Author:  Marissa Heuser

Co-Authors: Leah Cohen, Yura Yokoyama, and Joseph Geidel

Background information:

The rates of violence towards women in Bolivia is truly frightening. In 2012, the Pan American Health Organization published a report entitled “Violence Against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: A comparative analysis of population-based data from 12 countries” (Bott 2012). The results found that, among the surveyed countries, Bolivia had the highest rate of intimate-partner violence against women. A staggering 53.3% of women in Bolivia, that were ever married or in a union, reported “any physical or sexual partner violence ever” (Bott 2012). On average intimate partner violence affects “30% of women worldwide” (WHO 2013). Bolivia is shockingly higher than the worldwide average.

It was reported by Bolivia’s Vice-Ministry of Equal Opportunities that, “nine out of 10 women in Bolivia fall victim of some kind of violence, and 87% of them suffer that violence in the family” (Justiniano 2015). Bolivia also has an appallingly high femicide rates. Femicide is the killing of a woman or girl on account of her gender. From January-October of 2014 there were a reported 103 femicides. That means that about every 3 days, a woman is murdered in Bolivia (Justiniano 2015).

In February of 2013, Hanali Huaycho, a national television journalist was murdered by her husband who was a police officer. It was discovered that Hanali had made 14 different complaints to the police about her husband abusing her. However not a single one of her complaints was ever investigated. Her tragic and preventable death invoked outrage across the county. Protest marches were organized demanding better rights for women and for something to be done about the rampant domestic violence in Bolivia. (Freitag 2013)

Public outrage and demonstrations were successful in capturing the government’s attention. On March 8th 2013 President Morales passed the “Comprehensive Law to Guarantee Women a Life Free of Violence“. Here is a brief summary of the law:

“The law is extremely ambitious and comprehensive, with provisions for educational and awareness programs, practical measures to prevent reoccurring violence, plans to rehabilitate offenders, detailed descriptions of 15 different types of violence against women, and strict sanctions against offenders” (Andean Information Network 2013)

Anyone wishing to learn more about the law, can watch this short video for a comprehensive overview:

The Gender Movement Today

It has been nearly 3 years since Morales signed the law designed to protect women. One would hope that violence rates would have decreased and women in Bolivia would be safer than they were. However that is not the case…..

This is a quick video about the current state of violence against women in Bolivia. It features an interview with an abuse victim who is living in a women’s shelter. Another important part of this video is when the lawyer was interviewed. She said that only about 10% of laws are actually enforced. The abusers have little to fear and the victims have everything to lose. (The video itself states some statistics that are different than what my research showed. I was unable to locate their sources so I am not sure about the validity of their information.)

Even after the “Comprehensive Law to Guarantee Women a Life Free of Violence” was passed in 2013, violence continues to plague the lives of Bolivian women. Some people blame the police for not enforcing the law and turning a blind-eye to abuse suffered by women.

But the situation isn’t hopeless! The Colectivo Rebeldía, Oxfam Bolivia and the Women’s Coordinator came together in February of 2017 to create a campaign aimed at young people in Bolivia. The campaign, titled, ACTÚA, detén la violencia (ACT, stop the violence) focuses on violence that is often found in young people’s relationships.

The campaign was officially launched on February 14, or Valentine’s Day, with messages of what love should be.

The campaign,”aims to tackle the indifference of the friend of someone in a violent relationship or perpetrating violence in a relationship…Using public and peer pressure, the campaign hopes to decrease violence in young relationships” (MENAFN 2017)

ACTÚA, detén la violencia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has a great Facebook page full of empowering messages like the one above.

This campaign represents a new hope for women in Bolivia. By educating youth about the realities of domesticate abuse, ACTÚA, detén la violencia, could influence the future. Research showed that “nearly half of urban youth (men and women) promote sexist beliefs that normalize violence. This includes ‘the way you dress provokes rape, ‘jealousy is part of love or ‘if you really love, you forgive violence” (MENAFN 2017). ACTÚA, detén la violencia is actively fighting to dispel these ideas and teach Bolivian youth that violence is not love.

https://www.facebook.com/ActuaDetenLaViolencia/videos/739136796267445/

This Facebook video posted by ACTÚA, detén la violencia, shows a social experiment. A couple is having a loud argument in public and the man is being abusive and violent.  About 300 people walked by and saw the abuse, how many people do you think intervened to help the girl?

Summary Factoids

What percentage of Bolivian women reported any physical or sexual partner violence ever?

Answer: 53.3 %

In what year did President Morales pass the “Comprehensive Law to Guarantee Women a Life Free of Violence”?

Answer: 2013

 

 

References:

ACTÚA, detén la violencia. (2017, February). Retrieved February, 2017, from https://www.facebook.com/ActuaDetenLaViolencia/

Andean Information Network (2013, March 21). New Law Mandates Harsh Penalties and Broad Services to Address Violence Against Woman in Bolivia. Retrieved February 23, 2017, from http://ain-bolivia.org/2013/03/new-law-mandates-harsh-penalties-and-broad-services-to-address-violence-against-woman-in-bolivia/

Bott, S., Guedes, A., Goodwin, M., & Mendoza, J. A. (2012). Violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean: a comparative analysis of population-based data from 12 countries (pp. 1-186) Washington, D.C.: Pan American Health Organization.

Freitag, V. (2013, August 3). Bolivia’s women hope for an end to the violence. Deutsche Welle

Justiniano, R. M. (2015, October). Violence results from patriarchal attitudes. Development and Cooperation. Retrieved from https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/latin-america-bolivia-reports-most-cases-violence-against-women

MENAFN (2017, February 14). LA PAZ, Bolivia: St Valentine’s Day: Celebrating Healthy Relationships Challenging Violence. Retrieved February 23, 2017, from http://menafn.com/1095255331/LA-PAZ-Bolivia-St-Valentines-Day-Celebrating-Healthy-Relationships-Challenging-Violence/

Rivas, M. (2014, September 17). Declaran alerta municipal ante la ola de violencia intrafamiliar . La Razón . Retrieved from http://m.la-razon.com/ciudades/El_Alto-declaran-alerta-municipal-violencia-intrafamiliar_0_2127387269.html

Shahriari, S. (2015, January 8). Bolivia builds women’s independence to curb domestic violence . The Guardian US . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/08/bolivia-women-independence-gender-domestic-violence

Shahriari, S. (2015, April 30). Bolivia struggles with gender-based violence. Al Jazeera America. Retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/30/bolivia-struggles-with-gender-based-violence.html

WHO. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Geneva: World Health Organization.