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REPORTS: NICARAGUA |
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Nicaragua - "Violence
against women is an issue of power and
control"
Matilde Lindo Alí Reyes
Interview with Matilde Lindo of the
Network of Women Against Violence
Over the last 10 years, Nicaragua has
seen organized and systematic activities
to combat violence against women.
Particularly outstanding is the work of
consciousness-raising carried out by the
Network of Women Against Violence, whose
actions are aimed at making public and
denouncing intra-family and sexual
violence. Created in 1992, the network
is made up of 150 women representing
different groups nationwide as well as
around 100 individuals.
To mark International Day of the Fight
Against Violence Towards Women on Nov.
25, Elsa Chanduví Jaña interviewed
Matilde Lindo, member of the network’s
executive secretariat who talks about
the organization’s achievements and
challenges.
In what spheres does violence against
women take place?
When we talk about violence against
women we are talking about an intimate
sphere, a private sphere and a public
sphere that surrounds the lives of
women. When a woman’s body is not
respected in the intimate sphere her
rights as a human being are being
violated. The private sphere refers to
that of the family, where women are
often victims of physical or
psychological, moral or economic
violence. And the public sphere, where
as women we still have not succeeded in
being protagonists in the political
arena of our countries.
Behind the violence against women lies a
whole system of power and control over
them. Control over women’s lives is
always being sought.
Why is gender violence considered a
public health issue?
In Nicaragua’s case, a 1996 ministerial
decree declared violence against women a
public health problem. This is
considered so because it has been proven
that violence does not only negatively
affect the victims’ lives directly but
also lives of the people who surround
women living in a situation of violence.
In many cases, these are children.
A 1996 study by the governmental
National Institute of Statistics and
Censuses (INEC) found that one out of
every four women surveyed had been
victims of violence and 36 out of every
100 women surveyed had suffered violence
during pregnancy. Thus, violence in the
lives of women also affects their
sexual, reproductive and mental health,
leading to an increase in use of
(public) health services.
Was Nov. 25 a day of special activities
for your network?
Every year around Nov. 25 we carry out a
national campaign against violence aimed
at making public, denouncing and raising
consciousness with the State and society
in general about intra-family and sexual
violence. The groups in their areas
carry out different activities: they
conduct forums, debates and workshops.
In Managua, work is done with the media
and on a local level with radio
stations. This year, we are going to
work more on the local level so that
women can have more influence on the
local governments in their areas.
This time the campaign is going to last
the whole year, from November to
October; in other years, it only lasted
until March. The slogan of the campaign
is: "I am a citizen of a lay state, I
demand to live without violence." It’s a
slogan that has to do with the fight for
the citizenship of women as political
actors. The "lay state" part has to do
with the issue of women’s citizenship
because there is currently a problem of
interference of the Catholic Church
hierarchy in the tasks of the state and
our political Constitution describes
Nicaragua as a lay state.
In Nicaragua’s case, the interference of
the Catholic Church has gone beyond
family planning. The Episcopal
Conference this year even issued a
letter in which it questions the concept
of gender, indicating that it is only a
matter of the differences between women
and men. Our idea is that gender is a
social phenomenon, that the society
gives one value to women and another to
men. For the Catholic hierarchy, this is
no more than an invention.
What are the main achievements of the
network?
After a process of formulation,
consultation, lobbying and political
pressure on the National Assembly, we
succeeded in winning approval for the
Law Against Intra-family Violence in
1996, Law 230, included in the Criminal
Code. With this law, the article of the
code ordering imprisonment for women
discovered committing adultery was
abolished. Another change was that the
Criminal Code contemplates rape even
though penetration has not taken place.
We have also had influence in the
judiciary. We are working with Spanish
cooperation agencies to facilitate
access to the courts in the case of
intra-family and sexual violence.
We have representation in the public
sphere, for example, in the National
Council of Economic and Social Planning.
The network also forms a part of the
tripartite dialogue of the government,
the State and civil society to give
attention to violence against women
through national police units. The first
experience began in 1994 with the
women’s and children’s police stations
that directly attend problems of
intra-family and sexual violence. The
tripartite group is a more political
sphere.
And what are the current challenges?
As far as the challenges go, the first
is to maintain the issue of violence
against women on the public platform.
And this implies dealing with public
opinion. Maintaining media interest in
the issue is a real challenge. In second
place, we want to decentralize our
activities. We want to have an impact
not only in the capital but in each
territory and each locality, on the
municipal level and the regional
government of the Atlantic Coast.
This last issue represents a qualitative
leap, because before when we were
looking at violence against women, we
thought of domestic violence, but now we
are looking at this as a structural
problem as well, that it is an issue of
power and control, so we also have to
exercise influence so budget
appropriations consider the strategic
necessities of women.
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