Violence Against Women in Venezuela: Challenges and Proposals

Violence against women, in its different expressions, is considered a secondary affair in the midst of the Venezuelan political crisis. Nonetheless, it is precisely in situations of economic crisis in which gender-based violence deepens, making women even more vulnerable.

Therefore, as part of the International Day of the Eradication of Violence Against Women, the civil association Mulier and the Human Rights Commission of the State of Zulia (Codhez), with the support of Landscapes of Hope through the #DaysOfHope initiative, have organized the forum “Violence Against Women in Venezuela: Challenges and Proposals.” This initiative will be held at the Rafael Urdaneta University (URU) in the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela on Monday the 25th and Tuesday the 26th of November 2019 from 8:00am to 1:00pm. The forum is composed of two types of participation: the presentation of studies or investigations on violence against women and the presentation of experiences which contribute to the solution of problems that affect women in a differentiated manner.

Participations include:

• “Indigenous women and the Mining Arc of Orinoco” by Andrea Pacheco of an environmental organization called Platform Against the Mining Arc of Orinoco
• “Risks in women’s mobility” by Anicarmen Chirinos of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities
• “The political participation of women” by Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian, Director of the Department of Social Inclusion in the Organization of American States, local from Maracaibo, and founder of the Network of Women Political Scientists
• “Statistics on violence against women in Venezuela” by César Heredia of Cotejo Info
• “Women in the Network of Safe Spaces” by Elialberth Herrera of HIAS
• “Visible Girls: Menstrual hygiene in schools” by Emily Reyes of Project Women
• “#FreeAndSafe, prevention of trafficking of women and girls” by Estefanía Mendoza of Mulier
• “SISA, Women Activating. Empowering the diversity of women in Latin America” by Georgia Rothe of the Argentinian political innovation NGO, Asuntos del Sur
• “Special Penal Jurisdiction of Violence Against Women” by Gustavo Róquez of the Rafael Urdaneta University
• “She Plays Safe: Sports for Prevention and Empowerment” by Héctor González of the organization Sports and Development
• “Denounce Here, For Complaints Against Gender-Based Violence” by Jesús Urbina and Norma Pérez of Transparency Venezuela

• “The first verdict on gender-based violence in Venezuela, obligations of the State before the Interamerican Human Rights Court’s sentence” by Linda Loiza López, lawyer and human rights activist
• “Anxiety and depression amongst mothers with children in the Nutrition Department of the University Hospital of Maracaibo” by Lisseth Mogollón and Víctor Coronado of Codhez
• “Economic Violence Against Women” by Lourdes Rincón of AVEM
• Global Venezuelans, a support network for migrant Venezuelan women” by María Corina Muskus of Global Venezuelans
• “Gender-Based Violence and Social Networks” by Marianne Díaz Hernández of Digital Rights
• “The types of violence against women in Venezuela” by Orielba Bohórquez of Rafael Urdaneta University

Additionally, the event will contain artistic expressions related to the rights of women such as:
– The presentation of the book “20 Venezuelan women of the 20th century” by Transparency Venezuela
– The presentation of literary group Bitácora de Fuego, with a poetry recital on being women
– The photographic exhibition against gender-based violence called Inside Out, an initiative promoted by Mulier