The rise of gender-based violence against women in Peru.
Failure to Attack The Problem's Origin
Authorities make feminicide one crime, physical assault a different crime, and rape another - and attempt to indict and punish men for those acts. But they fail to indict the broader systems that perpetuate these problems, like social, racial, and economic inequalities, family relationships and social mores.
Socioeconomic Status
Many of these female victims are so poor and geographically isolated they can't even make it into court.
Patriarchy Inheritance
Machismo Culture
A 2019 Peruvian government survey found nearly 53% of Peruvians think that a woman's job is to focus first on her role as a mother and wife, and only after that on "her dreams.
Women as well as men have internalized this view, saying it was a man's right to punish bad wives
Internalized Oppression
Conservative religious or moral teachings hold that women should be obey their husbands.
Coronavirus Lockdowns
Women are afraid to leave their houses because of the pandemic. They don't want to catch the virus.
Women are too afraid to call the police on the partners they're locked down with.
Solutions
Creation of special courts where men accused of gender violence are tried. (like in Guatemala)
Funding more women's shelters
An up-to-date national database for tracking women's violence cases.
Creation of women-only police stations
Long mandatory prison sentences to try to deter this
Gender-Based Violence (GVB) definition
UNICEF: It includes physical, sexual, mental or economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females.
Gender-based violence takes numerous forms: Intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, trafficking for sexual exploitation, female infanticide, and 'honor' crimes are common - with intimate partner violence occurring at staggering rates in every country
MACMILLAN: violence against individuals and groups that is connected to their gender.
