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We repudiate the declarations of the health establishments against the IVE project

The undersigned organizations repudiate the statements of certain health institutions in relation to the approval in the Chamber of Deputies of the draft Law of Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The Private University Hospital of Córdoba and the Reina Fabiola University Clinic are opposed to the articles of the law that have their responsibility to guarantee the practice and that prohibit the objection of institutional conscience. Three private clinics in the city of San Francisco joined the announcement: the Argentine Sanatorium, the Enrique Carrá Specialty Clinic and the San Justo Clinic.

The bill establishes in article 13 the responsibility of health establishments to effect the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, without prior judicial authorization, without requirements that hinder access and must guarantee the woman or pregnant person the use of best practice available according to recommendations of the World Health Organization. It also provides that the attention must be agile and immediate, respecting privacy throughout the process.

On the other hand, article 15 regulates conscientious objection. It provides that the only way for the health professional to be exempted from his obligation to guarantee access to the practice is through the prior, individual and written manifestation of his conscientious objection. This objection must be maintained in all areas, public or private, in which it operates. The objection does not apply in the event that the life or health of the pregnant woman or person is in danger and requires immediate medical attention. Then, it provides that each establishment must keep a register of professional objectors, and expressly prohibits the objection of institutional conscience and / or ideology.

In addition, within the amendments to the Criminal Code, the addition of an article that contemplates the crime committed by the authorities of health establishments or health professionals that unreasonably delay, obstruct or refuse to perform an abortion when legally authorized is envisaged. . This behavior is repressed with imprisonment from three months to a year, and the penalty is aggravated if as a result there is damage to the life or health of the woman or pregnant person.

The health establishments expressed themselves against the law in general and of these articles in particular, arguing that they want to “choose how to cure and care for Argentines”, who have the duty to defend “the rights of the weakest in society” and that his work requires “respect for the freedom of institutional conscience.”

To begin, we remind you that health establishments, even private ones, must respect and comply with rules and standards of care to guarantee the right to health, in general, of all their patients, including sexual and reproductive health. This implies that the medical activity and the exercise of the professions related to health are regulated, not free.

On the other hand, the alleged defense or protection of “the weakest” could not occur in the context of the denial of a medical practice authorized by law. Except when the spirit of the law is to remedy the problem of preventable maternal deaths.

The democratic process of sanctioning this law, still incomplete, was up to now exemplary. For two months, deputies and deputies listened to the presentations of hundreds of experts in the field. Many of the exhibitors belong to the medical community, including the current Minister of Health, Adolfo Rubinstein, who recommended legalization. Like him, former Health Ministers Ginés González García and Daniel Gollán gave their arguments in support of the law.

Finally, we stress that the law approved in the Lower House contemplates the objection of individual conscience. Therefore, health professionals who consider that the practice of abortion is against their religious or moral beliefs, can refuse to do so as long as they respect the provisions of the law. The possibility of objecting can only have an individual with moral agency, that is, an individual who can perform acts and give meaning to them. An institution, as such, does not have a moral agency, and therefore, we consider it appropriate to prohibit the institutional conscience objection proposed by the law.

The fact that there are health centers that refuse to perform this practice in an absolute manner, constitutes an obstacle to the respect of the sexual and reproductive rights of women and pregnant persons.

With these declarations of exercise of an alleged conscience based on legal statutes, the health center authorities, in addition to limiting the rights, are exerting a clear pressure on the freedom of conscience of its professional staff.

Health institutions must assume a commitment to sexual and reproductive health, in line with the bill – in case of entering into force -, other laws related and in force, and the provisions on this matter contained in international rights treaties. humans in health issues.

Who is in charge of protecting the rights of all citizens is the State, through its legislative power, as in this case, and public policies that make effective its application. The health entities must, therefore, accompany these decisions.

Fundación para el Desarrollo de Políticas Sustentables

Cuerpo de Abogadas Feministas de Córdoba

Córdoba de Todos

Socorristas Córdoba Hilando

SEAP – Servicio a la Acción Popular

Frente de Mujeres de Nuevo Encuentro

Alternativa por el Cambio Profesional

La Jauretche

MuMaLa – Mujeres de la Matria Latinoamericana Córdoba

Secretaría de Géneros – FUC

Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir

Federación de Estudiantes Secundarios

Corriente Política y Social La Colectiva

Programa Género y Sexualidades, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad Nacional de Rosario

Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres (Cladem)

Mujeres Evita

Mujeres Socialistas – Córdoba Capital y Provincia

Muchachas Peronistas

Patria Grande Córdoba

Fundación Mujeres en Igualdad

Mil Flores Frente de Mujeres

CTA Autónoma de Cordoba

ISlyMA CTA (Instituto de Salud Laboral y Medio Ambiente)

Isadora – Mujeres en Lucha

Izquierda Socialista + independientes

Consultorio Salud Integral

Fundación ECOS

Centro Socialista de Córdoba

Martín Fresneda – Legislador Provincial

Cecilia Merchán – Diputada Nacional del Parlasur

Casa de las Mujeres de Córdoba

Colectivo Ni Una Menos – Córdoba
La Bisagra – MPE
CELS (Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales)
ELA (Equipo Latinoamericano de Justicia y Género) 
Alianza Nacional de Abogad@s por los Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres

Mujeres X Mujeres (Tucumán)

Programa de Género de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral

Encuentro de Organizaciones (EO)

Insgenar
Red de Profesoras de Derecho de la Facultad de Derecho de la UBA 
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The right to abortion will be law!

The parliamentary debate in the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation came to an end during the morning of Thursday, after a marathon session, and resulted in the expected average sanction of the law of voluntary termination of pregnancy. So it was that at 9:51, the numbers appeared on the screen and both the campus and the outskirts of the Congress erupted in shouts, applause, tears and hugs.

After 22 continuous hours of debate, with 129 positive votes, 125 negative and 1 abstention, the deputies present approved the consensus opinion that was generated within the framework of the plenary of the four commissions that dealt with the treatment of the project.

For almost two months, the Chamber hosted more than 700 exhibitors, giving a framework of great scope of vision and institutional quality that enriched and gave tools for the legislative debate. In this way, a consensus opinion was reached among the 9 projects presented, with a bill based on the one presented by the Campaign for Safe and Free Legal Abortion.

Deputy Daniel Lipovetzky, president of the Commission of General Legislation and who presided over the Public Hearings, opened the Session with a blunt speech about the reasons why abortion should be legal: “It is a historic day, for the first time it is going to treat a project of decriminalization and legalization of abortion in this room. In the first place, thanks to the women’s movement, the women of the National Campaign for Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, who have been working for many years on a project that legalizes the voluntary interruption of pregnancy in our country. (…) The thousands of clandestine abortions that are done per year in Argentina are a problem that we have to solve. During the hearings, three health ministers from two different governments agreed that the legalization of abortion improves the quality of life of Argentine women. Therefore, there is no doubt about where our vote should be. In no way is this project unconstitutional: this project is absolutely compatible with our charter and international treaties. The opinion that proposes the rejection proposes to maintain a public health problem, hundreds of thousands of clandestine abortions per year, at least 43 deaths during 2016. Nobody legislates for death, we all legislate for life”.

The debate took place on the eve of the start of the World Cup, with millions of people putting their attention at the sporting event of the year. However, this did not prevent other hundreds of thousands of people from focusing their attention and energies on this project.

With a political context of economic adjustment and little commitment in terms of human rights and public inclusion policies, it is evident that feminism is a transversal struggle that managed to put and keep the issue on the political agenda of the country.

The vigil

During the day, women’s organizations and activists from across the country organized to see and hear the debate together, expectant and excited with their own World Cup semi-final. With shots in the schools, artistic interventions, tributes to historical activists, handkerchiefs, musical presentations and a lot of green, the feminist movement was more twinned than ever.

In Buenos Aires, the vigil was held in front of the Congress and hundreds of thousands of people, local and from all over the country, attended. In Córdoba, the meeting was held at the Anthropology Museum of the National University of Córdoba, which transmitted the debate while various interventions were carried out outside. It is estimated that thousands of activists passed through the day and night. In Cordoba, the celebrations were then taken to the classic corner of Patio Olmos.

When the voting ended, the excitement overflowed: so much struggle, so much militancy, historical, constant and intensified in recent months had results in the approval of the text of the law and the expected average sanction. The emotion of today will be the necessary energy to continue the fight that continues with the discussion of the project in the Senate.

Schools taken: the claim for Comprehensive Sex Education

The taking of schools reflects another claim that continues in force: that of the effective application of the Law of Comprehensive Sexual Education and its guidelines. But the students also spoke in favor of abortion: in the surveys that circulated during the days prior to the average sanction it was clear that in this struggle young people are protagonists, since 80% of the people consulted with ages between 18 and 35 years ruled in favor of it.

And in this sense there is a first conquest: Article 13 of the bill establishes that the State must ensure comprehensive sexual education, including responsible procreation, at all educational levels and paying special attention to respect for the diversity and cultural identity of the original peoples.

The IVE bill

The approved document retakes several points of the project of the National Campaign for Legal, Safe and Free Abortion and of the 9 projects presented by other legislators, but also incorporates some observations made by the deputies during the different instances of debate.

We remind that this is the seventh time that the National Campaign has presented a project of decriminalization and legalization of abortion, since it was formed in 2005. However, none of the previous times had gone through the commissions and reached instances of debate. What happened in recent months is undoubtedly the fruit of a historic struggle that was decidedly deepened in recent years.

The project proposes to maintain the causes that the Penal Code currently recognizes for the legal interruption of pregnancy (causal violation and causal health), adds a reason for the case in which the non-viability of extra-uterine life of the fetus was diagnosed, and also adds an explicit affirmation that women and pregnant persons have “the right to access the voluntary interruption of pregnancy with the only requirement of the woman or pregnant person up to week fourteen (14), inclusive, of the gestational process.”

For the causes, it also explicitly incorporates issues that had been ordered by the Supreme Court in the FAL ruling: for the causal violation, the termination of pregnancy may be made “with the sole requirement and the affidavit of the woman or pregnant person before the health professional intervener “. For the health cause, it indicates that it corresponds “if the woman or pregnant person, considered as a human right, is at risk of life or health”.

In addition, the project establishes provisions to ensure that the interruption of pregnancy is carried out in a consensual, rapid and informed manner, that delays or obstacles can not be imposed, that privacy and privacy must be respected, the obligation of health professionals to guarantee the practice of equality throughout the country (with reference to the best practices of the World Health Organization) the limitation and regulation of conscientious objection (explicitly prohibiting the institutional), and referral to the Civil and Commercial Code for the case of minors.

It also provides for the creation of a registry of statistics and indicates that the public health sector and social work should incorporate the comprehensive coverage of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy envisaged in the present in all forms that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends

The opinion that had been signed on Tuesday to be treated in the session suffered minor modifications after its general approval in the venue. At the time of the article by article vote, some concessions were made to the requests of some deputies, for example, the investment of titles and the addition of explanatory questions.

The criminal code

The first title of the project contains all the provisions that modify or add questions in the Penal Code. First, it establishes penalties for third parties that cause the abortion of the pregnant person beyond week 14 without the consent of the woman and without any cause.

Then it incorporates a new offense and provides a penalty for the authority of a health establishment or health professional that will unjustifiably delay, hinder or refuse to perform an abortion in legally authorized cases.

Finally, it provides that the woman or pregnant person who causes her own abortion or consents to someone else causing it when it was performed after the fifteenth week of the gestational process, without mediating any of the causes, will be repressed with imprisonment from three months to 1 year.

However, it does not foresee any penalty for the attempt, and gives the judge the power to order that the penalty be suspended pending the reasons that prompted the woman or pregnant person to perform the interruption, their subsequent attitude, the nature of the fact and the appreciation of other circumstances that could prove the inconvenience of applying the penalty. Although it represents an advance that considers the reasons of the woman, it will require working and being attentive to what the judges could dictate and from what place and criterion they did it.

What the deputies said

Deputy Brenda Austin (UCR-PRO), one of the first signers of the Campaign project said in her speech: “Every day, right now, women of all ages and social classes in every corner of our country, abort: students, professions, unemployed, domestic employees, deputies, wives and couples of deputies, their daughters. This happens, denying it is so foolish that it hurts. We do not discuss our opinions here, what we are discussing is in what conditions they do it: those that have resources do it in private clinics and those that do not, in the middle of despair and in horrible conditions. The current Penal Code, which was thought by men in a Congress where women did not even have the right to vote, said it was a crime, thinking that with the threat of jail women would change their minds. The criminalization failed. It does not prevent women from aborting and aggravates the problem. Ladies and gentlemen, have you really put yourself on the skin and in the shoes of the women who make those decisions? Do you really feel sitting here in your pews with the right to judge them and force them to make one or the other decision? There are two options: one imposes freedom and another obliges women to act according to the beliefs of another sector, minority, but with much lobbying power in our country. Press the NO button, it does not save the two lives, it condemns women to clandestinity.”

Victoria Donda (Libres del Sur), another of the signatories and promoters of the Campaign in the Lower House project, said: “Human Rights are progressive, so if this is so clear in the International Treaties that have constitutional status, why? What is so difficult to pass a law that recognizes this right to women? Here we do not talk about abortion, yes or no. The underground kills: they are not voting for the two lives, they are penalizing the woman for exercising freedom.”

The Deputy Araceli Ferreyra (PPV), affirmed: “The abortion is the last crime with load of sort that is of the time of the carts. Of course there are no figures, if it is clandestine. We need legality so there are figures. Feminism is that radical idea that women are also people and we have the same rights. The criminalization of abortion violates half of the international treaties that guarantee the rights of women We are fighting for the rights of women so that they have sovereignty in all aspects of their lives, so that motherhood is a choice.”

On the other hand, the deputy Lucila de Ponti, (PPV), said: “Today we come to collect a debt. The one of Ana Maria Acevedo, a 19-year-old girl from Santa Fe, the one from Belén, 3 years imprisoned in Tucumán. The debt with María Campos who died recently in Santiago del Estero. The debt with Malena. With Cecilia, with Dora, with all the pioneers of the Campaign to whom her life went so that today in this area we are discussing this project. The debt of a State that chose to look the other way. Life, all lives, defend themselves by conquering and expanding rights, not denying reality. That is why the one who opposes abortion is not in favor of life, is in favor of hiding. If we get here, to the site, it is thanks to the movement of women who managed to install this issue on the street, in their homes, in schools, in universities. The thousands of women who are on the streets today asking the State to stop being absent.

We are not making history, we are passing through, it is they who are making history. The future is here, the time is now, let it be law.”

 

What’s next?

With the approval of the Chamber of Deputies, the IVE Law has a half sanction. The next step is the debate in the Senate. Although it is not known yet a precise date, according to transcended, it would be before the winter break. The law must be debated during this year, otherwise the average penalty falls.

The prognosis at the beginning of the year, when the subject was discussed, was not positive. There was talk of a majority of Senators against. However, the development of informative audiences along with the great social mobilization that accompanied the entire debate will undoubtedly change things. The two majority blocs of the Senate, agreed that the context is favorable for the sanction of the law of decriminalization and legalization of abortion. In fact, a message circulated through social networks affirming that the entire block of Senators and Senators of the Front for Victory – PJ will vote in favor, meeting a demand from society that has been expressed massively through the Women’s Collectives.

The sanction of a law of voluntary interruption of pregnancy means an advance in the recognition of the human rights of women and pregnant persons, fundamentally of the rights related to sexual and reproductive health and the recognition of their freedom and autonomy. But it also means providing a framework of legality not only to pregnant bodies to be able to decide safely and with guarantees, but also to health professionals to manage their activities safely, without losing sight of their obligation to respect and guarantee rights. .

This conquest of the women’s movement with its green tide is a historic landmark and there is no turning back. It’s a public health issue. It is a question of human rights. It is a matter of desire. Of free bodies. With shame to another part: the right to abortion, it will be law!

Contact

Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

Emilia Pioletti

Source of images

National Campaign for Legal, Safe and Free Abortion – Córdoba

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Without legal abortion there is not one less

Women raised their voices throughout the country. In Córdoba, this June 4, more than 60 thousand women filled the streets in a new mobilization.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

As for four years ago, yesterday the most emblematic mobilization of the women’s movement in our country took place.
This year the cry of Ni Una Menos was given in the framework of the debate on the legalization of abortion in Argentina and the main slogan was the claim for legal abortion, safe and free. It was the last mass mobilization before the debate in the Chamber of Deputies, which will take place on June 13: the last great pañuelazo.
But in addition to claiming that there is not one or less for clandestine abortions, women reinforced the historic claim of this date: enough femicides and sexist violence. The same day the Supreme Court of Justice made public the report of the Public Registry of Femicide of the Argentine Justice, which establishes that 251 direct victims of femicide were surveyed in the whole country during the year 2017. So far in 2018, the province of Córdoba already counts 9 victims.

Other struggles were also present, struggles from other latitudes: the recent conquest of Ireland by the referendum that opened the doors to the legalization of abortion was recognized, the Brazilian Councilor Marielle Franco was reminded, mass mobilizations were held against the Spanish justice that acquitted “the herd” and honored the Honduran environmental defender, Berta Cáceres.
Within the local demands, a larger budget was required for public policies to eradicate violence against women, better working conditions for women workers in this sector, access to justice for victims of gender violence and secular, scientific and sexual education. with a gender perspective.
Along with the claim for legal abortion, the delay of the Cordovan justice was denounced by not issuing around the judicialization of the provincial protocol for access to non-punishable abortion, which has been partially suspended for 6 years, profoundly impeding the right of women to access sexual and reproductive health services.
It was also emphatically claimed for the rights of the collective of sexual diversity, exclaiming loudly: enough of machismo, misogyny and homolesbobitransodio.
Lastly, Cordovan women, at a clear disadvantage due to the wage gap, raised their voices against fares and pension and labor reforms that deepen this inequality.

The revolutionary women’s movement again filled the streets and their cry was resounding: Live, free and with all the rights we want!

Photo: Assembly NiUnaMenos Córdoba

Author 

Mayca Balaguer

Contact

Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

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Gender Violence and Public Communication Policies in Argentina: Advances and Setbacks until 2017

The Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (FUNDEPS) and the Civil Association Communication for Equality present a report on the functioning of public policies on gender and communication, from the assumption of the current national government.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

At the beginning of 2016, from the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies and the Civil Association Communication for Equality, a report called “Violence against women and public communication policies” was produced, which gives an account of the state of public policies on communication and gender in Argentina and the state bodies that, until the end of 2015, were in charge of implementing them. That report was based on an extensive investigation that gathered data through formal requests, formulated in the exercise of the right to access information; complaints to the corresponding bodies in cases of media and symbolic violence and interviews with members of these bodies and civil society organizations.

In 2018, we made a report on the application of such policies from the assumption of the current national government. In it, the main changes evidenced in the last two years are analyzed, based on the information obtained through new requests for information formulated before the corresponding bodies during the year 2017 and through interviews and information search through the official channels of each dependency.

The bodies studied are: ENACOM, Public Defender, INAM, INADI, Observatory of Discrimination in Radio and TV, Office of Monitoring of Publication of Notices of Sexual Commerce.

The measures and public policies implemented by these organizations had modifications. Although some that can be considered advances, many others weaken the achievements made in the protection of the audiences, mainly of the vulnerable sectors; both from a gender perspective and from the right to communication as a human right.

The analysis carried out aims to account for the transformations in the field of communication, specifically in relation to gender issues, during the last two years and since the change in government management in December 2015. In line with the changes that followed public communication policies from then on, the specific areas linked to gender also underwent transformations that, although not yet completely defined, imply for several of the agencies a brake on the programs that were carried out and, after two years after the start of the new administration, it is not clear yet what will be the future direction of the public communication and gender policies that were developed in Argentina as of 2010.

Main conclusions

  • Although the decrees and resolutions that have affected Law 26,522 on Audiovisual Communication Services do not directly operate on gender policies, the actions of several of the State agencies dedicated to the implementation of these policies have undergone modifications. Some of them represent advances, but others weaken the achievements made in the protection of the audiences.
  • The defiance of the Ombudsman’s Office -one of the relevant bodies in the application of communication and gender policies, and with international recognition- is one of the negative aspects of the paradigm that we call “transition” in current communication and gender policies from Argentina. In spite of this accretion, the organism continues to operate successfully within the permitted margins.
  • We also negatively evaluate the lack of access to information by ENACOM, which accounts for the obstacles existing for the purposes of monitoring the actions of state bodies by citizens. However, we value the action of the same -evaluated through indirect mechanisms- which is revealed in an increase in resolutions and in the consideration of the rights of women and the LGTBI community as autonomous causes of violation of rights.
  • There seems to be a transformation in the functions of the Office of Monitoring of Sexual Offer Notices that would cease to exercise its sanctioning capacity and focusing its actions only on digital media and assistance to the Judicial Power.
  • The Observatory for Discrimination in Radio and Television was dissolved informally, a tripartite body with an outstanding performance during the last 10 years; neither is it possible to access the pedagogical heritage generated by it.
  • The Observatory of Symbolic and Mediatic Violence was created within the scope of INAM, with competence in all types of media.
  • INAM expanded its action in communication policies through the National Plan of Action against Violence with policies that have not yet been delivered in a measurable manner.
  • The draft laws of convergent communications from different political sectors have included almost nil considerations of gender, although they have had a relative receptivity towards the proposals that have been sent to them from civil society.

More information

Contacto

Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

Sandra Chaher – sandrachaher@comunicarigualdad.com.ar

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The legalization of abortion is a matter of equality, health and human rights

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

We support and accompany the process that promotes the legalization of abortion. In this article we present our institutional positioning document and the reasons why we understand that guaranteeing safe and free legal access to the interruption of pregnancy is a matter of equality, public health and human rights.

We present the institutional document that bases the positioning of the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies in relation to the need for the State to legalize the interruption of pregnancy, and guarantee its safe and free access, within the framework of the promotion and effective compliance of sexual and reproductive health policies, guaranteeing comprehensive sexual education, access to methods of contraception and the termination of pregnancy, as full realization of the rights involved.

The purpose of our organization is to contribute to a more just, equitable and inclusive society, seeking to guarantee the validity of human rights (article 2 of our statute). One of our main areas of work is the promotion of women’s human rights.

We understand that the legal interruption of pregnancy, as part of sexual and reproductive rights, is a matter of human rights, public health and gender. Matters that are of great relevance in our mission and objective as an organization.

We believe that it is necessary that in our country the conditions of legality be created so that women and people with the ability to generate access to medical practices that guarantee the interruption of pregnancy in a safe and free way in the respect of their will in the health system.

We insist, in addition, that the State guarantees the implementation of the Law of Comprehensive Sexual Education and of public policies aimed at access to contraception (such as the National Plan for Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation), as fundamental pillars for the realization of the right to the sexual and reproductive health of people.

A health issue

  • Clandestine abortions are the main cause of maternal mortality in Argentina.
  • Deaths and health complications linked to abortions disproportionately affect women in more vulnerable economic conditions.

A question of human rights and equality

  • Although the Supreme Court decided a case establishing criteria for access to abortion in certain circumstances, the practice is very restrictive and once again disproportionately affects women in more vulnerable economic conditions.
  • In recent years, various human rights committees have made concrete recommendations to Argentina to modify its abortion regulation.
  • In countries where access to abortion was legalized, there was no increase in the number of abortions. At the same time, there were drastic reductions in maternal mortality rates.
  • The termination of pregnancy should be the last resort in a comprehensive plan of sex education and access to contraceptive methods.

More information:

Contact:

Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

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Gender parity: a necessary conquest

On November 23, 2017, the National Congress approved Law No. 27,412 on Gender Parity in Areas of Political Representation, the result of the harmonization of several projects presented in the Senate during 2016. The first one was the one presented on February 26 of that year by Peronist deputy Jujeña Liliana Fellner.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Although the final draft had been approved in the Senate in October 2016, it did not reach the Chamber of Deputies until shortly before the end of the 2017 session.

In the long session on November 22, Rep. Victoria Donda (Movimiento Libres del Sur) asked that the project be treated “on tables”. Thus, in the early hours of the morning, with 165 votes in favor, 4 votes against, 2 abstentions and 82 absent deputies, the bill became law.

With the aim of guaranteeing gender parity in the legislative bodies, the law establishes that the lists of candidates for the National Congress (deputies and senators) and the Mercosur Parliament must be carried out “placing interspersed women and men from the first titular candidate to the last alternate candidate”.

In this way, the law takes female representation on the electoral lists to 50 percent, guaranteeing the principle of gender equivalent participation. This decision is in tune with the local legislation of some provinces, such as Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, Río Negro and, more recently, Buenos Aires, which for several years now have laws of equivalent gender participation.

The Law of Quota: the fundamental antecedent

Although we had a quota law since 1991, the year in which Argentina became the first country in the world to guarantee the participation of women in electoral posts, this law was already obsolete. Law 24,012, which two decades ago was considered advanced, established a minimum quota of 30% that should be occupied by women. However, in practice, the law ended up showing its limitations when converting that percentage into a ceiling, rather than a minimum quota, causing women to be relegated to third, sixth or ninth place in the lists.

Unfortunately, as we have said on another occasion, in the swing of the interpretation of our National Constitution, and in particular Art. 37, the provisions of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women continue to be ignored. (CEDAW, for its acronym in English), which enjoys constitutional status and must be mandatorily taken as a current and complementary rule of our Constitution.

 

The CEDAW, in its Art. 4 Inc. 1, provides: “The adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination in the manner defined in the present Convention, but in no way entail, as a consequence, the maintenance of unequal or separate regulations; these measures will cease when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been reached.”

The female quota laws are nothing other than these “temporary special measures” established in this normative body, which must cease when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been reached.

Already at the last Conferences on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, the idea of ​​a minimum percentage for gender parity had been proposed as a regional goal. In the Quito Consensus emerged from the X Regional Conference on Women States recognized that parity is “one of the determinant drivers of democracy, whose goal is to achieve equality in the exercise of power, in decision-making, in the mechanisms of participation and social and political representation, and in the family relations within the different types of families, the social, economic, political and cultural relations, and that constitutes a goal to eradicate the structural exclusion of women“.

 

The quotas are corrective measures and, therefore, temporary; On the other hand, parity is a permanent principle that better represents equality in the exercise of power. Parity is a definitive measure that seeks to share the political power between women and men and transform the very idea of ​​democracy.

However, it is necessary to recognize that the quota laws or quota mechanisms have achieved conquests on the road to equality, favoring new issues on the public agenda, especially in terms of gender equality and defense of rights.

Since then, our Congress has enacted numerous laws that promote the rights of women against discrimination and inequality that they suffer for reasons of gender, such as Law 26,485 of Comprehensive Protection to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women in the areas of that develop their interpersonal relationships (2009), Law 26,522 of Audiovisual Communication Services (which promotes equal treatment and not stereotyped in the media, avoiding discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation, also in 2009), Law 26,862 of Comprehensive access to medical-assistance procedures and techniques of medically assisted reproduction (2013) and Law 26,873 of Breastfeeding – Public Promotion and Awareness (2013), to name a few.

As a result of the long struggle of the different feminist movements and the work of legislators of different party colors, parity represents an enormous advance in legislative matters. This advance, however, must be accompanied by public policies with a gender perspective that guarantee and deepen the realization of these rights and that contribute to a real transformation of patriarchal power relations.

The Gender Parity Law in Areas of Political Representation is definitely a positive measure that will allow the effective enjoyment of women’s human rights and the real opening of the legislative space to the agenda of the feminist movements as inescapable themes for the strengthening of the democracy.

 

Authors

Rocío Aguirre

Mayca Balaguer

More information

Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

Mayca Balaguer – maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

Emilia Pioletti – emiliapioletti@fundeps.org

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On March 8, we stop again

With an extraordinary organization in all parts of the country, and within the framework of an international movement, women are once again demanding equality.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

On women’s day in 2017, a mobilization was carried out in more than 35 countries to denounce the historical inequality of women in society and its multiple consequences: from sexist violence -and its most extreme expression, femicides- to feminization of poverty, economic violence, domestic work and unpaid care, wage gap in relation to male salaries, job insecurity, universal vacancies in kindergartens, extension of maternity and paternity leave, salaries for victims of gender violence, equal salary for equal work, reopening of the moratorium for housewives, among other claims.

This year, the mobilization multiplied, and the organizations and movements and unions of all the places of the country reconvene under the same banner. Thousands of people are gathering in the Organizational Assemblies of the International Stop of women, trans, lesbians and of all feminized identities, and we call for various measures, from unemployment to marches, interventions, digital campaigns, etc.

The deployment of energies occurs throughout Latin America, and the claims are adjusted to the most urgent needs of each place, making visible the diversity of our continent.

Undoubtedly, the collective Ni Una Menos, present in all provinces and almost all cities in the country, is the space that brings together people who want to make visible again the struggle for the rights to equality and a life free of violence. From these spaces are built the alliances and the links of a historical and tireless struggle that grows every day.

From FUNDEPS we stop all the identities that are part of our organization. We return to the need to rethink our relationships, our policies and our socio-cultural reality. We accompany the fight, invite and adhere to the International Women’s Strike on March 8, 2018.

Contact

Virginia Pedraza, vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

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The intervention of INADI before said homophobes against Flor de la V

After the election of the Carlos Paz Awards 2018, the speaker Carlos Caserta made a series of homophobic, discriminating and derogatory comments against Florencia de la V and the trans community. It was denounced by social organizations, criticized in the media and INADI declared its repudiation.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

The speaker Carlos Caserta, in his program on FM 100, criticized the Carlos Paz Awards for recognizing the actress and comedian Florencia de la V, for his performance in the play “Explosivos”.

In his sayings he said: “Choose a ‘trava’ as a prominent female figure … Excuse me, you, but they are sick in the head (…) Honestly, I do not mean it, it’s not a woman! You have to respect the woman Fuck! How can it be that a job is more important than a woman? And the women, above, do not do anything, they take it with grace, they are shitting the clients, the prizes. you carry, or homosexuals.”

The aberrant manifestations of Caserta are framed in a violent practice, in flagrant detriment of the rights of the LGTTTBIQ collective, which foment discrimination, inequality and hatred. In these cases it is essential to remember the “Guide for the journalistic treatment responsible for gender identities, sexual orientation and intersexuality“, published by the Ombudsman’s Office, which recommends, among others: “Respect the principle of self-determination of sexual identities and orientations and promote media discourses that avoid judging or discrediting the autonomy of people to define themselves.”

On the other hand, the sayings of this man promote a dichotomous vision of gender and sexuality, making a focus on compulsory heterosexuality as the only legitimate model of bodies, identities, relationships and families.

Many organizations make complaints through the corresponding channels, which are responsible for ensuring the rights of audiences, such as the Ombudsman’s Office, ENACOM, INADI, and INAM.

The response of INADI was swift and concrete in its rejection of the statements of Caserta, reaffirming that “these manifestations take on another dimension and impact when they are disseminated in the mass media,” which is why it invites awareness-raising among communicators to the microphone.

This type of conduct by communication professionals is plausible for sanctions and is in flagrant violation of our national regulations, as well as the Human Rights Treaties, which are part of our legal system.

It should not be forgotten that, according to the Audiovisual Communication Services Law No. 26,522, it establishes in article 70: “The programming of the services provided in this law shall avoid content that promotes or incites discriminatory treatment based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation (…) or that undermine human dignity or induce behaviors that are harmful to the environment or to the health of people and the integrity of children or adolescents.”

On the other hand, the Gender Identity Law N ° 26.743, in its article 1:

“Everyone has the right:

a) To the recognition of their gender identity;
b) The free development of their person according to their gender identity;
c) To be treated according to their gender identity and, in particular, to be identified in that way in the instruments that accredit their identity with respect to the name/s of pile, image and sex with which it is registered there.”

We applaud the immediate reaction of INADI, and the follow-up of the other competent organs of the State, in the fulfillment of its functions, and in guarantee to the rights that protect our laws. It is essential to understand that the media are creators of opinion and that this entails a great responsibility to those who create and reproduce the contents, to promote equality and respect for rights, in pursuit of a more just and equitable society.

Contact

Virginia Pedraza, vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

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We are part of the Consultative Council of the National Institute of Women

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

 

In September of this year, after a year of the call to call, organizations that would be part of the CCAH of civil society were announced, whose main function is to advise and recommend courses of action to address the problem of gender violence. . This Council, created by virtue of article 9 of the integral protection law 26.485, is composed of two organizations per province and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, with a total of 48.

On October 27, the first meeting of the aforementioned Council took place, in which besides presenting the organizations, the National Plan of Action for the Prevention, Assistance and Eradication of Violence against Women was informed (2017-2019) and about INAM’s plans in terms of design and implementation of policies. Likewise, the functions and regulations that should be dictated by the CCAH were discussed. Among the functions of the organizations, are to participate in the annual meetings and monitor the application of law 26,485 in their respective provinces, to then submit reports that serve as an input to the INAM to promote the application of the law at the federal level.

One of the main points of the agenda was the change suffered by this body, which went from being the National Council for Women, to being the INAM. The authorities that stated, mentioned that the decision regarding this modification addresses the need to give greater hierarchy to public policies of prevention, assistance and eradication of violence against women by having the rank of Secretary within the Ministry of Social Development, the time that the organism is granted greater autonomy.

On the other hand, it was pointed out that in future it is planned to establish provincial delegations, to territorialize INAM policies and facilitate access to procedures in the different Argentine provinces. However, no references were made to how public policies in this matter are going to be mainstreamed towards the other areas of the State, beyond the scope of the Ministry of Social Development.

We welcome the initiative of INAM to comply with the provisions of the law and to consolidate an institutionalized space for civil society to participate in a federal manner in matters of gender violence. The construction and monitoring of public policies for a problem as widespread as gender inequality requires the participation of civil society in all of Argentina, so we hope that we will continue advancing towards the promotion of women’s rights, also assuring budget and the necessary infrastructure so that they work in all the national territory.

We can not fail to mention that the participation of organizations should be reinforced, in addition to the existence of the CCAH. It is necessary to implement mechanisms so that other women’s rights organizations in all provinces can access the participation, which do not meet the formal requirements to belong to the CCAH, but due to their experience and trajectory, they must be considered purposes of the design and implementation of public gender policies in our country.

More information

– Resolution creating the INAM and the CCAH

– Annex of member organizations of the CCAH

Contact

Carolina Tamagnini – carotamagnini@fundeps.org

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Cutting resources to combat gender violence

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

 

At the beginning of this year, the cut for the budget aimed at eradicating gender violence in our country was evident, which was later clarified by the authorities of the National Women’s Council (current National Institute of Women) , recomposing such “error”. This movement aroused an alert to the organizations for the serious lack of transparency and clarity on the management of the public funds that would go to the Council.

In this context, it is worth noting that our country has signed and ratified a series of international agreements and treaties relating to human rights for gender equality (the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention of All Forms of Discrimination against Women , Sanctions and Eradication of Violence against Women), which oblige the State to develop public policies with the maximum resources required, mainly technical and economic, to guarantee the exercise of rights by women on equal terms with men.

Ignoring these commitments, in September of this year the budget for 2018 was presented, from which a number of civil society organizations (ELA, ACIJ, CAREF, FEIM, MEI and the Siglo 21 Foundation) once again alerted a reduction in the budget allocated to INAM, the main body of application of Law No. 26,485 on Comprehensive Protection for Women, and the lack of clarity and disaggregation of the budget directed at other programs to eradicate violence against women. The difference is 17% less than the current year, taking into account only the official inflation forecasts for the coming year.

The budget gap is more significant if one takes into account that the creation of INAM was established in order to give greater economic autonomy and institutional hierarchy to the body that regulates gender equality policies.

The budget forecast for next year is alarming, especially if we consider that in our country women receive a lower wage of up to 27% less than their male counterparts for the same work performed and are the most likely to work in precarious conditions, the figures of femicides amount to one every 18 hours, that the symbolic and media violence is reproduced through the media by the crisis of the institutions created for its monitoring and eradication.

We note that the budget cut and the absence of a clear picture of the resources that will be allocated to public policies aimed at promoting gender equality in various areas, jeopardize all the positive measures and actions that are being developed in this area. sense and backtrack with the national and international commitments made.

We add that the lack of disaggregation and budget specification towards gender policies shows serious difficulties in addressing the need to incorporate the gender perspective in matters related to the resources allocated, and also prevent their monitoring and monitoring in order to guarantee their fulfillment. In this sense, the State’s action is questionable, since, if it has committed itself to fight against gender-based violence, the measures and the budget approach for this purpose should not reproduce inequalities and violence against women.

The invisibilization and lack of clarity on the budget lines destined to most of the most important programs to guarantee the equality of opportunities and to combat the macho violence (except for some exceptions like the Program of Integral Sexual Education and the Victims against the Violence among others) , create a gray space that would allow the state to shape and alter public funds in favor of interests and contingent needs that could affect the survival and effectiveness of public policies to ensure gender equality.

That is why, once again, we adhere to the demand of civil society organizations against the budget reduction and in favor of transparency and specification regarding State funds allocated to public policies aimed at eradicating the violence that relapses in an insistent and relentless about so many women.

Contact

Cecilia Bustos Moreschi – cecilia.bustos.moreschi@fundeps.org

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32nd National Meeting of Women: a movement that resists

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

 

More than 50,000 women gathered for another year to share experiences, update debates, express feelings and define policies that meet their needs, betting on collective work to advance the fight. Women approached from different parts of the country, but it is worth noting the presence of women from El Impenetrable Chaqueño, who made the difference in their first participation in an ENM.

The meeting was marked by a variety of workshops, including women and feminisms, sexual and reproductive rights, femicides, indigenous peoples, among others. Two new themes were added this year: “Women and Culture of Rape”, which developed the role of the media in the construction of the victim and the victimizer, institutional violence, sexual, affective and relational consent, among other axes . Also added “Activism Gordx”, workshop that dealt with the hegemonic medical model, cultural stigmatization of fat bodies and new forms of politicization. At the same time, women were able to enjoy numerous cultural activities, with 25 de Mayo Square being the epicenter of talks, handicrafts, music and mates “encounters”.

On Sunday, at 6:00 p.m., a multitudinous march was conducted that covered more than 35 blocks on the way to the Democracy Park, with the presence of women belonging to different social, political, trade union, civic organizations, indigenous communities, and so on. The march culminated with a great rock to the rhythm of good music, dance and several meals.

We can not fail to mention the lamentable assaults that were suffered by several women who attended the ENM on Monday by a group of people who, shouting “let them all go”, threw stones at them, chased them on motorcycles, hit with sticks, and threatened, corralated and intimidated violently. Once again, intolerance and violence played a part in the NME. We repudiate this episode of this anti-rights sector, which, far from respecting freedom of expression and democracy, once again tarnished an MNA. It is also worth noting that, unlike the previous ENM, the security forces did not repress and acted with respect for the rights of the attendees, safeguarding the security of the meeting.

We celebrate these 32 years of struggle that will not stop and we will meet again next year in Puerto Madryn, Chubut, headquarters of the 33rd ENM.

Sources

Incidents in the march of repudiation to the meeting of women | TN24

Violent demonstration of Resistance against the women of the Meeting | El Diario de la Región

Author

 Mariana Cabanillas

Contact

Virginia Pedraza, vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

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We continue to build equality from the right

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

The reality of women in Argentina, urges that organizations take action, organize and strengthen their links. It is essential to generate collective strategies that can generate impacts that make visible the faults that women suffer in our country, such as access to justice, participation, the rights to a life free from violence, health, freedom, equality of opportunity, among many others.

The organizations and individuals that form part of the Abogadxs Alliance for Women’s Human Rights are meeting to discuss the achievements in recent years, the achievements and advances in the recognition of rights and their implementation. But we also put on the table the risks in the implementation of regressive policies, of strategies that continue reproducing the logics of gender inequality, and everything for which we have always struggled and have not yet reached.

That is why we focus our exchanges on two central themes: sexual and reproductive rights, and violence against women. In both areas of discussion we reach starting points for collective strategies, and we generate dynamics of mutual strengthening for those measures and actions that necessarily have to be diagrammed locally.

The human rights of women must be guaranteed by the State, and when this is not manifested in reality, the organizations will continue to carry out collective advocacy to demand that all people, regardless of gender, enjoy all rights and can live their lives without fear and in full freedom.

Contact

Virginia Pedraza, vir.pedraza@fundeps.org