UN wants to end violence against women in Venezuela

The UN wants to end violence against women in Venezuela, which has one of the most advanced laws in the world to protect women’s rights, but this contrasts with the reality of one woman being killed every 36 hours.

“The only effective data that we have is data from monitoring violence against women by non-governmental organizations. [ONG]. The year 2022 ended with more than 200 femicides, this is a very large number, an extremely serious situation,” said the representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Venezuela.

Jorge González spoke to the Agência Lusa agency in Caracas at UNFPA headquarters, where he explained that “a woman is killed every 36 hours in Venezuela,” according to a report conducted by the NGO based on media reports.

On the other hand, he explained that UNFPA “has a strategic plan with three transformational goals: zero preventable maternal deaths, unmet need for family planning, violence against women and other harmful practices.”

“We are launching a new national program that is in line with this strategic plan,” he said, adding that due to the increase in maternal mortality, the focus is on improving delivery and quality of care for women victims and survivors of violence.

Jorge González indicated that the challenge remains to transform the structural foundations of violence against women.

“We have a data and information driven product that is fundamental to evidence-based planning and [outro] the product is focused on humanitarian aid,” he stressed.

Asked about the main issues that UNFPA is addressing in Venezuela, he pointed to “maternal mortality, violence against women, teenage pregnancy and the situation of young people and women as they migrate to other countries.”

“We often think that violence against women is just physical violence, with beatings, but it has much more structural characteristics, and the way society perceives violence needs to change,” he said.

Jorge Gonzalez noted that there are also forms of gender-based violence where a man wants to “control how a woman dresses, who she talks to, who she meets, what clothes she wears, who she sees, checks her phone. , limit her ability to work, the ability to visit friends and family.

“In other words, violence is much more widespread than people think. Much more widespread and much more forgotten than people think. more visible, much more conscious.”

UNFPA has been in Venezuela for 20 years now, a country that “has a special characteristic” because “the majority of the population is of working age, it’s not an old country with fewer and fewer children.” condition for development.

“We have increased the visibility, sensitivity and discussion of issues related to violence against women. We took part, for example, in the development of the Organic Law on the Right of Women to Live Free from Violence, which is one of the most advanced laws in the world regarding violence against women,” he stressed.

Jorge Gonzalez also stated that the agency has succeeded in formalizing the curriculum for integral sex education (comprehensive) needed to reduce teenage pregnancy.

“Our goals include expanding access to contraceptives and reducing maternal mortality from emergency obstetric complications and empowering young people,” he said, noting that the education program plans to benefit 1.6 million students and distribute contraceptives to half a million women.