In January this year, at the time of a debate on introducing a new law against domestic violence, the Hungarian Spectrum blogged:

President Sólyom doesn't seem to be too concerned, although according to Hungarian sociologists every week at least one woman dies as a result of domestic violence. And that statistic doesn't include old people and children who are abused or even killed. There was something on the books allegedly dealing with the issue, but it was totally ineffectual. Police couldn't act on the spot and weeks might go by before the case ended up in court. By that time, the plaintiff could be dead. Moreover, the police rarely acted. They simply didn't want to get involved in “family squabbles.” It was, for example, totally useless to call the police and report threats. The answer was: as long as there is no blood no action can be taken. I remember one specific case when such threats were uttered by a young boy against a young girl. The girl's family reported the situation. The police did nothing. A few days later the girl was dead. […]

Because of the refusal of the law in January by László Sólyom, the Hungarian president, the law was changed and the Hungarian Parliament voted on it in June again, and it came into force in October. The law, which has changed the regulation of limiting the freedom of movement to the person accused of committing violent acts, is still criticized (HUN) as not being effective enough.

This month, Hungarian NGOs joined (HUN) the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign. Amnesty International Hungary started a Facebook event where they published their two campaign videos from 2005.

Giving the title of a Hungarian singer Zséda's new song dealing with domestic violence (”Behind Doors”) to his post, tegla07 wrote this (HUN) on his blog:

[…] You're walking on the street and you have no other possibility: you are either one of them, or not. You can't do anything else. You can't be independent - you are among them, or next to them. But a lot of people, and among the lot there are more and more, who try to live as if all this didn't exist. Until it turns out that their best friend, a friend of a friend, a colleague, a cleaning lady or a secretary, a female director, teacher, CEO, is beaten at home…

And why? Every situation is different, every fate is unique, but. But there are rules, there are limits which are impossible to step across. There are situations when the “why” fades, and you can't ponder over it - and mostly, you can't judge.

You can't judge somebody because of her “weakness” (weakness? she stands up to something that you, probably, would never be able to), because of her “powerlessness” (powerlessness? she re-builds herself every morning from nothing)… If somebody's hurt, there's no question there. You must get there, from anywhere you are. You must hug her, to let her know that she's valuable. To let her know that she deserves something different. […]

Nobody, nobody deserves those slaps. Nobody, nobody can think that he has club-law in his family. Nobody, nobody can just pass by a humiliated woman. Nobody, never has the right to speak in another person's ear about a woman hurt… When will we understand this?

Take Back The Tech is a collaborative campaign which takes place during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (25 Nov - 10 Dec). Its goal is to promote ICT to end violence against women. In Pakistan, P@SH@- Pakistan Software Houses Association- is taking the initiative forward and have already launched the campaign on various online platforms.

Jehan Ara, President of P@sh@, initiated the campaign after holding a small meetup with bloggers to help find ways in which the campaign could be beneficial. On her blog  In the Line Of Wire, Jehan shares details of the campaign and ways in which people can help collaborate.

From 25 November to 10 December, get ready to click your mouse, flex your SMS fingers and engage full energy to take control of technology to end violence against women. PC’s Women’s Programme calls on users of the radio, television, internet,
emails and mobile phones to Take Back the Tech!

Meanwhile Jehan also launched the campaign on Twitter which has received an overwhelming response from men and women alike.

jehan_ara: Let us discuss what legislation exist to fight Violence against Women using ICT and whether they need to be changed/reviewed #takebackthetech

rai_azlan It is well-known that violence often ends when others intervene. #takebackthetech

faisalkapadia: FOR THE WOMEN OF PAKISTAN lets put an end to domestic violence against them #TBTT

Fariha Akthar at Far Quest shared announced the online campaign in a post:

I devoted most of my free time today in attempting to TBTT….yes to “Take Back The Tech!” and it’s going to be so at least till the next 16 days. [..]

We here in Pakistan have planned to run the local TBTT Campaign.(..) We have laid down a basic day-to-day activities plan as well that we will follow mainly to create awareness about female harassment issues and sharing tips on how to fight back this menace.

Rai Azlan at “My land Pakistan” blog discussed the need to highlight incidents of violence against women.

Living in a male dominated society I sometimes  consider myself superior over the opposite gender, it might be the influence of the overall social air. However I believe that superiority comes with responsibility and one can only be superior if the entire obligation toward him is being fulfilled.

[..] As soon as I got to know the importance and the aim behind this campaign I felt like it might be the way I can try to fulfill my responsibility.

Teabreak, Pakistan's largest Blog aggregator, announced its support for the campaign, calling all bloggers to join in and spread the word. Teabreak is home to over 1200 registered bloggers across Pakistan. Taking up the initiative will help amplify it to a larger audience. More support poured in when “The Laid Back Show“, hosted by renowned bloggers Awab Alvi and Faisal Kapadia, dedicated an entire episode to the campaign in order to help spread awareness and gather more support.

The campaign has triggered debate over the use of social media tools and has discussed cases of online harassment. Lets hope that this initiative culminates into a more powerful campaign to combat violence against women- a campaign that is not limited to 16-days but will last till the percentage of women facing violence declines appreciably.

LuluzinhaCamp badge: "'Luluzinhas' for the end of violence against women".

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was yesterday. Following a series of special posts on Global Voices Online to raise awareness and voices around the cause, we'll see in this post some Brazilian bloggers' opinions about women's rights.

Renowned Brazilian blogger Lúcia Freitas [pt] gives her contribution by posting a call for bloggers to support a campaign [pt] against violence in the LuluzinhaCamp [pt], a collective of women bloggers inspired on the Little Lulu comics:

Chamada geral! Entre 25 de novembro e 10 de dezembro estamos convocando para a luta pelo fim da violência contra as mulheres. Vamos fazer posts, twittar, fotografar e lembrar que mulheres são seres humanos e merecem respeito – aliás, todo mundo merece…

"Lulus against violence". Photo by Gabi Butcher©, used under a Creative Commons license

Srta. Bia [pt] hears the call and adds her voice to the LuluzinhaCamp campaign, saying [pt]:

No Brasil uma mulher é agredida a cada 15 segundos. Na maioria das vezes o agressor é o parceiro, um familiar ou uma pessoa próxima. Desde pequenas, meninas sofrem com violência e discriminação. Organizações em defesa dos direitos da mulher lutam para eliminar as brechas e anacronismos nas leis, porém as mudanças precisam reverberar na sociedade, na maneira como a mulher é vista.

She carries on:

É por liberdade que as Irmãs Mirabal lutaram, é por liberdade que lutamos a cada dia. Liberdade de ser a mulher que eu quiser, a mulher politizada ou não, a mulher que tem filhos ou não, a mulher que faz um aborto ou não, a mulher depilada ou não, a mulher que faz sexo com quem quiser ou não, mas acima de tudo a mulher que deve ser respeitada e que de maneira alguma pode sofrer nenhum tipo de violência, seja ela física ou psicológica, apenas por ser mulher. Nada justifica a violência contra ninguém.

"Do your bit". Photo by Gabi Butcher©, used under a Creative Commons license

The violence against woman debate is a hot topic in Brazil. Just recently, a series of events involving a student from Bandeirantes University in the state of São Paulo triggered many blog posts on the society's prejudice against the feminine body. On the occasion, tourism student Geisy Arruda wore a short pink dress to go to a regular classroom. Her story, however, touches on more than a 20-year-old woman’s choice at clothing: she ended up catching the attention of many students, who considered the dress offensive. Hundreds of them started ridiculing and cursing the girl, as well as threatening to assault her that day.

Geisy Arruda was eventually expelled from the University under the argument that her “provocative” behaviour was not compatible with the school's rules, but after the international mass media found the case profitable and Geisy became a celebrity on TV and on the Internet, the university admitted her back as student. So far, the heckling students have not been punished. Denise Arcoverde in Síndrome de Estocolmo [Stockholm Syndrome, pt] mentioned the case in her blog. In one particular occasion, she wrote [pt]:

Nesse outro vídeo, a imagem da moça saindo escoltada pela polícia.  Fiquei tão passada com a história que me deu uma taquicardia, de raiva. Eu já vi muito machismo, muita cretinice, mas nada com essa violência. Foi um estupro emocional, que não deve ficar por isso mesmo.

Como discutimos no Twitter, a faculdade paulista UNIBAN não é culpada pela atitude canalha dos estudantes, mas é responsável por não ter controlado a situação e ainda deixar a menina ser humilhada ao sair, escoltada pela polícia. Se fosse minha filha, processaria e exigiria milhões de indenização por danos morais.

"Those who are free fear not being ridiculous". Photo by Gabi Butcher©, used under a Creative Commons license

The Corpos em Revolta blog [Bodies in Revolt, pt] depicts the different types of violence suffered by women and asks the readers to take part in this struggle:

Acreditando que a idéia de feminilidade e o ideal de beleza são conceitos socialmente construídos e ferramentas de controle, o Coletivo Antissexista Corpos em Revolta mostra seu repúdio, nesse dia Internacional da Eliminação da Violência Contra a Mulher, a todas as formas de misoginia, machismo, sexismo, homofobia, e racismo, que vitimizam e inferiorizam as mulheres.

And they add information about a demonstration scheduled to take place on November 29 to celebrate their struggle:

Não acreditamos em padrões de feminilidade nem aceitamos padrões estéticos! Somos a favor da diversidade de corpos e de personalidades, da subversão dos valores sexistas que controlam nossas relações! Propomos uma sociedade onde não haja distinções de gênero, cor, etnia, sexualidade ou qualquer outra forma de inequidade sustentada pela sociedade de mercado!

Para marcar essa data, o Corpos em Revolta fará um ato simbólico no Parque Redenção no domingo, dia 29 de novembro, às 15 horas. Traga sua revolta e participe!

Finally, we read the following message [pt] on the Instituto Humanitas Unisinos blog:

Mulheres vem sofrendo a violência dos homens presentes em suas vidas (companheiros, pais, irmãos, filhos) há alguns séculos, e cotidianamente, muitas vezes em silêncio e culpadas por acontecer, ou muitas vezes sem saber reconhecer como uma violência e especialmente contra elas, por serem mulheres. Só recentemente e nos últimos anos, a agressividade social e individual contra nós está sendo nomeada e combatida, com o avanço dos movimentos sociais, feministas e de mulheres, muita coisa avançou no sentido de reconhecer como uma forma específica de privação dos direitos ao exercício da cidadania.

Photo Foto por Gabi Butcher©, at Luluzinha Camp, used under a Creative Commons license

The photos that illustrate this piece are from a LuluzinhaCamp meeting in São Paulo on November 22. See the full gallery of positive thinking portraits taken by Gabi Butcher, from DiaPositivo Fotografia [pt] blog. And happy 2010!

Photo by Rudy Girón of Antigue Daily Photo and used under a Creative Commons license.

In Guatemala, the Multi-Annual Campaign (extended from 2008 to 2015) of the Regional Chapter, “JOIN together to put an End to Violence against Women” was recently launched, and Radio Feminista is reporting on the event at the collaborative space Fin a la Violencia (End to Violence). In addition, the organization Take Back the Tech is promoting a 16-day blogathon by taking over the blogosphere to discuss topics related to violence against women and ways to prevent it through the use of technology. Anyone can join the network and blog about the subject, from any place, in any language.

Honduras

When a crisis arises across the world, it often leaves women more vulnerable as a target for violence. For example, the blog Género con Clase [es] from Honduras republishes an article written by Tacuazina Morales, who writes that there was an increase of violence and brutality against women just after the coup. This was due in part to the “state of non-protection that victims found themselves and the weakening of the institutions responsible for the protection of the human rights of the women.” According to Feministas en Resistencia, there were approximately 400 cases of violence against women during the demostrations against the coup, including 23 sexual assaults, some of which had the involvement of state security forces.

Guatemala

In neighboring Guatemala, impunity, which is the non-prosecution or punishment of perpetrators, is the most serious consequence of this phenomenon. Up to 97% of the cases of violence against Guatemalan women are not prosecuted according to the blog Género con Clase [es]. Journalist Montserrat Boix features several organizations working on the issue in the country, and also highlights the recent Law Against Femicide passed in 2009 [es].

Guatemalan blogger Ixmucane of Cine Sobre Todo [es] writes about migrant women, who are especially vulnerable to violence:

Unas de las situaciones en las que las mujeres están más indefensas es en la migración, porque están lejos del círculo familiar que las proteje, no conocen las leyes y muchas veces tampoco el idioma. Insisto que cuando hablo de migración, hablo de la migración dentro del país como hacia el extranjero. Y lo peor es que no se quiere defraudar a la familia que se queda, ya que ellos dependen muchas veces económicamente de ellas.

In the Catholic Church, a novena is a devotion consisting of prayer typically said on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces, so Julio Serrano of the blog Fellinada [es] wrote a series of nine articles or “a novena” to unveil the complexities of violence against women. He also asks for the grace to replace violence with words of love: he used as his prayers, nine real stories of different kinds of violence against women and he ends with these thoughts:

Finalmente, no es un golpe bajo hablar del amor en este día, es una postura radical, política, amar es un acto social. Desde mi masculinidad y reivindicando a la mujer en mí, y a la mujer en el otro, y a las mujeres cercanas y lejanas, a mi mamá, a mi novia, a mis amigas, a mis hermanos, a mi papá, a mis amigos, y a aquellas tres hermanas y a lo que representan para nosotros hoy, para ustedes estas palabras llenas de amor”

Photo by Rudy Girón of Antigua Daily Photo and used under a Creative Commons license

Rudy Girón of the blog Antigua Daily Photo made a statement about why we should reject violence as something normal, and why we should take that as a starting point to be part of the solution to solve the problem of violence against women:

I do not want to hear gun shots as normal. I refuse to take violent acts as normal. I do not want to be desensitized towards all the manifestations of violence. I do not want to see naked guns on the streets; at the entrance of banks; with every delivery truck; at shops and every tiendita (store) in the country. I do not want to be part of the problem. I will not yield to words that belittle women or other people. I will not. I want to be part of the solution.

The world has changed again, bringing more complex problems to the forefront to be solved, but because of the internet there are also more voices to join the conversation who add their ideas for solutions. Even the most marginalized in society, poor, indigenous women are fighting for their rights as described by the blog of Guatemala Solidarity so it is time to say no to violence and say yes to a more equal society.

Photo by circo_de_invierno, from Flickr under CC BY 2.0.

Words about violence must break SILENCE

UNIFEM, in the Say No to Violence channel on YouTube has already documented some of the actions being taken around the world to end gender violence. This first video shows the Ngara Girls High School in Nairobi, Kenya, where young girls are being taught to say No to Violence, to stand up for their rights and also how to deal with rape, assault, harassment and other forms of gender violence:

Also in Kenya, the Kenyatta National Hospital has a Gender Violence Recovery Center, where women and their children can go and receive care in cases of violence against them. In this next video, they tell of their experience running the center, the context they are in, and women who have been victims of gender violence speak out:

In Peru, the Flora Tristan organization is having a protest and mass gathering for another aspect they believe is related to gender violence: the denial of free access to birth control methods and the new law that determined that the day after pill (emergency contraception) wouldn't be distributed free of cost. They will be doing an educational campaign in a park in Lima and giving out information about birth control, also handing out day after pills and birth control packets as a symbolic protest:

In the context of all Latin America and the Caribbean, UN-INSTRAW launches this video as part of an awareness campaign :

Latinoamérica y el Caribe es un lugar peligroso para las mujeres. Más de 50 por ciento de las mujeres de la región han sido objetos de agresiones. En la República Dominicana, por ejemplo, 1,453 mujeres fueron asesinadas entre los años 2000 y 2008. En el marco del Día Internacional para la Eliminación de la Violencia Contra la Mujer, UN-INSTRAW lanza un nuevo video sobre la seguridad de las mujeres latinas y caribeñas.

In Spain, women participated in the 5th Self-Defense seminar against gender violence, where they are taught how to protect themselves in case they face a dangerous situation. Training is geared towards enabling them to disable their aggressor momentarily so they can run away from danger.

And from Chile, Hip Hop Artist COFLA has made a song titled Femicide. Whereas hip-hop lyrics are often thought to promote violence against women, this artist has put out a song condemning how men go from promises of love and protection to violence, aggression and even murder:

Have there been similar efforts and activities in your hometown or country? Please let us know in the comments how your community is moving towards ending violence against women!

Photojournalist and blogger Craig Wherlock translated from reports in Greek media:

a 35 year old Armenian woman was beaten, handcuffed and detained in front of her two year old child [..] in Athens last Thursday [..] When she went to get the pushchair carrying her child they grabbed her, pushed her to the ground, kicking and punching her in the belief she was resisting arrest. The hapless mother was handcuffed and taken with her child to the Aghios Panteleimonos police department where she was kept for four hours.

The incident was promptly reported on Twitter by Cyberela:

«Νταήδες» αστυνομικοί ξυλοκόπησαν 35χρονη http://www.enet.gr/104685 (via @enetgr) @chrisochoidis Τί θα κάνετε γι αυτό;

Citizen Protection minister Michalis Chrisochoidis was harangued by demands to take action. On Twitter vivian_e said:

@chrisochoides Υπουργέ, δεν πάει άλλο η κατάσταση με την αστυνομική βία. Πρέπει να υπάρξουν παραδειγματικές τιμωρίες. Άμεσα

Half an hour after the first tweet, the minister's office responded directly to citizens for the first time through Twitter:

@Cyberela @diakoptis @teacherdude @asteris @magicasland μετά την καταγγελία της 36χρονης η ΓΑΔΑ διέταξε Ένορκη Διοικητική Εξέταση

… to which vivian_e responded

@chrisochoidis Θα σας ρωτάμε κάθε μέρα για την πορεία της ΕΔΕ.

Later, the minister announced that the officers responsible for the incident would be permanently dismissed, and initiated a public consultation for the creation of a special office to monitor incidents of police abuse.

In Puerto Rico, according to official statistics collected by the Office of the Women's Advocate, 178 women have been murdered by their partners or ex partners between 2001-2008. This year, already 16 women have been murdered in cases of domestic violence in an Island with a population of roughly 4 million people. There is an average of 20,000 domestic violence incidents reported to the police every year. Those are only the ones that are reported. In their latest study (2007), the government's Center for Victims of Rape calculated that 18,000 people, mostly women and girls, are victims of sexual violence every year.

There are many other forms of violence embodied in unequal wages, lack of access to health care and education, homophobia, and racism.

Poster of march against violence at the University of Puerto Rico. Republished with permission of the organizers.

There are also many women, and men, resisting violence in creative and innovative ways. Today, November 25, on occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, that marks the first day of the world-wide annual campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, feminist bloggers in Puerto Rico have written posts on how violence affects their lives, their families, and their communities.

They have written poetry, in-depth analyses, and intimate reflections. They have written about structural, discursive, domestic, and sexual violence. They have written about unequal power relationships, public policies, laws, poverty, democracy, the economy, and even about violence against women in film. Let's see their faces, read their texts, and listen to their voices.

In her blog Mujeres en Puerto Rico [ES], feminist lawyer Verónica remembers how violence against women she knew, or was separated from by degrees, has touched her life since she was a child:

En mi temprana adolescencia, convencí a mi madre para que me permitiera hacerme mi primera manicura. En cuanto obtuve la ansiada autorización, corrí a un salón de belleza y allí conocí a Ada, la dueña del lugar. Simpática, agradable, sonriente, siempre trabajadora, Ada. Su socio era también su esposo, así que lo recuerdo a él también, entrando y saliendo del salón, mientras Ada trabajaba con mis manos. Un día, de repente, el salón de belleza amaneció cerrado. Ada había sido asesinada por su esposo. Se abrió la caja de pandora. Por primera vez, en mi vida escuché de primera mano sobre cómo la distorsión de lo que es una relación amorosa puede terminar en muerte. Perdí la inocencia.

In my early adolescence, I convinced my mother to let me have my first manicure. As soon as she gave me permission, I ran to the beauty parlor where I met Ada, the owner. She was nice and kind. She was always smiling and working. Her business associate was also her husband, so I also remember him entering and leaving the parlor while Ada worked on my hands. One day, suddenly, the beauty parlor closed. Ada had been murdered by her husband. For me, Pandora’s box was opened. For the first time in my life, I learned how a twisted sense of love can end in death. I lost my innocence.

Feminist activist Amárilis Pagán denounced in Brujas y Rebeldes [ES] the multi-dimensional aspects of violence perpetrated by the State.

Estamos de pie ante un sistema de gobierno que se ha convertido en el principal agresor de las mujeres en Puerto Rico. De pie y resistiendo por nosotras y por otras poblaciones que son igualmente vulnerables. De la misma manera en que la violencia doméstica se trata de una cuestión de poder y control, la violencia actual del Estado en contra de las mujeres de la Isla es un asunto de poder y control matizado por una perspectiva acartonada de lo que son- y deben ser- las mujeres a la luz de una concepción judeo-cristiana de corte fundamentalista que se ha entronizado en la esfera gubernamental. Este 25 de noviembre, Día Internacional de No Más Violencia Hacia las Mujeres, es obligatorio hablar de la violencia hacia las nosotras en sus expresiones más amplias y profundas. Esa violencia no se limita a la violencia en relaciones de pareja (violencia doméstica) y es, en realidad, una violencia que se ha filtrado a través de muchas otras facetas de la vida de las mujeres. Pensar que la violencia doméstica es el único tipo de violencia que se inflige a las mujeres de la Isla es simplificar un asunto mucho más complejo.

We are resisting a governmental system that has become the primary aggressor against women in Puerto Rico. We are resisting in order to defend ourselves and other vulnerable sectors of society. The same way in which domestic violence is an issue of power and control, state violence against women is also about power and control. In this case, it is framed by a limited vision of who women are, and are supposed to be, according to the Judeo-Christian fundamentalism that has invaded the government. This November 25, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, it is necessary to talk about the varied and profound ways in which violence is committed against us. This violence is not limited to violence perpetrated in intimate relationships (domestic violence). Other forms of violence have seeped through other facets of women’s lives. To believe that domestic violence is the only kind of violence inflicted on women in this Island is to simplify an issue that is much more complex.

Performance denouncing violence against women in Puerto Rico. Video by Insula TV.

Feminist activist Nahomi Galindo-Malavé analyzes the multiple manifestations of gender violence in Poder, Cuerpo y Género [ES]:

En el mes de No más violencia hacia las mujeres, es importante recordar que todo acto de violencia encarna una red de relaciones de poder: en este caso, relaciones de género. Es por ello, que el objeto o “víctima” de la violencia de género no necesariamente es siempre una “mujer”.  Un ejemplo reciente de ello es violento asesinato del hombre gay de 19 años, Jorge Steven López. Para comprender este suceso como crimen de odio y como violencia de género, es importante entender cómo se despliegan a través de él las relaciones de poder y la construcción de las masculinidades… La violencia contra las mujeres es producto de las relaciones de poder que existen en nuestra sociedad. Se trata por tanto de una de las manifestaciones de la violencia de género, que se dirige contra todo aquello que no es inteligible, que rompe, que no se subordina, a las normas de lo masculino y lo femenino. Diferentes formas de violencia de género son las violencias domésticas, la violencia económica, los feminicidios y los crímenes de odio.

During the month of No More Violence Against Women it is important to remember that every act of violence embodies a network of power relationships. In this case, gender relations. This is why the object or “victim” of gender violence is not necessarily always a woman. A recent example is the violent murder of the gay 19 year-old Jorge Steven López. To be able to understand this murder as a hate crime and as gender violence, its important to understand how power relationships and the construction of masculinities work… Violence against women is the product of power relationships in our societies.  Therefore, it is one of the manifestations of gender violence directed to everything intelligible, that breaks with and does not bend to masculine and feminine norms. Domestic, economic, femicides and hate crimes are different forms of gender violence.

In El rincón de la cinefilia [ES], RDLC, who describes himself as a feminist man, does a critique of the films “What's Love Got to Do with It?” and “North Country”. He concludes that:

La violencia en contra de la mujer, ya sea en el ámbito íntimo del hogar o en donde trabaja, está mal. Podríamos pensar que luego de años y años de concienciación a la sociedad esta enfermedad hubiera culminado. Sin embargo, aquí estamos: año 2009 y las estadísticas sobre actos violentos en contra de féminas siguen más altas de lo que quisiéramos. Por ello, les recomiendo ambas películas basadas en hechos reales donde féminas (famosas y no famosas) luego de ser confrontadas con la violencia, supieron sobrepasar dignamente el epíteto “víctima”, convertirse en heroínas y llevar un mensaje claro: no más violencia contra las mujeres. PUNTO.

Violence against women is wrong, be it in the intimacy of the home or in the workplace. We would like to think that after so many years of consciousness raising, this disease should have been eliminated. But, here we are, in the year 2009, and the statistics of violence against women are still much higher than expected. This is why I recommend both of these movies based on true events in which women, famous and not famous, transcended from being “victims” to become heroes. They deliver a clear message: no more violence against women. PERIOD.

Feminist law student Mariana Iriarte discusses discursive and symbolic violence in Con otro y otras en el mundo [ES]:

Importante es entonces ser conscientes y concientizar a otras mujeres que la violencia física siempre es antecedida por la violencia simbólica, que antes de agredirte física o sexualmente, preparará el terreno discursivamente para que te sientas acorralada y sin salida, que anterior al golpe te hará sentir que no eres humana, que no vales nada, que eres un apéndice de él y más que su compañera eres su pertenencia. Reconocer que los roles que se te han asignado como mujer fueron construidos por los hombres para garantizar su dominio sobre las mujeres y que, sobre todo, nada de eso es normal. Por eso, hoy y siempre di no a la violencia contra las mujeres y sábete libre para hacer de tu identidad lo que te dé la gana.

It is important, therefore, to be aware and make other women aware that physical violence is always preceded by symbolic violence. That before you are beaten physically or sexually, the ground has been discursively prepared in order for you to feel surrounded, and without an exit. That before the blow he will make you feel inhuman, worthless, and that your are his appendage and his property. It is important to recognize that this is not normal, and that these roles assigned to you were constructed by men to guarantee women’s submission. This is why, today, always say no to violence against women and feel free to reinvent your identity as you please.

Movimiento Amplio de Mujeres de Puerto Rico.

In Poder, espacio y ambiente [ES] environmentalist and feminist law professor Erika Fontánez analyzes different forms of institutional violence against women:

Exigimos que se atienda la violencia, las violencias todas, las violencias de esta sociedad directas e indirectas, las obvias y las estructurales, contra las mujeres. Exigimos el cese de políticas excluyentes que tienen el impacto de fomentar nuestra exclusión y perpetuar la violencia, las violencias. No bastan las ‘palabras de hombre', no las queremos, queremos el reconocimiento en igualdad de condiciones y en igualdad de poder. Exijamos nuevas relaciones de poder en todas las cotidianidades que rompan con los ciclos de las violencias. No más violencia institucional ni de ningún tipo contra las mujeres.

We demand that violence be addressed: all forms of violence against women, direct and indirect, the obvious and the structural. We demand the elimination of policies that promote exclusion and perpetuate violence: all forms of violence. ‘Men’s promises and pledges' (an imported campaign promoted by the government of Puerto Rico) are not enough. We do not want them. We want equality in power relationships and living conditions. Let's demand different power relationships that break with the cycles of violence. No more institutional violence against women.

In El diario de El Curio [ES], Yolanda Velázquez has posted poetry. The blog of the coalition Movimiento Amplio de Mujeres [ES] has information on the feminist movement in Puerto Rico.