Wednesday 3 June 2015

Congress packed for anti-gender violence march

The plazas and streets around Congress were filled with tens of thousands of campaigners protesting against gender violence, as the #NiUnaMenos march brought out massive crowds in solidarity with victims of mistreatment.

Family members of women who had been killed at the hands of partners or ex-partners were the first to gather near the iconic City landmark today, alongside survivors left paralysed or blinded by abusive relationships. As the afternoon went on the area was taken over by sympathisers of the campaign, organised primarily through social media and with some famous faces lending support.

"No more femicide. From Barcelona we join today every Argentine to shout loudly #NiUnaMenos", Barcelona football star Lionel Messi wrote on his Facebook page. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner also criticised what she considered "a culture of devastation against feminism."

As well as the capital, over 80 cities across Argentina organised events for the campaign. The City march, which has gained massive publicity and support from social media, political, artistic and cultural figures, began from Congress.

The hashtag #NiUnaMenos translates to not a women less in English, and refers to violent attacks and murders targeting females in the country. According to the latest available statistics, 1808 women were killed in the last seven years - an average of one every 31 hours.

The organisers of the march showed in front of Congress a manifesto demanding:

- The implementation of the National Action Plan for the Prevention, Assistance and Erradication of Violence against Women, with is included in law 26.485. That it is wholly observed, with monitoring and budget.

- That victims' access to the courts is guaranteed; that there is judicial support; that they do not become victims again; that the cases heard in civil and penal courts are joined together for a more agile system.

- Within the state there must be a single official register of victims, so that public policies are designed from that perspective.

- A guarantee of integral sexual education at all education levels.

- The victims must be protected because it is extremely difficult for a woman to make an accusation living in a situation of domestic violence. When it happens, the courts have to ensure the measures ordered are carried out against the violent party. 


 Read more about this here.



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