expressed her hope that "not one more woman has to suffer
gender violence."
Another participant at the opening of the Forum was the President of the
National Women's Institute of Mexico and Delegate to the CIM , Lorena
Cruz, who said violence, both social and gender, remains the most
powerful impediment to the development of women
in the region. "Today we are concerned about the fact that in many
parts of society, many young men and women see violence against women as
normal," she said.
The President of the National Women's Institute of Mexico recalled that
women represent more than half of the population and urged combating "an
archaic society that gives greater value to the masculine." Cruz also
recalled that since the adoption of the Convention
of Belém do Pará in 1994, "it is no little thing that we have achieved
in 20 years, but I am certain that these achievements are just the
beginning," and called for increased efforts to achieve "the cultural
transformation of our societies."
According to the CIM, over the past two decades, the Convention has
given rise to a new generation of comprehensive laws and the formulation
of public policies and national plans. However, the CIM believes that
the Convention is a promise yet to be fulfilled,
because violence is still a daily reality for women and girls in the
Americas. In this context, the organizers of the Hemispheric Forum will
seek to identify progress - lessons learned, practices and promising
experiences – as well as the challenges to effective
prevention of violence in the key areas of education and communication
for gender equality and nonviolence.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at
www.oas.org.
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