Tag Archive for: Sexual Education

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ESI because Yes, guaranteeing Comprehensive Sexual Education is expanding rights

This is the slogan of our campaign that seeks to debunk myths about CSE, promote open debates and provide essential knowledge that allows students to exercise their rights and lead a healthy and fulfilling life.

“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 February 26, students from across the province of Córdoba will begin a new school year. Those who turn eighteen in 2024 will have the same number of years that will be counted in October from the enactment of Law 26,150, known as the Comprehensive Sexual Education Law (ESI). In this return to school, they hope that ESI will finally be implemented in their classes, so as not to continue being part of the 80% of students who consider that it is not applied adequately in their school, according to the data that emerges from a survey carried out by the Huésped Foundation.

“Comprehensive Sexual Education is an inalienable right of students throughout the country who attend both public and private educational establishments, as established by Law 26,150. Although this law has been in force since 2006, its effective compliance has not been achieved and, furthermore, today this right is threatened by strong disinformation campaigns that circulate both in public opinion and in institutional spaces,” explains Mayca Balaguer, executive director. from Fundeps.

Coinciding with the start of classes, at Fundeps we launch the ESI because Yes awareness campaign, with the aim of making adolescents and young people aware that Comprehensive Sexual Education is their right and that it must be guaranteed in all cases. With clear and precise information, the campaign aims to combat false news, myths and hate speech that circulate on social networks, generating confusion and false beliefs about the content and effective practices of the law in schools.

ESI because Yes, is intended mainly for secondary level students in the province, but also for teachers and educational authorities.

“The teaching role is fundamental: teaching sexual education is essential for the eradication of gender violence, the integration of sexual diversity, the prevention of sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, among other issues. ESI is not a gender ideology, but rather a systematic and transversal space for teaching and learning, which ensures the transmission of precise, reliable and appropriate scientific knowledge at each evolutionary stage of the students. Teachers are guarantors of rights,” defines Mayca Balaguer.

In Córdoba, the Provincial Education Law (9870) reinforces adherence to national regulations, both in content and knowledge and in values. However, impediments to its application continue to exist in many institutions. That is why we also bet on networking, together with other organizations committed to the promotion of human rights.

“Guaranteeing ESI is expanding rights. It allows students to be formed who are free in thought and choice, with empathy and the ability to live a full sexuality with respectful bonds, since the very definition of Comprehensive Sexual Education stipulated by Law 26,150 contemplates the articulation of biological, psychological, social, emotional and ethical aspects “, confirms our executive director.

The ESI because Yes campaign will be available on the social networks of Fundeps and allied organizations.

 

Contact

Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

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Breaking the mold: advocacy from a feminist perspective

From Fundeps, together with IDEJUS and Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, we present “Breaking schemes: a Conversation on Feminist Litigation” at the Faculty of Law of the National University of Córdoba. We spoke with an international panel of lawyers with outstanding experience in the defense of 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”.

On Friday, September 15, within the framework of the optional subject “Feminist Litigation: Legal Strategies for Gender Equality” taught this semester at the Faculty of Law, the first discussion on feminist litigation took place. The subject addresses conceptual issues about strategic litigation and feminist criticism of law, with a practical part in which cases and experiences are studied. The teaching team is made up of lawyers from Fundeps, CDD and IDEJUS.

With the participation of Lucía de la Vega (CELS), Soledad Deza (Women x Women), Mariela Galeazzi (Amnesty International), Patricia Sotile (Latin American Justice and Gender Team) and Natalia Acevedo Guerrero (O’Neill Institute for Law and Global and National Health from Georgetown University), we talked about her experience in social organizations and in the development of strategic litigation, the obstacles to the practice of law with a feminist perspective and her response to all types of judicial controversies. They highlighted the importance of collective and interdisciplinary work for comprehensive approaches and the need for training in feminist and human rights perspectives in the legal field.

With a review of those causes in which they participated, the progress of the integration of perspectives for real access to justice and the importance of its promotion and dissemination was analyzed.

Through these instances, in line with what was discussed with the panel and with the institutional support of the Faculty of Law, we are committed to contributing to the training of legal professionals with a gender perspective.

 

Author

Luz Baretta

Contact

Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

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We met with INADI for the complaints made against the Fasta school network

On November 24, we met with members of the Córdoba delegation of the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism to discuss the acts of discrimination perpetuated in the schools of the Fasta educational network.

“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”

After sending them the complaint presented in October to the Ministry of Education for the situations of violence and discrimination experienced by members of the educational communities of the Fasta network, the Cordovan delegation of INADI granted us a hearing to discuss the cases of discrimination reported .

The institution promised to get involved with the complaint, requesting information from the Ministry of Health. In addition, it assumed the commitment to continue articulating with civil society organizations, anticipating new instances of encounter and dialogue.

More information

Contact

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We denounce the FASTA educational network before the Ministry of Education of Córdoba

As a result of the testimonies of former members of schools of the FASTA educational network, numerous cases of gender violence, discrimination, non-compliance with the compulsory curriculum and abuse of authority came to light. We demand that the province’s Ministry of Education stop these practices that violate human rights and act accordingly.

This Monday, accompanying graduates of the schools of the FASTA educational network (Fraternidad de Agrupaciones Santo Tomás de Aquino), we filed a complaint with the Ministry of Education of the province of Córdoba, in order to inform you of certain situations and practices contrary to the law occurred in said educational centers.

Through the testimonies of former students, former students and other members of the community, he became aware of the discrimination and violence that had occurred and would occur in the classrooms of said schools. The testimonies cover situations of gender violence, homo-hatred, discrimination, abuse of authority and denial and defense of the last Argentine military dictatorship.

The study material that is provided to the students was also denounced for being fallacious, discriminatory, violent and violating different laws, such as Comprehensive Sex Education, Discriminatory Acts, Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation, and Identity of Gender, among other protective regulations for human rights and for children and adolescents.

The complaint was signed by more than 30 graduates of the Fasta schools, and different civil society organizations, political parties, public figures and human rights activists joined.

We demand that the Ministry take the necessary measures to deter human rights violations committed by the schools of the FASTA network and any other establishment linked to it, and that it take an active role so that the contents and materials of study are adapted to the provisions of our laws, in matters of education. We also request that the creation of a Provincial Commission for the Implementation of CSE be established with the purpose of collecting and systematizing information that allows monitoring at the provincial level compliance with Law No. 26,150 on Comprehensive Sexual Education.

More information

Authors

  • Sofia Armando
  • Sofia Mongi

Contact

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Playing ESI: “Tutti Frutti De_Generado”

In a live Instagram, we play and reflect together with Activating Rights on issues related to Comprehensive Sexual Education, such as gender stereotypes, micro-chauvinism, relationships, ties, consent, among others.

“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”.

Last Thursday, September 10, we carried out an activity on Instagram together with the “Activating rights” team for Sexual and (non) Reproductive Rights, in order to learn about their activities and share different experiences on the implementation of Law 26,150 on Education Integral Sexual in educational institutions, in a fun and psychopedagogical way.

From the current context generated by the pandemic, new ways of teaching-learning are proposed through virtuality. These new ways challenge not only teachers and students, but also families. It is at this new juncture that ESI is problematized and thought as part of the curriculum and as essential as the right of children and adolescents. However, its implementation today continues to be hampered within many institutions.

“Chomaso that they speak for you”

The meeting took place on InstagramLive and was carried out with a game -tutti frutti- based on topics of interest that emerged from a survey that we had distributed among young people. The categories we played with were: insults based on sexual orientation or gender identity; forms or types of sex-affective relationships; strategies to reject someone who insists on looking for you; things that should not happen in a sex-affective bond and LGBTTTIQ + cultural consumption. These sections gave rise to the conversation among those who broadcast the live, who while receiving the responses from the public developed a brief analysis of each proposed word.

After going through several letters, from Activating Rights they shared some reflections on their work and the experiences within the workshops that they carry out in schools together with children and adolescents. The team works with young people in different educational institutions from a rights perspective and with a gender perspective, generating collective and non-adultcentric spaces, where they can express what they think and feel, developing in an environment of informality and trust.

The importance of articulating

These learning and exchange spaces are enriching and collaborate with the promotion and implementation of a fundamental right for young people, giving place to the protagonists to appropriate them and be an active component of their own learning.

More information

To learn more about Activating Rights, follow their networks: Facebook  – Instagram

Authors

Josefina Gelid

Luz Baretta

Contact

Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

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LETTER TO THE INTENDENT MARTÍN LLARYORA: We need policies that address the problems of our city

Following the opportunity represented by the change of management at the municipal level, we want to express ourselves on key issues for the future of our city. Therefore, we jointly address other Cordoba organizations to the new Mayor of Córdoba, Martín Llaryora, with the aim of making recommendations regarding structural problems that cause serious damage to 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”.

Within the framework of the assumption of the new municipal management, there are unattended situations for years that need an urgent response. Through an open letter, we announce in ten points what these problems are and we make ourselves available to the new cabinet to work in an articulated way.

The ten points are summarized in:

  1. Environmental and health emergency in the Chacras de la Merced neighborhood
  2. Solid Urban Waste
  3. Urban Planning and Development
  4. Gender parity in the cabinet
  5. Trans labor inclusion and quota law
  6. Access to Legal Disruption of Pregnancy in Primary Care Centers
  7. Application of the Micaela law
  8. Access to public information
  9. Healthy school environments
  10. Smoke-free environments and protection of the non-smoker

These are 10 points, which are not exhaustive or exclusive of other problems, but require an urgent response because of the critical situations they represent. We hope that in the next 4 years we can articulate a joint work to continue advancing in the fulfillment of the human rights of the Cordoba community.

Access the full letter

Contact

Carolina Tamagnini, carotamagnini@fundeps.org

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Pride is political. A review of the 11th March of dissident pride

On Saturday, November 9, the 11th March of the Dissenting Pride was held in the city of Córdoba, which was lived as a party but also as a space for struggle, for vindication and for denunciation.

“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”.

From emotional content to what advertising doesn’t show

The 11th March of the Dissenting Pride, the most massive to date, sought to show that, under the glitter, colors and music, there is a history of struggles and denunciations that are far from being what some speeches show us as a (maybe desirable) reality.
The violence of genders that affect the LGBTTTIQ + community is almost impossible to imagine for those who live and conceive of reality from the cisheteronorma. Camila Sosa Villada, renowned playwright, actress, writer and trans activist, tells how her childhood was one of the saddest stages of her life:

“It was very hard, they chased me with stones. (…) I was walking down the street and people spit on me. They wouldn’t let me in the places, I couldn’t go to work at my classmates’ homes because their parents wouldn’t let me in. I could not go to the alumni party because the parents had decided that if I was dressed as a woman I could not enter the party. That is the story of trans people right now in Argentina. Not being able to go out during the day, not being able to go to the river, going to sit in a square, not being able to go to the supermarket … ”

These violence have its highest point in hate crimes by sexual orientation, identity and / or gender expression that, by 2018, reached 147, and 68 by the first half of 2019, in Argentina. Most of these crimes affect younger people (between 30 and 39 years old), which coincides with the average life expectancy of trans people who have a minimum of 35.5 and a maximum of 41.25 years , while for cis people in Latin America it is 75 years.

The day and the street as a territory of dispute: the claims

Again, as for 11 years, pride took to the streets. Like the carnivals that enable “out” the repressed, denied, the invisible by monstrous and dissident. They do it in broad daylight, showing everything.
Here, evidencing that the private is political and public, the motto of the March is raised: “We are driven by urgency to dissent, we win the streets until pride expires,” and the following claims were raised:

  • Labor, health, educational and social security inclusion law for women, men, non-binaries, transvestites and transgender.
    Labor rights for sex workers.
  • New adoption law.
  • Effective implementation of Comprehensive Sex Education, so that there are free and happy childhoods.
  • New law on HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs and denouncing the lack of medications for the HIV-positive community.
  • End the institutional violence towards the tortillero collective, claiming the acquittal of Higui and Marian Gomez.
  • Finally, it was demanded by legal, safe and free abortion for all persons capable of gestating and the separation of the Church and the State.

View this post on Instagram

FLYER OFICIAL 11’ MARCHA DEL ORGULLO DISIDENTE CBA????️‍???????? . . “A la disidencia la atraviesa la emergencia, ganemos las calles hasta que el orgullo venza” . . . El sábado 9 de Noviembre se llevará a cabo la 11° Marcha del Orgullo Disidente por las calles de la Ciudad de Córdoba. Desde las 16 hs. nos encontramos en la “Plaza de los presidentes Argentinos Cordobeses” (las cuatro plazas), ubicada en Gral. Paz y La Tablada, para comenzar a marchar a las 18hs hasta el Buen pastor, finalizando con un festival disidente. . . Exigimos: . . – Ley de inclusión laboral, sanitaria, educativa y de seguridad social para mujeres, varones y no binaries trans y travestis – Por infancias libres y felices, implementación real de la ESI. Por una nueva ley de adopción. – Por una nueva ley de VIH, hepatitis virales, ITSs. Basta de faltantes de medicamentos para la comunidad seropositiva. – Terminemos con la violencia institucional hacia el colectivo tortillero. Absolución para Higui y Marian Gómez. – Aborto Legal, Seguro y Gratuito para todas las personas gestantes. Separación iglesia y Estado. – Derechos laborales para les trabajadores sexuales. . . Mesa coordinadora de la Marcha del Orgullo Disidente????️‍????

A post shared by Marcha del Orgullo Disidente (@marchadisidentecba) on

Pride and fight

This year’s march was the most summoning since its inception, 11 years ago. And it was lived as a great party, with the axis set to express ourselves freely in the streets and in the light of day, as we are. But it is very difficult to be happy in a context not only of lack of recognition of rights, but of systematic violence and harassment. Without going any further, the recent attack by Monsignor Aguer towards the identities, orientations and expressions of sexual diversity, which he describes as perverse, unnatural and impure, realizes how much we need to continue fighting.

Pride is not just glitter. It goes hand in hand with the courage of those who, through their own existence, resist and fight.

“In a world of worms, you have to have a lot of courage to be butterflies,” said Lohana Berkins.

… and it is that courage that was seen in this march.

Authors

Cecilia Bustos Moreschi, Mayca Balaguer y Mila Francovich

Contact

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

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Complaints for school practices contrary to ESI

Following various situations in public and private schools in Córdoba, contrary to the rules and standards of law that govern education, we lodge complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents and with the Ministry of Education requesting their intervention.

“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”.

Within the framework of March 25, “Children’s Day for Birth,” several public and private schools in Córdoba held activities and days of celebration, incurring a flagrant violation of the rights of children and adolescents.

Among them, the Private Institute “Virgen Niña” of the city of Justiniano Posse, made and then disseminated a video on WhatsApp, in which you can watch children of the Primary Level singing a song. In the video you can also see images with drawings and activities that were made in the school on that day.

The current legislation cannot be contradicted

This song contradicts the contents proposed by the Law of Integral Sexual Education N° 26.150, sanctioned in 2006, which establishes the right of all students to receive comprehensive sexual education in their biological, psychological, social, affective and ethical aspects (art. one). This law, and its complementary laws, such as Law N° 25.673 on Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation and Law 27.234 Educate on Equality: Prevention and Eradication of Gender Violence, are fully in force in all educational institutions of all levels that they integrate the educational system of the province of Córdoba. In the Provincial Education Law (9870), the adherence to national regulations is reinforced, both in content and knowledge and in values. At the provincial level, in addition, the Ministry of Education ruled last year through Memorandum N° 8/2018, recalling that the ESI law is in full force. The same was said in Resolution N° 433, on April 29 of this year, through which it ratified the validity and mandatory compliance with the guidelines established in the Memorandum mentioned.

In addition to local regulation, this right is based on numerous international human rights instruments.

What the song of the Institution’s video proposes moves away considerably from the obligatory common floor established by the parameters of the Curricular Guidelines for Integral Sexual Education, and from any biological notion of human reproduction, granting subjectivity to the embryo or fetus and presenting a conflict in the situation of pregnancy between the mother and “the child”, which is extremely worrying and stigmatizing.

The institutional ideology must be respected, but without violating rights

The Law of Integral Sexual Education provides that the teaching contents must be harmonious with the “ideals” of each educational community. Therefore, religious schools can define their programs and adapt “the guidelines to their socio-cultural reality, within the framework of respect for (…) the beliefs of their members” (Article 5). This means that religious schools have the right to share with their students what is the opinion of the dogma or creed that governs the institution. But in no way can students be left without the minimum information established by the official curriculum of the law, much less provide erroneous, false and biased information.

It is urgent to talk about ESI

Improving the application of the Comprehensive Sex Education Law in our country is essential, taking into account the high rates of teenage pregnancy and child sexual abuse. Annually, about 3.000 girls and adolescents under 15 years old become mothers, a situation that requires a special look, not only because of the risk of greater physical complications that pregnancy represents at such an early age, but because the younger age is the Probability of pregnancy being a product of sexual abuse.

A systematic practice

You cannot fail to mention other situations that have occurred in schools in the province, such as the three secondary educational establishments of La Carlota (Instituto Mercenario, IPET N° 100 and EPET N° 255) that were mobilized to perform a series of acts framed in they call “Week for life”, which included touring the city with flyers and posters “in defense of the unborn child”.

Something similar happened in Jesús María in the primary school of the Colegio del Huerto, where teachers and authorities asked the students to attend the school with the blue scarf for the day of March 25.

To these are added public knowledge situations where students received reprimands or other sanctions for taking the green scarf to school or for expressing their position in favor with respect to legalization, or those of those teachers who suffer harassment, threats or displacement due to the use of inclusive language.

For all these reasons, with the accession of more than 30 organizations, we request the Ministry of Education and the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents to arbitrate the necessary means to deter this type of practices and to enable mechanisms for training authorities, teachers and not teachers of all educational institutions in the area of ​​Comprehensive Sexual Education, according to the guidelines provided by law.

Contact

Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

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We participated in the consultation of UN Women for Beijing + 25

In view of the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform, UN Women is pushing at the international level for States to review the progress and challenges surrounding women’s human rights. For this, a meeting was called with civil society organizations, together with the National Institute of Women (INAM).

“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 Beijing Declaration and Platform is a program developed in 1995 with a large participation of civil society, to give tools to States, the private sector and the third sector, to promote gender equality. Every five years, a revision process is carried out, at a general level and at the level of the States, to finally make recommendations that allow to continue advancing in the fulfillment of the measures established in said platform.

The national reviews contribute to the global review and evaluation that UN Women will prepare and present during the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS 64), which will take place in March 2020 in New York . The reports are composed not only of the information provided by the State, but also by the contributions of civil society. In this context, INAM, the agency in charge of coordinating gender policies in Argentina, openly called social organizations, the women’s movement and trade unions.

Considering that the Beijing Platform has been a key document for international policy, it has been revised in the light of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In this sense, four axes were identified in which Beijing + 25 and the 2030 Agenda:

  • Inclusive development, shared prosperity and decent work
  • Eradication of poverty, social protection and social services
  • Eradication of violence, stigmas and stereotypes
  • Participation, responsibility and institutions with a gender perspective

Regarding inclusive development, the challenge we face has to do with the difficulties faced by women and diversities in their access to work and, within it, the limits to their possibilities of promotion. This is linked to the lack of equal opportunity policies at the level of public policies and within these companies, according to research carried out in media companies and advertising agencies. Specifically, the critical axis is maternity and care, due to the lack of conciliation policies regarding parental leave, extension of leave time, leave for care (due to illness, family disability, care for the elderly), flexible forms of work (home office) or problems around day care centers. In the event that these types of actions are implemented, they respond to particular demands, so they are not institutionalized or systematized.

Regarding the eradication of violence, stigmas and stereotypes, we are particularly concerned that the public bodies set up to watch over situations of media and symbolic violence – applying Law 26.485 and 26.522 – present irregularities, even when there are commitments assumed by the government and resources from international cooperation to strengthen the fight against gender violence. This is especially noticeable in the ways open to society, for example, the mouths of denunciation.

In our experience, the Media Observatory of INAM and ENACOM have little or no response level to complaints, while the Ombudsman’s Office, with greater activity in this regard, continues to accept it since 2015.

As we understand that the eradication of gender violence implies its visibility and the transformation of naturalized sociocultural patterns and reproduced in daily practices, we make recommendations for the inclusion of awareness, training and gender perspective training in the media and advertising agencies , starting from the areas of university or tertiary professional training.

Finally, on the point of institutions with a gender perspective, we consider that the enactment of the Micaela Law is a good way to incorporate it into State bodies. However, we must insist on adherence by the provinces and state institutions.

Likewise, we recognize public and private schools as institutions endorsed by the State to provide formal education. As such, they must abide by the legislation on the implementation of the ESI and be responsible – and therefore susceptible to being sanctioned – in cases where actions are taken that impede the right to receive or provide sex education.

Within the consultation, topics related to the importance of including the rights of sexual diversity, in particular of transgender people, labor inclusion, vocational training and representation and political participation were also mentioned in all the axes. In order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of what happened in Beijing, the anniversary finds the feminist movement in the midst of the struggle to continue expanding the rights of women, transgender people and dissent.

More information

Country review processes for Beijing + 25:

Beijing + 25 background

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

Author

Carolina Tamagnini

Contact

María Cecilia Bustos Moreschi, cecilia.bustos.moreschi@fundeps.org

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The Inter-American Commission presents its annual report 2018

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented its Annual Report 2018 at the end of last month, in which it reports the work carried out throughout the year. This report constitutes the main instrument of accountability of the IACHR, as well as monitoring the human rights situation in the region and following up on its recommendations.

“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”.

Chapter IV consists of a descriptive panorama on the situation of human rights in the member countries, with a special emphasis on the rights and issues prioritized by the IACHR, as well as on transversal axes of Democratic Institutionality, Institutionality in Human Rights, Access to Justice and Citizen Security; and Right to the Environment.

Together with lawyers from the Argentine Northwest on Human Rights and Social Studies (ANDHES), we presented a shadow report on these axes in December of the last year in the subjects we work on.

In the report for Argentina, the Commission took the matters reported in the shadow report. In the general considerations, it paid particular attention to the concern shown regarding the bill on collective processes; the situation of the right to protest; mobilizations regarding the debate regarding access to women’s sexual and reproductive rights, as well as possible reforms that would restrict the scope of the sex education law. Reference is also made to the clashes between public authorities and indigenous communities; the economic and financial situation in general and its possible impact on human rights, and in particular. Special considerations were made about the situation of poverty that affects children; the appointment of a child advocate that is still pending; expulsions of migrants; and the conditions of detention that prevail in police stations.

In turn, regarding issues related to human rights institutions, the IACHR highlighted our concern about the lack of nomination of a titular person in the Office of the Ombudsman of the Nation, a position that remains vacant since 2009. He also collected our concern about the economic and financial situation of the country and its effects on institutions regarding the allocation of resources and the functioning of the various State entities responsible for the protection of human rights.

Regarding access to justice, the Commission took note of the concern we expressed regarding the Collective Processes Bill prepared by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of the Nation, which, if successful, could seriously limit the use and effectiveness of collective actions, by restricting the possibility of suing the State and companies in defense of collective rights.

Regarding the situation of women’s rights, the IACHR welcomed the approval of the protocol for the investigation and litigation of femicides in Argentina, celebrated the approval and entry into force of Law No. 27,452 “Brisa Law” that grants economic reparations to sons and daughters of victims of femicide in Argentina and welcomed the approval of the “Micaela Law”, which aims to train officials in gender violence.

However, the Commission stated that “it has continued to monitor the various obstacles that women, girls and adolescents continue to face in the exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights, as well as the mobilization and legislative debate to exercise them. “In addition, he pointed out that” given the resurgence of the debate on the reform of the Sexual Education Law (Law No. 6,150), proposals have also emerged to revise and reform it, some of which would have the purpose of limiting its scope and eliminating mentions dedicated to diversity of gender and sexual diversity, topics that are follow-up by the Commission in order to ensure that the reviews are carried out in line with the inter-American standards on the matter. ”

With respect to the right to the environment, the Commission stated that the State informed it about a National Plan of Action to Combat Desertification and that the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation has developed several communication channels within the framework of the National Law No. 25,831 in order to guarantee the right of access to environmental information. He also indicated that “the National Strategy for Environmental Education is being developed, a public policy that guides the bases for the construction of intersectoral programs in the theme to promote the action of individuals, groups and society as a whole for environmental care in its entirety. He also indicated that a National Cabinet on Climate Change has been formed, which is currently working on the articulation of mitigation and adaptation measures on the implementation of the National Determined Contributions of the country. Finally, there is also the generation of indicators for the management of biosphere reserves and private initiatives for the conservation of biodiversity. ”

Nonetheless, the IACHR was alerted to the use of agrochemicals, which is one of the most worrisome issues for the country, particularly because of the harmful effects on the lungs and skin; as well as the increase of conditions such as depression, seizures, immune and endocrine disorders. Inclusive attention was drawn to the increase in the number of people with cancer in the Cordovan town of Monte Maíz in the fumigation season.

For its part, the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (REDESCA) of the Commission presented its own report, highlighting the main data collected as concerns, regarding the situation of the DESCA considered in its generality in all the countries of the region. There, the Rapporteurship mentions again the situations reported in the shadow report related to the right to the environment and the right to health, particularly sexual and reproductive rights.

We celebrate the conclusions prepared by the IACHR and the Rapporteurship on DESCA and that have echoed the reports sent from civil society. We hope that the State has appropriated these recommendations and incorporates them in its design of public policies to improve the human rights situation in our country.

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With Integral Sex Education you don’t get involved

Last Thursday, Córdoba awoke with posters of the campaign #ConMisHijosNoTeMetas on public roads and urban collectives. The slogan was born a few weeks ago, when the reform of the Law of Comprehensive Sexual Education was discussed in the plenary session of the National Congress commissions. On that occasion, an opposition group demonstrated to prevent progress with this legislation, arguing that Comprehensive Sexual Education could not become “indoctrination” by ideology, giving rise to the slogan of this campaign.

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A necessary reform

The Law of Integral Sexual Education (ISE) N ° 26,150, in force since 2006, never had an effective national compliance. During the months in which the legalization of the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy was debated, Integral Sexual Education was mentioned as an urgent policy both by those who promoted the legalization of abortion and by those who opposed it. In the 2017 Learning tests, 8 out of 10 high school seniors said that sex education and gender violence are issues that the school should address and it does not.

On September 4 (World Sexual Health Day), a majority opinion was reached in the plenary of commissions that dealt with a project to reform the law of ESI. It seeks to strengthen the law to make it clear that it is mandatory in the entire national territory, in institutions of state or private management, beyond the “institutional ideology and the convictions of its members.” In this way, access to a fundamental human right that has been legally recognized for 12 years will be deepened.

That confabulation can be seen

However, the opposition sectors did not take long to be heard and began with a campaign on social networks with statements such as “with the children,” “the children are the parents, not the State” and “not the gender ideology in the school”. They define “gender ideology” as that “set of anti-scientific ideas that, for authoritarian political purposes, uproot human sexuality from its nature and monopolize it through culture.” They affirm that “the deconstruction of the human being will lead to chaos and extinction, as we have already done with nature and other species.” And in their documents they present false concepts about what is sex, gender, sexual orientation and identity. gender, with statements such as “there are only two genders”, “no one is born in the wrong body” and that trans people “suffer from gender dysphoria”.

The role of the Municipality in matters of public space advertising

This misleading and malicious campaign not only circulated through social networks. Hundreds of posters with the slogan “#ConMisHijosNoTeMetas – Yes to sex education, not gender ideology” appeared in spaces of municipal public domain in the city of Córdoba, in flagrant violation of articles 1, 15 ° clause a) and 40th paragraph e). of the Ordinance N ° 10378 of “Regulation of advertising carried out through advertising in the City of Córdoba”.

That is why, together with the Córdoba de Todos Foundation, and with the support of more than 50 social organizations, we made a presentation requiring the Municipality to immediately withdraw the advertisements. We argue, on the one hand, that the campaign violates the spirit of the ordinance, which aims to “regulate the advertising carried out by advertising in spaces or places of the Municipal Public Domain or susceptible to be perceived directly from them, with the purpose to safeguard public safety and morality, as well as to preserve and promote the cultural, aesthetic, landscape, urban and historical values ​​within the municipal ejido. ” On the other hand, the ordinance establishes in article 15 that the announcements can not be contrary to the law, affect morality or good customs, or be discriminatory. This applies to public road signs as well as to mobile advertisements, that is, those that were mounted on vehicles of the Public Transport Service (article 40).

Numerous media echoed our claim. Just a day later, we learned that the Coniferal company, concessionaire of the transport service, decided to remove the advertising of the lunette of their cars.

A fundamental human right

Integral Sexual Education is a human right of which the girls, boys and adolescents of our city are inalienable holders. This has been recognized by the Special Rapporteur for the Right to Education, who in his report to the United Nations General Assembly stated “The right to education includes the right to sexual education, which is a human right in itself, which in turn is an indispensable condition to ensure that people enjoy other human rights, such as the right to health, the right to information and sexual and reproductive rights. ”

This is consistent with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1999 and approved by National Law 23,849 in our country a year later, which obliges the States Parties to respect the stated rights and to ensure their application “to every child subject to their jurisdiction, without distinction whatsoever, regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social status, economic position, physical impediments, the birth or any other condition of the child, his parents or his legal representatives “(article 2). It also orders them to adopt “all administrative, legislative and other measures to give effect to the rights recognized in this Convention, and with respect to economic, social and cultural rights” to the maximum extent possible. dispose … “(article 3).

It is a non-delegable obligation of the State to build the conditions for the fulfillment and active exercise of all rights, and this can not be an exception. The exercise of this right of children and adolescents can not be hampered by a campaign that misinterprets and confuses what should be understood by Comprehensive Sexual Education, except in areas of Municipal Public Domain.

Saying “ConMisHijosNoTeMetas” means reducing the exercise of this right exclusively to the family. It puts children and adolescents in a passive place, contrary to the current paradigm that must respect them as subjects of law. We understand that families are key in the path of education, and their role is unavoidable, but it is also absolutely necessary that there are public policies to guarantee this human right.

And now?

We still await a favorable response from the Municipality of Córdoba, which stated in the media that the issue is under study and will be analyzed in the coming days.

With our claim we do not seek to limit freedom of expression, although we do not share the ideology of those who promote the campaign. We understand that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, but can we say anything by protecting ourselves in this right? Or is there a limit when words violate other human rights? Advertising, as well as the media, is one of the determining agents in the transmission of cultural patterns, and can collaborate both in the promotion of values ​​respectful of human rights and in the perpetuation of inequalities. The regulation of the content that is promoted in the public space, such as the municipal ordinance on which we base our claim, marks that limit. In addition, as we explained in our presentation to the Municipality, it is not appropriate to use municipal public domain spaces to disseminate messages that “weaken channels of dialogue, describe in a pejorative manner positions endorsed even by official bodies for the protection of human rights, and incite violence and democratic intolerance. ”

We also believe that it is essential that the government promote a campaign strengthening its commitment to the full implementation of the Law of Comprehensive Sexual Education, taking into account that in our city we have municipal public schools where the expressions of the advertising campaign in question can have generated confusion and conflict.

It is important to understand that what is in conflict is the Comprehensive Sexual Education, understood from a human rights approach and respect for sexual and gender diversity, consistent with our current legal framework and international standards that regulate the subject. It is this sexual education, as the fundamental right of our children and adolescents, that we must defend.

Contacts

Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org