,

The right to life according to the UN Human Rights Committee

The Human Rights Committee approved on October 30 its General Comment No. 36 on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that establishes the right to 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”

This pronouncement focused on certain issues such as the abolition of the death penalty, the importance of having solid methods of accountability, the protection of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty and the protection of defenders. of human rights against reprisals. The Committee opposed a restrictive interpretation of the right to life and stressed that people have the right to enjoy a life with dignity. In addition, its members highlighted the link between the right to life and the obligation of States to prohibit war propaganda and hate speech.

The right to life before the interruption of pregnancy

With regard to States and their power to adopt measures regulating the termination of pregnancy, the Committee noted that such measures “should not result in the violation of the pregnant woman’s right to life or her other rights under the Covenant,” such as the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Therefore, all legal restrictions that limit women’s ability to undergo an abortion should not, among other things, endanger their lives or expose them to physical or mental pain or suffering. ”

In addition, it indicated that States parties should “facilitate safe access to abortion to protect the life and health of pregnant women” and “should not regulate pregnancy or abortion in a manner contrary to their duty to ensure that women do not they have to resort to dangerous abortions. “In this sense, the Committee understands that States” should not adopt measures such as penalizing the pregnancies of single women, nor apply penal sanctions to women who undergo an abortion or to the doctors who perform them. they attend to do it “.

In addition, she said that “excessive or humiliating requirements should not be established for women who wish to have an abortion,” and concluded that “[t] he obligation to protect the lives of women against the health risks related to dangerous abortions requires States parties to guarantee women and men, and adolescents in particular, access to information and education about reproductive options and a whole range of contraceptive methods. States parties should also ensure that pregnant women have access to adequate health care services, both prenatally and post-abortion. ”

International human rights organizations in tune

This statement is added to a list of expressions that different human rights organizations have had throughout the year regarding the situation of abortion in our country and in the world.

On June 1, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the body that oversees compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, issued its Final Observations for Argentina. There, he was forceful in urging the State to ensure “access to safe abortion services and postabortion care for adolescents, ensuring that their opinions are always heard and duly taken into account as part of the decision-making process.”

In the same vein, before the bill of voluntary interruption of pregnancy was discussed in the Chamber of Deputies on June 13, the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in legislation and in the practice of the UN through a letter congratulated Congress for its consideration of a bill that decriminalizes the termination of pregnancy in the first fourteen weeks, and urged that this project be approved. “We welcome the important step that is being taken to guarantee women all their human rights, including the rights to equality, dignity, autonomy, information and bodily integrity and respect for privacy and the highest possible level of health. , including sexual and reproductive health without discrimination, as well as the right to a life free of violence and not to suffer torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, “the Working Group had expressed.

After the legislative debate, the same Working Group deeply regretted that the Argentine Senate rejected the bill that would have legalized abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and described the decision as a missed opportunity to promote women’s rights in the country.

Something similar happened with the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism of the Convention of Belém do Pará (MESECVI) that greeted and congratulated the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation for the approval of the bill in the month of June. After the rejection of the project by the Senate, the MESECVI expressed its regret and argued that “[t] he approval of this law would have constituted a significant advance in the consolidation of women’s rights in accordance with the spirit of the Convention of Belém do Pará, since it not only sought to guarantee their sexual and reproductive rights, but also to protect women’s lives, their physical and mental integrity, and their fundamental freedoms. ”

Finally, just over a month ago, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concluded the fourth report of Argentina on its implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. There he highlighted the high numbers of dangerous abortions in Argentina and the obstacles to access to abortion in the causes foreseen by the current law, such as the lack of adequate medicines and the negative impact of the conscientious objection of health professionals. In addition, it recommended the provision of contraceptive methods throughout the territory, as well as the adoption of effective measures for the implementation of causes of non-punishable abortion in all provinces (as established in the FAL ruling) and access to medicines that allow a safe interruption of pregnancy. It also recommended the regulation of conscientious objection in order not to obstruct the rapid and effective access to abortion, with dignified treatment by health professionals for patients seeking access to abortion services, as well as not criminalizing women who resort to abortion. practice.

All these pronouncements published in 2018 are added to a long list. For years, international human rights organizations have called attention to Argentina and the rest of the world on the standards of protection they must comply with regarding the sexual and reproductive rights of women and pregnant women. It is important to understand the dimension of these expressions: international experts are pointing us the way towards legislation on abortion that respects the commitments assumed in each of the pacts and treaties that Argentina has ratified.

Writter:

Mayca Balaguer

,

Considerations on the crime of abortion and injuries to the unborn person in the preliminary draft reform of the Penal Code

Following the preliminary draft of Penal Code 2018, a group of professionals and civil society organizations sent a letter to Minister Germán Garavano requesting that he suspend articles 95 and 96 of the preliminary draft because they are regressive for the rights of pregnant persons.

“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”

Together with a group of professionals and civil society organizations that work in defense of human rights, we sent a letter to Germán Garavano, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, requesting that he suspend articles 95 and 96 of the preliminary draft because they are regressive for human rights. of pregnant people.

The text proposed in the Draft of Penal Code 2018 does not accept the important modifications approved in the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation in the recent treatment of the bill that decriminalized and legalized the interruption of pregnancy on a voluntary basis until the 14th week of gestation.

1. The proposed wording does not substantially change the conditions and guidelines set forth in arts. 85 and next. of the current penal code in force since 1921, although it uses different expressions and, on the contrary, may be regressive.

2. The fundamental change foreseen in the legal reform debated and approved in Deputies is not contemplated, that is, that the abortion is not punishable when the woman voluntarily decides to interrupt the pregnancy in the first 14 weeks of gestation. Consequently, the grounds for exemption from punishment in the preliminary draft under analysis remain the same as those currently in force: danger to the life and health of women and in case of violation.

3. The new proposed text qualifies health in its physical and mental aspect, while in the current penal code in force, as well as in the project approved in Deputies, only “Health” is spoken, which we consider more correct, because enables the development of the broad concept according to WHO guidelines that does not limit the concept of health to physical and mental aspects only. Therefore, the change is limiting and can be interpreted restrictively, generating greater obstacles when it comes to accessing the legal interruption of pregnancy for this reason, as it is currently planned.

4. The enumeration proposed by the preliminary bill in relation to the grounds for exemption from punishment is also restrictive insofar as it does not expressly contemplate the possibility of deciding to terminate the pregnancy when there is a diagnosis of non-viability of extra-uterine life of the fetus (for example in the case of anencephaly ), as today is accepted and admitted by the jurisprudence for decades, and was expressly consigned in the project that had half sanction.

5. In relation to the amount of the penalties provided for the crime of abortion instead of the current one from 1 to 4 years, it is established from 1 to 3 years, thus reducing the maximum in one year, which may mean greater possibilities that the prison sentence is not effective, although it depends on the judicial criterion since as a general principle in the Preliminary Draft the penalties are effective compliance. It should be noted that the project with a half sanction established a substantially lower penalty: from 3 months to a year with the possibility of being left in suspense at the discretion of the judiciary criteria.

6. In the Preliminary Draft the possibility of suspension is extended and even the benefit is extended with the possibility that the judge decides to leave the penalty without effect, but it should be noted that in addition to being substantially greater than in the project with half sanction, there was a judicial process that occurred when the termination of pregnancy was practiced only after the week 14, ie, from week 15 of pregnancy – and provided that the other causes that do not have a deadline of expiration-, which substantially reduced the universe of cases caught in the criminal sphere.

The circumstance that this Draft incorporates this figure of suspension of punishment or exemption from punishment at the discretion of the criminal judges intervening in proceedings against women, does not improve the clearly punitive and persecutory issue that this crime involves for women. In addition to continuing to prosecute, women are subject to the discretion and discretion of criminal judges, who will graduate the sentence and decide discretionally on its amount, suspension or exemption.

7. We consider it necessary to emphasize that the evolution of comparative law and the most modern tendencies in the criminal field and in the international law of human rights, which permeates and especially affects sexual and reproductive rights in the 21st century, point not only to decriminalization and legalization of the IVE during the first weeks of pregnancy, but consider that the criminal appeal is disproportionate, discriminatory against women and only applicable as a measure of last resort (ultima ratio).

8. As a result, legal systems abandon criminalization and resort to other measures outside the criminal context. Compared legislations abstain from incorporating into the codes new norms that suppose the creation of new crimes or criminal types, such as, for example, abortion in its culpable form, which this preliminary draft incorporates.

The preliminary draft that concerns us deepens this regressive path, creating more criminal figures directly linked to abortion that until now was always contemplated in its intentional form (ie with intention). Creating the crime of wrongful abortion not only strengthens the punitive path, but it also constitutes a direct threat to the professionals involved in health practices, who see a new criminal figure that involves them beyond other criminal figures that will be applied to them. the commission of harmful acts due to malpractice, which are already contemplated.

9. Wrongful abortion is a very scarce figure in comparative legislation. Very few penal codes outside Spain (Article 146 with a prison sentence of three to five months alternative with fine and disqualification in your case from one to three years), where non-punishable abortion is contemplated before 14 weeks of pregnancy; only three countries in Latin America contemplate it – two of them with serious maternal mortality problems – such as Guatemala (article 139 with one to three years imprisonment); Costa Rica (Article 122 sixty to one hundred and twenty days of fine) and El Salvador (Article 137 prison from six months to two years). The Preliminary Draft adopts for this figure the same penalty as El Salvador, one of the Central American countries with the highest criminalization against women.

10. Therefore, we consider it necessary to suppress the crime of miscarriage of the criminal code proposed in the preliminary draft in art. 87 inc.2, which is also public action may be seriously intrusive to the privacy of women.

11. On the same path of punitive increase directly related to the sexual and reproductive rights of women, the preliminary draft incorporates two new offenses: injury to the fetus, called “injury to the unborn person”, in its willful and guilty manner. Nor do we find reception of these figures in comparative law, more than the few examples offered by the laws of Peru that includes the fraudulent figure and Spain, El Salvador and Colombia that admit both intentional and culpable. In the rest of the legislation these criminal types are not contemplated. It could be understood that this crime gives the fetus a certain legal status, alien and different to the body of the woman or pregnant person, trying to equate it with a person already born. This question has been the object of deep analysis in the jurisprudence, in particular by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation in the previous FAL and by the Inter-American Court in the Artavía Murillo case whose conclusions do not validate the criterion that informs this crime, but quite the opposite.

12. On the other hand, in the preliminary projects that were made in our country so far this century (2006 and 2014), these figures that are reproduced here are incorporated (in 2006 only the malicious form was included), with many criticisms and observations, including the dissidence presented by one of the members of the Drafting Commission to art. 96 of the Preliminary Draft of the reform created by Dto.678 / 2012, to which we refer (See “Draft of the Criminal Code of the Nation – Det. PEN 678/2012”, Dissident Dra. María Elena Barbagelata). On both occasions, the Public Ministry of Defense also held that in the face of any pretension to incorporate the crime of injury to the fetus, it will be essential to bear in mind that these proposals frequently violate women’s right to choose, encourage social control policies of the pregnancy and motherhood and unjustifiably expand the punishable area (See “Opinion for the preparation of the new Criminal Code of the Nation with a gender perspective” Dra. Stella Maris Martínez – General Office of the National Ombudsman).

For the above, we advise the deletion of arts. 95 and 96 of the preliminary draft of the penal code 2018, especially taking into account that these crimes are also public action. (Articles 71 and following of the Draft).

PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS THAT SUBSCRIBED THE DOCUMENT:

ASOCIACIÓN DE ABOGADOS DE BUENOS AIRES (AABA)–

Dras. María del Carmen Besteiro

Dra. Gabriela Nasser

Dra. María Elena Barbagelata

Dra. Julieta Bandirali

Dra. Nelly Minyersky

Dra. Nina Brugo Marcó

Dra. Sandra Mónica González

Dra. Verónica Heredia

Dra. Natalia Ferrari

Dra. Cristina Raquel López

Dr. Ricardo Huñis

Dr. Guillermo Goldstein

Dr. Carlos Alberto López de Belva

Dra. Alba Rocío Cuellar Murillo

FUNDACION MUJERES EN IGUALDAD (MEI)

Sra. Monique Altschul

CEDEM- (Centro de Estudios de la Mujer)

Lic. María Luisa Storani

AMNISTÍA INTERNACIONAL (AI)

Lic. Paola García Rey

CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS LEGALES Y SOCIALES (CELS)

Dra. Edurne Cárdenas

EQUIPO LATINOAMERICANO DE JUSTICIA Y GÉNERO (ELA)

Dra. Natalia Gherardi

UNR- FACULTAD DE DERECHO- PROGRAMA GÉNERO Y SEXUALIDADES

Dra. Analía Aucía

CLADEM ARGENTINA

Lic. Milena Páramo

INTEGRANTES DE LA COMISIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS DE LA MUJER DE LA F.A.C.A:

Dra. Silvia Pedretta

Dra. Marisa Eisaguirre

Dra. Mariela Jesús

Dra. Mabel López

ASOCIACIÓN DE MUJERES PENALISTAS DE ARGENTINA (AMPA)

Dra. Mariana Barbitta

CATOLICAS POR EL DERECHO A DECIDIR

CUERPO DE ABOGADAS FEMINISTAS DE CÓRDOBA (CAF)

FUNDACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO DE POLÍTICAS SUSTENTABLES (FUNDEPS)

XUMEK (ASOCIACION PARA LA PROMOCIÓN Y PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS (MENDOZA).

MUJERES X MUJERES

MULTISECTORIAL DE MUJERES DE SANTA FE

ALIANZA POR LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS DE LAS MUJERES (RED QUE AGRUPA MAS DE 300 ABOGADAS DE TODO EL PAIS)

Dra. Mariana Romanelli

Dra. Mariana Vargas

Dra. Daniela Fagioli

Dra. María Elisa Vilca

Dra. Mariana Hellin

Dra. Laura Julieta Casas

Dra. Susana Chiarotti

Dra. Mónica Menini

Dra. Soledad Deza

Dra. María Urueña Russo

Dra. Mariana Soledad Alvarez

Dra. Raquel Asensio

Dra. Paula Condrac

Dra. Larisa Moris

Dra. María Renée Carrizo

Dra. Karina Selva Andrade

Dra. Alejandra Perez Scalzi

Dra. Silvia Juliá

Dra. Manuela G. González

Dra. Lucía Puyol

Dra. Mariana Ripa

Dra. Sabrina Frydman

Dra. Patricia Bustamante Quintero

Mg. Cecilia Russo

Dra. Analía Mas

Dra. Andrea Caleri

Dra. Eleonora Lamm

Dra. Lucila Puyol

Dra. Valentina Tarqui Lucero

Dra. María Gabriela Pellegrini Salas (AAMJUS)

Lic. Dora Barrancos

Dra. Celeste Perosino

Lic. Mónica Tarducci

Sra. Marta Alanis

Sra. Julia Martin

Lic. Dolores Fenoy

Lic. Victoria Tesoriero

, , , ,

UN Committee ends report on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Argentina

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concluded on September 28 the fourth report of Argentina on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

After an interactive dialogue with the Argentine delegation, the Analysis Committee was integrated The report was presented by the State and also the information by civil society organizations through the shadow reports.

“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”

Main conclusions

One of the central issues addressed by the Committee was the financial crisis, because in a context where poverty rates continue, policies to reduce social programs have been implemented, deepening the vulnerability of some social groups. The Argentine State was also questioned about the situation faced by its government institutions, the degradation of some ministries to secretariats, and about the appointment of the Ombudsman.

On the other hand, he expressed his concern for the repression of social protest and access to the land of native peoples. In addition, although the Committee congratulated the adoption of the Gender Identity and Equal Marriage Law in the country, it drew attention to the lack of access to work and harassment in the educational system for LGBTI people, people with disabilities, migrants and women. He also asked the State about youth unemployment, informal work, and several issues related to education (school dropout, sexual and reproductive education and teaching of native languages).

Find more information on public education and comprehensive sex education.

Equality between men and women

Argentine women are affected by the unpaid work of family care, the low rate of labor participation, lack of universal provision of social services and low representation in senior positions in various sectors (particularly justice and the private sector). Therefore, the Committee recommends strengthening legislative provisions and public policies with assigned budgets, aimed at achieving equal rights for men and women, including a public system of comprehensive care, the implementation of measures against social stereotypes that affect women and the promotion of reconciliation policies between work and family life.

On equal opportunities for women and LGBTI people in media organizations, you may be interested in the following link.

Sexual and reproductive rights

Regretting that the bill of voluntary interruption of pregnancy was not approved, the Committee highlighted the high numbers of dangerous abortions in Argentina

and the obstacles to access to abortion in the causes foreseen by the current law, such as the lack of adequate medicines and the negative impact of conscientious objection by health professionals. He also highlighted the lack of a normative and institutional framework to guarantee adequate health services for intersex people.

Among its recommendations in this area, are the provision of contraceptive methods throughout the territory, as well as the adoption of effective measures for the effective implementation of the causes of non-punishable abortion in all provinces – under the provisions of the FAL ruling – and access to medications that allow a safe pregnancy termination. It also recommended the regulation of conscientious objection in order not to obstruct the rapid and effective access to abortion, with dignified treatment by health professionals for patients seeking access to abortion services, as well as not criminalizing women who resort to abortion. practice. Finally, it recommended adopting a normative and institutional framework to guarantee adequate health services for intersex people.

Violence against women

The Committee is concerned about the seriousness of violence against women and girls, with 251 femicides in 2017, despite some progress (such as the inclusion of the figure of femicide in the Criminal Code and the law of Integral Protection). For this, he urged the State to consider the needs of victims of gender violence in the judiciary, to implement free and specialized sponsorship services for women and to improve measures to guarantee the investigation, punishment and reparation of acts of violence , in order to achieve full protection for women and their children.

Feeding

On this point, the Committee regretted the absence of an explicit constitutional recognition and protection of the right to food, the lack of implementation of the Family Agriculture Law No. 27,118, budget and personnel cuts in the family agriculture sector and the increase of people who depend on school and community dining rooms.

He also expressed concern about the increase in the rates of overweight and obesity, the absence of state measures to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks and the lack of adequate regulation to restrict the advertising of unhealthy foods.

In this sense, its main recommendations were to adopt a normative framework that expressly recognizes the right to food and that guides public policies that ensure a healthy, nutritious and sufficient diet, especially for disadvantaged groups. This includes ensuring the effective implementation of the Family Farming Law and taking effective measures to discourage the consumption of foods and beverages harmful to health. At this point, it was even recommended to increase the tax on sugary drinks, strengthening the regulation of the Argentine Food Code in terms of front labeling of foods, including information on sugar in the products, and implement restrictions on the advertising of food and drinks harmful to health, particularly those intended for children and adolescents.

Learn more about food labeling and consumption of sugary drinks.

Health and tobacco use

The high consumption of tobacco has a great negative impact on the health of people in Argentina. The regulation of taxes on tobacco is insufficient and the regulation on advertising campaigns is precarious, so the Committee recommended to our State to adopt more robust measures for the prevention of consumption. Among these, mention is made of the tax increase at a level sufficient to have a deterrent effect on tobacco consumption, the prohibition on advertising, and information campaigns on the negative impact of tobacco on health, with emphasis on the protection of tobacco products. children and youth

In addition, he urged the State to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and to adjust the internal regulations on the advertising of tobacco products to the standards established in this Agreement.

Here you can read more about the tobacco control framework agreement.

Mining and the environment

The use of certain unconventional methods of exploitation of hydrocarbons, such as fracking, and the local impact of these forms of exploitation were another concern of the Committee. In particular because of the negative impact they can have on the environment, water and health. Therefore, the country was recommended to adopt a fracking regulatory framework that includes assessments of its impact in all provinces, prior consultations with affected communities, and appropriate documentation of its effects on air and water pollution, emissions radioactive, the risks to health and safety at work, the effects on public health, noise pollution, light and stress, seismic activity that can trigger, threats to agriculture and soil quality, and to the climate system.

Agriculture, healthy environment and health

The increase in the use of pesticides and herbicides that include glyphosate is worrisome, despite the serious adverse impacts on health and the environment of many of them, indicated as probably carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). ) of the World Health Organization.

In this regard, the Committee recommended that Argentina adopt a regulatory framework that includes the application of the precautionary principle regarding the use of harmful pesticides and herbicides, particularly those that include glyphosate, to prevent negative health impacts from its use and in the degradation of the environment.

On the application of agrochemicals, you may be interested in the following link.

 

Writer: Mayca Balaguer

,

Acclamation in the Public Defender’s Office continues: new Provisional Director

The last week of September, the Bicameral Commission for the Promotion and Monitoring of Audiovisual Communication, presided over by Senator Eduardo Costa (UCR), unexpectedly decided on the provisional appointment of a new Public Defender: Eduardo Jesús Alonso.

“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 decision to appoint a Provisional Defender was agreed by the ruling party with ignorance of the opposition. The Commission meeting was convened to deal with the anomalous situation that the Public Defender suffers and to be able to analyze the appointment process. The designation itself was not part of the agenda. The surprise then, was the designation of Alonso, whom the majority of the Commission did not know: neither his name, nor his career, nor his curriculum, nor the reasons why he proposes him as Provisional Defender.

Finally, as the designation did not take place, the deputies of all the blocks agreed on the appointment of Alonso, which will remain in force until the titular Defender is appointed, within a period of 60 days. It should be noted that since the Chair of the Commission it was clarified that the provisional designation is intended to fulfill the operational and administrative functions of the Public Defender’s Office and can not take any resolution of an institutional nature.

For now, the only thing that is known about the new Public Defender is that he is a young lawyer of 32 years who, with the assumption of the new management in 2015, went to work in the General Secretariat of the Presidency.
The Public Defender’s Office for Audiovisual Communication has been unaccompanied since November 14, 2016 when, before the end of the mandate of Lic. Cynthia Ottaviano, the Bicameral Commission of the Congress decided not to appoint a new defender or renew the mandate of the outgoing defender. From that moment, the lawyer María José Guembe, Director of Protection of Rights of the Ombudsman, was an interim reference.

The institution of the Public Defender’s Office is essential because it acts as an intermediary between the communication actors and the public, representing the interests and rights of the audiences. In recent weeks, we have carried out a report of media violence against the entity. From the Public Defender’s Office, they informed us that they have problems to respond to the procedures and claims and clarify that “The delay is due to the Bicameral Commission of promotion and monitoring of audiovisual communication, telecommunications technologies and digitalization of the which depends on this body, has decided to appoint a new person in charge of the Public Defender’s Office until the situation of acefalía is regularized and a new Public Defender is elected. ”

In this way, the continuity of this acclamation since 3 years ago, is a violation of the citizenship since their rights can not be fully enforced without the full action of this body. Until a new Public Defender is selected and appointed, the rights of the audiences remain at risk.

Writer:  Emilia Pioletti

Contact:

,

Repeated figurine: Complaint against Baby Etchecopar for media violence

The sexist and discriminatory comments of Baby Etchecopar said in its radio program “The Angel of the Midday” on Radio 10, generated a great repudiation of social movements and women, from which several complaints were filed, including a criminal violate the national law 23.592 that penalizes discriminatory acts. The regulation imposes a penalty of imprisonment of one to three years to those who make propaganda based on ideals or theories of superiority of a group of people.

“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 virtue of the acts of Mediaeval and Symbolic Violence against women generated by the comments of Etchecopar, from the FUNDEPS Gender Team we filed a complaint with the National Communications Agency (ENACOM), in repudiation for the dissemination of these messages that promote discrimination against women, legitimizing inequality of treatment and reproducing sociocultural patterns of inequality and generators of violence against women.

The misogynistic sayings that motivated our denunciation took place on September 10 as part of a telephone discussion with Silvia Ponce, leader of the Evita movement, who was in a social protest against the adjustment and economic policies of the Mauricio Macri government.

In this context, the radio operator asked her if she was a beneficiary of a social plan, to which she replied that she did. So he asked her if she worked. When Silvia answered affirmatively again and said that she worked every day at home, Mr. Baby Etchecopar interrupted her saying: “No no, but not at home. You answer me what I ask you because cassette no. Do you work or do not you work? ”

We consider that such an expression is totally discriminatory, sexist and that it makes the work of women invisible, since domestic activity is work, even if it is not remunerated. In fact, it is one of the main causes of inequality between men and women.

According to INDEC data, 9 out of 10 women dedicate part of their day to this type of tasks, which includes the care and maintenance of the home. Also, 76% of unpaid domestic jobs in Argentina are performed by women. Even those who work full time dedicate more time in their life to these activities than men who are unemployed. This fact implies less leisure time for women, training and professional development. Which translates into lower income, more precarious work and the so-called “glass ceiling” that prevents us from accessing the hierarchical positions of power.

Lastly, after taking Leader Silvia Ponce out of the air, Baby Etchecopar said: “I have six children. Who sends you to fuck, boluda? Stop fucking. ” We repudiate such expression not only by the level of aggression, but by setting a clear example of gender violence: and according to the Law of Integral Protection of Women 26,485, as media violence, understood as “all publication or dissemination of messages and images stereotyped through any mass media, that directly or indirectly promotes the exploitation of women, insults, defames, discriminates, dishonors, humiliates or threatens the dignity of women and legitimizes the inequality of treatment or builds socio-cultural reproductive patterns of the inequality or generators of violence against women “.

Baby Etchecopar with his sayings endorses and replicates the models of domination and protection over the woman’s body.

For these same facts that generated our complaint is that the Criminal Prosecutor, Contravencional and Faltas 18, specialized in Gender Violence of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, in charge of Federico Villalba Díaz interim, decided to impute it for discrimination in the context of violence of gender.

The prosecution requested the intervention of the Ombudsman’s Office and the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI). In turn, the National Communications Agency (ENACOM) also initiated a summary against Etchecopar to determine if Law 26,522 was violated, which seeks to prevent gender violence and protect the most vulnerable audiences.

The media has an undeniable responsibility in the construction of citizenship, since they are not only opinion makers, but also endorse and legitimize practices of society. We welcome the intervention of these institutions in this case and we continue to demand full compliance with and respect for the laws that protect women in order to continue building a more egalitarian society.

Author:

Valentina Montero

Contact:

Virginia Pedraza

vir.pedraza@gmail.com

,

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.

“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”

 

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

 

, , , ,

Reporting to the DESC Committee

In collaboration with other civil society organizations, we made several reports to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (DESC) for its session No. 64. Through them we intend to bring critical observations and recommendations on issues related to DESC that have been part of the work agenda of our organization, and so give an update of the report presented at the instance of sessions of the Preparatory Working Group, in 2017.

“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”

Argentina has ratified the International Covenant on Economic and Cultural Rights (PIDESC), committing itself to comply with the obligations derived from this pact. The ICESCR, like other human rights treaties, establishes a set for monitoring its level of compliance: the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). In this sense, the Supreme Court has recognized this committee as an “authorized interpreter” of the Covenant, which sometimes has a constitutional hierarchy.
The monitoring mechanism established in the same includes, in turn, the possibility of participating in civil society in different stages, through the presentation of reports: the Committee receives reports from the State as well as from civil society and evaluates them, for Then issue your Final observations. The importance of these observations is that they are used as tools to demand compliance with human rights standards in the matter of ESCR.
In this context, we have presented several reports that warn about the situations of rights being affected in different areas.

Health:

  • Situation of chronic noncommunicable diseases in Argentina:

We recommend urging the State to adopt some measures to reduce the consumption of tobacco products and unhealthy foods.

Among them, the limitation of advertising aimed at children, the adoption of a more simple and understandable nutrition labeling, the raising of taxes, the ratification by the Argentine State of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the adoption of measures that protect especially vulnerable groups.

  • Current situation regarding marketing practices of milk formulas:

In this regard, we recommend urge the Argentine government to regulate and restrict the marketing strategies of formulas of breast milk, to continue to promote breastfeeding beyond awareness campaigns, to prevent interference from industry processes related to the field of public health and to promote transparency in the sponsorship of academic events and research.

  • Situation of the regulations of geriatric residences:

We recommend the enactment of a national law that establishes minimum budgets to be guaranteed in all nursing homes in the country, in accordance with the rights and paradigm established in the Inter-American Convention for the Protection of Older Persons, as well as local laws that accept this paradigm. Likewise, it is recommended to urge the Argentine State to publicize the data related to the authorizations and controls of said residences.

  • Lack of access to sexual and reproductive rights:

The situation of low access to contraceptives and abortion practices is worrisome in cases allowed by law. We recommend then to urge the State to provide the necessary supplies to comply with sexual and reproductive rights, as well as to ensure that conscientious objection does not impede access to them. Finally, we recommend urging the State to train health professionals, in accordance with the international standards set by WHO for access to safe abortion, and the promotion of legislative discussion for the legalization of abortion.

Democracy

  • Current situation of the Ombudsman’s Office:

This institution continues to abide by it for 11 years, which is configured as a weakening of the DESC protection system. In this regard, we have recommended, among other things, to designate as soon as possible a person in charge of the Office of the Ombudsman of the Nation and to reformulate the procedures for selecting it.

  • Access to public information on environmental matters:

We recommend that the Committee urge the State to guarantee access to public information on environmental matters in view of the progress of major infrastructure projects, extractive industries and Chinese investments; promoting the creation of instances and / or mechanisms of citizen participation. In addition to promoting the protection of those who defend their rights and oppose the advancement of large infrastructure projects.

  • Draft Bill of Collective Proceedings:

We recommend that the State abstain from promoting the Draft Bill of collective actions before the National Congress and promote a regulation that conforms to current international and constitutional standards in terms of access to justice and effective judicial protection of groups in vulnerable situations.

Ambient

  • Use and application of agrochemicals:

We warn about the effects on the right to health derived from the use of agrochemicals; recommending the adoption of a national regulation that regulates the use and application of agrochemicals and requesting the revision and adaptation of national and provincial regulations to the new categories established by the WHO regarding the classification of phytosanitary products. In addition, the adoption of measures to minimize the impact of the use of agrochemicals and periodic epidemiological evaluations is recommended.

More Information

Contacts

Agustina Mozzoni: agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org

Carolina Tamagnini: carotamagnini@fundeps.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

,

In the interior of Córdoba there is also talk of communication

From September 3 to 5, the XXth Congress of REDCOM and the First Latin American Communication Congress of the UNVM took place at the National University of Villa María. “Communications, powers and technologies: from local territories to global territories”. From FUNDEPS we present a paper giving an account of the data obtained in our research on the participation of women in the media in their areas of work.

“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 20th REDCOM Congress is a space built to integrate the Latin American perspective into academic, social and political debates on communication, promote the dialogue of the different spaces in the construction of the human right to communication, and deepen each dimension thematic through the diversification of means for their expression, among others.

In this framework, we present the results obtained in the research carried out together with the Civil Association Communication for Equality, “Media and gender organizations: Equality of opportunities for women and LGTTBIQ + people in companies, unions and universities.” The main objective of this report was to investigate access to equal opportunities for women and the LGTTBIQ + community in the work environments of the media.

Inequalities in access to employment opportunities, from a gender perspective, have multiple causes, and require the implementation of social, cultural and political change mechanisms for their real prevention and eradication.

But in certain areas, inequality also has other consequences, such as in the field of communication. If we understand the media as opinion and socio-cultural values ​​educators, the lack or little representation of the various groups of our society, also leads to such unequal representation is reflected in the media content, reproducing the same values ​​that give place to discrimination.

In this sense, in order to achieve a real and democratic representation of the voices of the whole society in the media (recognizing them as agents of opinion) it is necessary to begin to combat inequalities in access to job opportunities and professional development of all people, with a focus on women, the LGBTTIQ + community, and on historically violated groups. We celebrate the space granted by UNVM and REDCOM, to the academic community and to civil society organizations, to discuss and make visible the needs of building communication in our country from an inclusive perspective, gender and human rights.-

Contact

Virginia Pedraza

vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

,

The fight continues: What # 8A left us

# 8A is the corollary of a long road, full of achievements but also of obstacles. With 38 votes against, 31 in favor, 2 abstentions and 1 absence, the Chamber of Senators, reviewer of the bill of Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy, rejected the average sanction from Deputies after the marathon session of 13 and 14 of June.

More than 1 and a half million people populated the Plaza del Congreso in Buenos Aires and some 25,000 were in the vigil on the Yrigoyen diagonal of the city of Córdoba. The streets were filled with green once more: songs, hugs, emotions of a multitude of activists who waited expectantly for the result of the vote, but who were also there to give a message to the Senate: let it be law.

The project in question

Durante la última sesión del Plenario de las tres comisiones (Salud, Asuntos Constitucionales y Justicia y Asuntos Penales), los sectores a favor de la legalización buscaron que el proyecto modificado consiguiera la mayoría para obtener dictamen. Se trataba del proyecto que nació como “la opción Córdoba” propuesta por la senadora Laura Rodríguez Machado (PRO), y los senadores Ernesto Martínez (UCR) y Carlos Caserio (PJ). Esta propuesta luego fue respaldada por Miguel Pichetto y el Bloque del PJ, y se convirtió en la alternativa para juntar voluntades y evitar el rechazo total.

El proyecto con modificaciones proponía algunos cambios como bajar de 14 a 12 semanas, eliminar el delito que castigaba a médicos/as que se nieguen a practicar abortos, y dar lugar a la objeción de conciencia institucional para clínicas confesionales, entre otros. Este dictamen finalmente no logró la mayoría necesaria y la Cámara de Senadores/as trabajó con el proyecto de ley de IVE sin modificaciones, es decir, tal como había salido de la Cámara Baja.

En la previa a la votación, hubo varios indicios del resultado final por el rechazo total: al poroteo que ya sumaba 36 votos en contra se sumaron el cambio de voto de la senadora Larraburu días antes de la votación y la repentina definición por el rechazo del senador tucumano Alperovich. La Legislatura de Tucumán había decidido días antes declararse “Pro Vida”.

Las mujeres se siguen muriendo

On August 4, the death of Liliana Herrera was known in a hospital in Santiago del Estero, as a result of an intrauterine hemorrhage resulting from a clandestine abortion. He was 22 years old and had two daughters, 3 and 6 years old. However, this situation did not reverse the vote of the three senators from Santiago: the three votes were negative.

The day before the debate was announced another tragedy: a woman in Mendoza, mother of 5 children, is hospitalized with an induced coma after a 3-day haemorrhage for a clandestine abortion. Senator Pamela Verasay from Mendoza recalled them in her speech and said: “I ask all senators to open their hearts, women are dying. Do not speak for us, speak for future generations. ”

Even in a conjuncture that shows the public health problems that clandestine abortion represents, the rejection of the bill took precedence without proposing an alternative aimed at resolving the problem or the root causes of unwanted pregnancies.

A debate full of tensions

During the day several issues arose that attracted attention. On the one hand, alternative and self-managing means were not allowed to be present and to do journalistic coverage from the premises. Rejecting your accreditation in an arbitrary and clearly discriminatory manner is a serious act against freedom of expression. In the name of formal rigor, access was also denied to several deputies who, weeks before and as a result of their initiative, obtained the average sanction. The same happened with Nora Cortiñas, a reference for the struggle for Memory, Truth and Justice.

There were also moments of tension between the president of the Senate at the time of moderating the exhibitions. On the one hand, we tried to hurry the times of the discussion, arguing security issues that should be provided from the Ministry of Security. Being the responsibility of the Executive Branch to guarantee the conditions so that the debate can develop normally, the pressure for “hour” and “security” issues show the interference of this power in legislative matters. On the other hand, it was generally allowed to extend its expositions to people who spoke against the bill, while the opposite occurred with those who gave arguments in favor, emphasizing the rules of the debate, regardless of the party they belonged to. the exhibitors.

In the Middle Ages we do not return

Frente a exposiciones plagadas de argumentos falaces y vetustos que dejaron mucho que desear para un parlamento en el año 2018, la claridad y altura de los/as senadores/as comprometidos/as con los derechos de las mujeres fueron esperanzadoras, y sientan las bases para seguir argumentando a favor de la ampliación de derechos.

“With the law, abortions will be cared for, with pills and in health services. Without law, abortions will continue to be clandestine, surgical and risky “sentenced Chaqueña Senator María Inés Pilatti Vergara. And he closed with the reading of a letter from a Cordovan father to his feminist daughter: “I hope you are never at the crossroads of having to decide to have an abortion. I wish (you, all) never have to even think about it. But if by the vicissitudes or the damn turns of life you’re ever in that place and you decide to have an abortion, I’ll fight to have it in the hospital, taken care of, contained and embraced, with ultrasounds, controls and pills. ”

Senator Mirkin, the only legislator from Tucumán who voted in favor of the project, was also forceful in her presentation. “I was voted to legislate and the law is not stony, the law can be changed, it can be improved and thus improve the living conditions of the citizens,” he said.

The intervention of some men attracted attention. For his part, the senator from Chubut, Alfredo Luenzo, said that we are facing “a patriarchal society” and that “we are sexist in recovery.” “When a woman chooses not to be a mother in a difficult and very personal decision, there is no law, state, ethics, nothing to stop her, and we are witnessing that reality,” he concluded.

The Cordovan senator Ernesto Martinez was very clear about the separation that this debate should have of all religious dye. “This is the Argentine Criminal Code. It is neither the Bible, nor the Torah, nor the Koran, nor the Talmud … The fanatics confuse sin with crime “[…] The Penal Code that seeks to modify is the will of the secular legislator who watches over the common good that is not never owned by a single sector, “he said, after making an ironic reference to the words of Buenos Aires archbishop Mario Poli.

The last to speak was Senator Luis Naidenoff, from the province of Formosa, who presides over the Interbloque de Cambiemos. “Abortion is an unwanted situation. The punitive road failed miserably and deepened the underground. Every avoidable death, when the State can intervene, mobilizes us “established. And he concluded: “There is nothing more unworthy than to look to the side and do absolutely nothing […] Those we support know that the State must take charge. The rejection of the law is to look to the side.”

And now, how do we continue?

The rejection of the project is a parliamentary and political decision that does not delegitimize the gains of the feminist movement and especially that does not eliminate the 354,627 abortions that are performed per year, the 41 abortions per hour, nor the 43 women who died during 2017 product of clandestine abortions. By force of militancy, occupation of public space, legislative alliances, digital campaigns and committed journalism, the feminist movement managed to install itself in the national, regional and international agenda. The world echoed our demand and women from various countries, recorded accompaniment videos to the fight for abortion in Argentina, organized marches and rallies in parallel on Wednesday, August 8 in different parts of the world.

The debate about the legal interruption of pregnancy managed to cross the social fabric and break partisan, religious and interest barriers. The map of bridges between lawmakers of antagonistic party forces, meetings between deputies who had never spoken before, alliances and complicities between journalists, militants, employees of Congress, press advisors and each person involved , reevaluated the role of grassroots militancy and dialogue and consensus as useful tools for policy making. The micro-lobbying in each house, the chat with friends, the attempt to “convince” family members, the talks at the table, the circulation of messages in groups via WhatsApp show how the legislative architecture is being put together so that ” be law “be possible. And it is possible because we will continue fighting for it.

But yesterday this immense force failed to bring down one of the most installed powers in our country. One of the sectors that operated most forcefully in the final stretch, was (ron) the (s) Church (s). The conservative Catholic and evangelical sectors were those who put pressure on legislators, convened marches where the idea of God was central in their posters and invited speakers to talk to them who misinformed in the same line.

In this way, a theme that appeared as collateral and not planned, was the separation of the Church and the State. Parallel and in addition to the struggle for legal abortion, the struggle for a democratic debt was opening up: the true Lay State. The creation of a new handkerchief – this time in orange – as a symbol and the beginning of a new struggle that goes hand in hand with that of the freedom of our bodies, is taking shape.

Today and always, women will continue to abort because the separation of pleasure and reproduction is fundamental. Because motherhood is a choice and not an obligation or a state punishment made under threat of imprisonment or fear of death.

Today and always, women will continue to abort because we are owners of our future, our life plans and our bodies. Now, today, next year and always the women will continue fighting.

Clandestinas never again, the struggle continues.

Author:

Mayca Balaguer
Carolina Tamagnini
Emilia Pioletti

Contact:

Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

,

Senators: let it be law

More than 30 organizations supported this document directed to the senators from the province of Córdoba, Laura Rodríguez Machado, Carlos Caserio and Ernesto Martínez. The document highlights the importance of their vote in favor of the abortion bill under discussion and that has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies.

“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”.

Given some expressions of the senators and the senator in front of this debate, in which they stated that they would adopt a different position, presenting their own project, many civil society organizations consider it important to present arguments to highlight the reasons why we understand that their vote should be in support of a bill, as approved by the lower house.

In the first place, this project is constitutional and respects the provisions of the International Treaties on Human Rights to which the Argentine State is bound. Neither the National Constitution nor the human rights treaties ratified by the Argentine State are an obstacle to the decriminalization and legalization of abortion, so it is possible to uphold the constitutionality and conventionality of the bill. In fact, these norms impose on the State obligations of respect, protection and guarantee of rights that are guaranteed in this project.

In addition, we argue that conscientious objection can not be institutional. The objection of individual conscience, as it is raised in the bill, is a reasonable solution based on freedom of conscience and religion. However, recognizing the claim of private institutions to exempt themselves from the provision of services for the interruption of pregnancy is unthinkable, taking into account the restrictions that the freedom of individual conscience of the professionals working in these establishments generates, the affectation of freedom and right to the health of the patients, and the costs and problems for the health system.

On the other hand, we present arguments to argue that the 14-week term is a reasonable term. Allowing the voluntary interruption of pregnancy up to this time does not imply risks and is in line with what is regulated by other countries that have been improving their regulatory frameworks.

It is also important to mention that the legalization of abortion does not matter a budgetary problem. The costs of a legal practice are much lower than the costs implied by complications from unsafe abortions that range from surgical interventions with hospitalization and anesthesia to several days in intensive care.

Finally, we consider that this bill of voluntary interruption of pregnancy is consistent with the totality of the current regulatory system and is the missing law in a remarkable list of regulations on human rights in our country.

But fundamentally, we highlight the broad support that this bill has in the province of Córdoba. A million people gather in front of Congress and thousands in the streets throughout the country. In Córdoba, capital and in numerous provincial towns, we find ourselves in a massive way in each pañuelazo, expressing our position.

It can not be denied that the sanction of this law is expected by the Cordoba’s people, the Argentine citizenship and the Latin American community.

The senators have the opportunity to turn this project into law, consolidate long-postponed human rights, meet the international standards in this matter to which the Argentine State is obliged and mark an advance in the protection of women’s rights. and pregnant people in our country.

The bill will allow us to advance in the construction of a more just, egalitarian and respectful society of human rights.

Senators: let it be law

More information

Publication: Senators: let it be law

Contact

Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

,

# 28J: Enough of transvesticides and transfemicidios

On June 28, the international day of LGBT pride is celebrated in commemoration of a series of events known as “Stonewell riots” that mark the beginning of the struggle for collective 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”.

A police raid that persecuted homosexual people who frequented the Stonewall Inn bar in New York gave rise to the demonstrations that, in 1969, were the most visible and iconic milestone of the time in the struggle of the LGBT + community.

This 28J finds the collective continuing and deepening this struggle. The transvestite and trans organizations celebrate this date with the convocation to the third national march under the slogan: “Enough of transvesticities and transfemicidios”. There will be mobilizations in the City of Buenos Aires and in different cities of the country.

Two important events accompany this day. First, the unpublished and historic June 18 ruling that sentenced Gabriel David Marino to life imprisonment for the crime against the transvestite human rights activist Diana Sacayán. It was the first time that Justice used the term “transvesticide” in the files. In the sentence, the court considered that it was a hate crime and that it mediated gender violence. On the other hand, the same day, the World Health Organization excluded transsexuality from its list of mental disorders, marking a great advance in the historical claim of the LGBT + group for the total depathologization of transsexuality and human diversity.

Also, today at 2:00 p.m. a bill that seeks the promotion of formal employment for transgender people and transvestites in the provincial sphere will be presented in the Legislature of Córdoba. This local initiative is part of the National Campaign for Trans and Transvestite Labor Inclusion that was launched in 2016.

In a sociocultural context of increasing respect and tolerance towards oppressed groups and minorities, much remains to be done. Although there are no official figures, the organizations count more than 40 victims of transvesticides and transfemicides so far this year. Also worrying is the average life of the trans community, which is barely 35 years old.

“We go out to the streets to shout enough of transvesticides and transfemicidios, enough of hate crimes, enough of avoidable deaths, enough of exclusion, enough of persecution and criminalization, enough to deny us access to work, we demand the law of labor quota in all the country, for the effective application and respect of the law of gender identity, especially in the field of health, because the medication is delivered to people living with HIV / AIDS, and for the approval of a law of historical reparation for transvestites and trans victims of institutional violence “manifest the slogans on this day of pride.

Author:

Mayca Balaguer

Contact:

Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org

 

,

Gender, media companies and unions: Where are we and where are we going?

After a year of research work between FUNDEPS and Comunicar Igualdad, with the collaboration of the Fundación Heinrich Böll, we present in Córdoba and Buenos Aires the partial results obtained on the participation of women and LGTBI people in media companies, universities and unions. The figures warn of their scarce participation in these sectors and the need to transform the rigid union and business structures that hinder their access and permanence.

“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 some intense weeks in which the women’s movement filled the streets with color and raised its voice claiming rights for so long postponed, on Friday, June 8 we presented in the Faculty of Communication Sciences some conclusions that make visible the permanence of gender violence within one of the most relevant areas in terms of their social role: media companies.

In this instance, the specialists Pate Palero (journalist, member of the PAR Network), Silvana Zanelli (journalist and trade unionist CISPREN), Sandra Chaher (journalist and Communication Director for Equality), Rossana Rodriguez (SATSAID union member Cordoba) joined. , Paula Morales (teacher and researcher specializing in gender and communication), Analía Barrionuevo (director of the Gender Program of the UNC) and Virginia Pedraza (lawyer and coordinator of the gender team of FUNDEPS).

During the talk, the current situation of women and people in the LGTBI community was discussed in terms of access to equal professional opportunities in the media, and the obstacles they face in accessing the positions of decision making and management positions. Possible actions were also proposed to reverse the situation of inequality from different spaces such as media companies, unions and educational institutions related to communication and the measures that the State can take to address the problem.

Some of these points were presented as results of our research in order to visualize the most problematic axes and to put them in discussion during the day.

Glass ceiling: women who do not have access to hierarchical positions

“(…) In the first 1,500 companies listed on Wall Street, there are more directors called John, Robert, William or James than female directors.” (D’Alessandro, 2017, p.101).

The scarcity of women in decision-making positions within companies is a feature that can be seen in many of the Latin American companies: only 4.2% hold executive positions and 8.5% board meetings, while the In most of the countries in the region, women participate in almost 30% in management positions. The media companies of our country do not escape this trend.

Of the 30 media companies analyzed in Buenos Aires and Córdoba, women participate in 27.72% of the property and managerial positions. However, this percentage becomes more unfavorable in the case of Córdoba: only 12% of women occupy these positions.

The panorama of the unions reflects figures of equal concern. In Córdoba, trade union leaderships that include media workers are occupied by 17.79%. Numbers worrying if we consider that, in 2016, women graduates of journalistic careers constituted 69.04%, but currently they only make up 23.29% of the media workers analyzed in the city of Córdoba.

As for transgender people, it was revealed that only one works in the media, which demonstrates the structural problems that cross this group and make it one of the most vulnerable, marginalized and precarious. Trans people are the most affected because they have greater structural impediments that make it difficult for them to obtain a decent job and complete their studies. In some media, there are policies to include diversity for people with disabilities, but not for trans people.

On the other hand, the institutes of journalistic formation showed their shortcomings in terms of specific and obligatory subjects on gender and of curricula that contemplate the gender perspective as a transversal axis to all the contents.

Why are there no more women in the hierarchical positions of media companies or unions? What barriers make up this glass ceiling that hinders women’s access to these positions?

One of the shortcomings detected within the analyzed media companies is the lack of a gender perspective and measures to guarantee equal opportunities, as well as their translation into institutionalized and sustainable policies that are capable of transforming labor structures. . This leads to the invisibility and reproduction of violence, especially the symbolic violence that is the one that silently and latent crosses the daily practices within the media companies.

These violence are made palpable in practices such as the selection and promotion of personnel. The lack of training in the areas of Human Resources perpetuates naturalized violence, making entry difficult, but particularly the rise of women to positions of hierarchy. In this framework, lobbying (carried out among those who already occupy hierarchical positions, most of them male) and the lack of clear promotion criteria are some of the most important factors when selecting personnel for decision-making positions.

Another barrier that makes up this glass ceiling is the sexual division of labor and its reproduction within the media and union companies. Thus, women occupy feminized positions or deal with “soft” issues, linked to the tasks of care and care (and frivolity) with which they have been associated. We speak of women personal secretaries, producers, in Human Resources and Institutional Relations, in the editorial offices of areas such as health, spectacles and gender, in the Ministries of Culture, Communication and Gender. This type of tasks and topics are considered of lower rank compared to those in which males predominate.

This makes it difficult for women to access others that allow them to gain experience and advance, even to those who have a professional training superior to that of their male peers. In this way, the glass ceiling and the sexual division of work impose gender roles, stereotypes and prejudices that are internalized by women generating a vicious circle that affects their confidence, self-esteem and personal initiative that demotivates and reduces the possibility of doing career within these companies.

This is possible because women are the most important and great supporters of a system and a labor market with a patriarchal matrix that forces them to relegate their professional careers to a second level in order to dedicate themselves to other unpaid work: that of the home. The women who are mothers and in whom they relay the tasks of care, demand greater flexibility through extended licenses, practices like the flex time or home office and the reduction of hours that, in some cases, implies a salary reduction and job insecurity. The result: Few women enter competitions in media companies or are part of lists in the unions to access higher positions, have fewer possibilities than men, and stay, at best, in the middle managers or in devalued positions, having lower salaries than men.

Inequality of gender and possibilities of transformation

The data obtained from this research demonstrate the persistence of structural gender inequalities that are reproduced within media companies and unions. However, these spaces revealed, for the most part, a clear interest in reversing this situation. Now the question is: how to achieve more egalitarian work spaces and union activism? How to mainstream the gender perspective in media companies, unions and journalism training institutes?

There are structural problems that the State has to counter. However, it is important that there is an articulation and commitment between different areas. In the first place, it is necessary to have effective public policies with a gender perspective that address and counteract structural gender inequalities.

Second, proactive policies on the part of media companies that imply the incorporation of a gender perspective that can be institutionalized are required. That is to say, that gender offices are created from where mechanisms to denounce cases of gender violence are implemented, which make the problem visible and give it a corresponding treatment.

Third, internal training in gender issues acquires importance, which involves not only trade unions and media companies, but also educational institutions dedicated to the training of communication professionals. These institutions have the role of training professionals who will then construct and communicate interpretations of realities. Great advances have been made in education regarding the incorporation of gender issues. However, in the case of Córdoba, although work is being done, the creation of curricula with a gender perspective and compulsory subjects that deal with the subject in a timely manner is still pending.

Finally, the Cordovan unions must enhance their role as spokespersons for the media companies, focusing on the pressures they have to make towards these companies, in terms of offering training and protecting those and those they represent, in order to guarantee rights and promote measures that exceed those already in place. For this to be a reality, it is necessary that these spaces also break with their own internal machista structures

In short, the greater presence of women and trans people in media companies and unions means that public policies aimed at achieving gender equity, representation and diversification and democratization of voices, equal opportunities, are also implemented. the transformation in the sexist logic involved in the selection of personnel and in the labor market itself, and the (de) construction of friendly and egalitarian work spaces that eliminate the reproduction of gender violence and the sexual division of labor.

Bibliography and links:

To see the full video of the Conversation on equal opportunities in media: https://www.facebook.com/FUNDEPS/videos/1791850930878652/

Author

María Cecilia Bustos Moreschi

Contacto:

Virginia Pedraza – vir.pedraza@fundeps.org