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The Coordination Committee of the XII Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Congress-organized a regional event in Bogota, togeth-er with the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to end violence against women campaign, the United Nations, and various public and private sector, national and international entities to commemorate November 25th .

30 years of Feminism in Latin America and the Caribbean: untying, uncovering, and restart-ing was the proposal for the Congress to look back and take stock of the work done and progress made in order to be able to identify the future of the feminist struggle and provide a space for reflection and debate.

Especially significant were the debates and ac-tivities dealing with the fight against violence towards women, since it was in the I Femi-nist Congress of the region held in Bogota in 1981, when those present proposed declaring November 25th the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

From this premise, “Multiplying our voices for the right of women to a life free of vio-lence” was the slogan chosen to make the re-gional character and diversity of voices pres-ent at the meeting and the violence suffered by women visible. Communication materials, radio messages and television spots with this slogan were disseminated throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, contributions from the citizens of the region’s countries were also collected answering the

question: What is your CONTRIBUTION to write a story without violence against wom-en? Each country assumed and adapted this initiative to collect the society’s voice.

Lastly, on November 25th, a march took place in the city of Bogota, ending at the Bolivar Square, where a political act and a concert were held and the contributions collected to date from the region’s countries were deliv-ered. This event brought about wide citizen demonstration calling the State and the civil society to double their efforts in favor of a life free of violence against women.

XII LATIN-AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN FEMINIST CONGRESS, IN BOGOTA

“MULTIPLYING OUR VOICES FOR THE RIGHT OF WOMEN TO A LIFE FREE OF VIOLENCE”

NOVEMBER 25th 2011 SPECIAL BULLETIN

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

REGIONAL NEWS

To see the spots

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjTIp_8ZXQg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5W_lhJpPTM&

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As every year, Latin American Genera, website man-aged by the UNDP LAC Gender Practice Area, prepared and shared a Special site on the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, bringing a very special coverage to the XII Fem-inist Congress, held in Bogota. Additionally, this Special offers information on the history of this commemoration Day, the special messages from the Secretary General of the United Nations and from the Executive Director of UN Women, a small glossary on violence against wom-en, a view of the laws of the region and their judicial approach, a compilation of series on violence against women, conversations with specialists and much more information.

To see the spots :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjTIp_8ZXQg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5W_lhJpPTM&

THE DIRECTOR OF UN WOMEN OUTLINES 16 STEPS TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

In her first message on November 25th since UN Women started its activities, its Executive Director, Michelle Ba-chelet, outlined a detailed agenda of policies to eradica-te violence against women and girls.

According to Dr. Bachelet, three pillars are critical in this common struggle: prevention, protection, and provi-sion of services.

Additionally, she presented 16 steps to end violence against women, which included; legal actions and com-prehensive plans, strategies and services that ensure an end to impunity. The others focused the attention on

women’s empowerment and autonomy, and the importance of raising awareness and conscious-ness on the population because all are responsible of the end violence against women.

UN REGIONAL DIRECTORS FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN COMMITTED TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S CAMPAIGN

To show their support for the SG campaign and importance of the work to end violence against women that the UN agencies carry out from their mandate, several Regional Directors have con-tributed to the SG campaign with a message for the November 25th. The videos from the Execu-tive Secretary of the ECLAC, Directors of the WHO, UNCHR, UNDP, UNHCHR, UNDP and WFP, can be found from the Youtube Channel of the UNETELAC.

To watch the videos:

www.youtube.com/unetelac

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On November 28th-30th, the “XII Conference of the Ibe-ro-American High Courts of Justice s Magistrates on Gen-der and Justice: communica-tion and access to justice for women” was held in Quito. Its main objective was to gene-rate, among those present, reflections on the impact of the media on the access to justice for women. This mee-ting was organized by the United Nations Latin-Ameri-can Institute for the Preven-tion of Crime and Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD, for its acronym in Spanish) and the Justice and Gender Founda-tion, with the collaboration of the Ecuadorian, the Spanish Cooperation, the Secretary-General’s campaign, UN Wo-men, and other UN agencies.

In the opening speech, Mrs. Tania Arias, Spokeperson of the Transitory Judiciary Council of Ecuador, highlighted the need for political, constitutional, and judicial conditions that allow the access to justice for

this wide segment of the po-pulation. The lack of women s knowledge of their rights in order to exercise and demand them, the shortage of free counseling services, especia-lly in the marginal urban and rural zones, and the unequal distribution of family and do-mestic responsibilities that in-fluence the access to justice, are the main problems of wo-men for the access to justice highlighted by Mrs. Arias.

The Conference ended with a Declaration, where the sig-natories commit to support the Secretary-General’s cam-paign, and more concretely, support the implementation of its Strategy of Access to Justice for Women (art. 20). Likewise, they asked the me-dia to collaborate to help breaking certain stereotypes

and promoting a cultural change in the popula-tion (for example, using adequate terminology: using femicide/feminicide instead of calling it murder or homicide).

To watch the video that summarizes the Conference, consult the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZZ__qhDHIY&feature=player_embedded

“FOR A GENDER-BASED JUSTICE”: XII CONFERENCE OF THE IBERO-AMERICAN MAGISTRATES OF THE HIGH COURTS OF JUSTICE IN QUITO

CENTRAL AMERICAN MEETING OF ANCESTRAL AUTHO-RITIES AND INDIGENOUS WOMEN FOR A LIFE WITHOUT VIOLENCEThe “Central American Meeting of Ancestral Authorities and Indigenous Women for a life without violence”, sponsored by UN Women, took place on November 28th-29th in Panama. The parti-cipants were 40 traditional indigenous authorities and organized indigenous women from Gua-temala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama; UN Women and the Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE; and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

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After a two-day work session, the traditional autho-rities and indigenous women leaders reached conclu-sions and made recommendations, as well as personal and collective commitments to end violence against wo-men recognizing the existence of other structural mani-festations such as discrimination and racism that cannot be ignored when talking about violence against women. Apart from domestic violence, indigenous women suffer structural violence and discrimination (regarding access to justice, health and basic social services, etc.); econo-mic violence as a result of the economic model crisis, which makes access to microcredits difficult and increases exploitation of labor and unem-ployment rates; state violence (higher crime rates, militarization and insecurity); ecologic vio-lence due to the loss of territories and natural resources; and spiritual violence caused by the loss of ancestral values and principles in the communities, to which they belong, as pointed out by Myrna Kay Cunningham, President of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

REGIONAL CONSULTATION OF CARIBBEAN PARLIAMEN-TARIANS: PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN On November 9th-10th, a Regional Consultation of Parliamentarians from the Caribbean was held in Jamaica, as a joint effort of UNFPA, UN Women, the Inter-American Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (IAPG), the Caribbean Network of Parliamentarians on Popula-tion and Development (CNPPD), and the CARICOM Secretariat.

These sessions helped to raise awareness among the members of Parliament on the problem of violence against women and girls in the Caribbean, the significan-ce of the political level for its solution, and to identify best practices in prevention.

The first session introduced the Parliamentarians tools, approaches, and experiences in the struggle to eradicate violence against women and girls in the region. Nadine Gasman, Senior Manager of the SG campaign in LAC ex-posed the objectives and outcomes of this campaign for the region. The second day was dedicated to highlighting the ways, in which the Parliament can help to mobilize political will to end gender-based violence.

Finally, the male parliamentarians participating in this Consultation joined the Secretary-General’s campaign in a symbolic act and committed to fight in favor of its objectives, with greater aware-ness and political will to take action.

For more information:

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111113/news/news92.html

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UNITE T-SHIRT DESIGN COMPETITION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

In August, the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to end violence against women campaign launched a T-shirt design competition for young men between the ages of 18 and 25 from all over the world.

Half of the total of the designs presented for the contest were made by young men from Latin America and the Caribbean. A panel of each region (5 in total) selected the best 25 designs of each region. The panel of Latin America and the Caribbean was formed by representati-ves from this region youth organizations, MTV and femi-nist movement, and the designer Cedella Marley. Then, a global panel selected one winner from each region among the 25 best designs chosen by the regional pa-nels.

These five regional winners and the winner selected by the Public Vote traveled to New York on November 22nd to attend the official UN celebration of the International Day for the Elimina-tion of Violence against Women and receive their prizes from the UN Secretary-General, Ban-Ki moon, and the UN Women Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet. A Cuban youth, Ramiro Ex-pósito, was the winner of Latin America and the Caribbean, and a Mexican youth, Bryan Juarez Romero, was the winner of North America.

See the video of the competition summary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvT4bASaENo

JERRY RIVERA CONTINUES TO COLLABORATE WITH THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S CAMPAIGN

Through a video, the artist Jerry Rivera, PAHO’s Champion of Health and part of the group of Artists Friends of the UNiTE campaign, in-vite men to talk, disseminate, and join the campaign to end violence against women. The message highlights the responsibility of men and boys in the prevention of violence against women and girls. Because we CAN change, let’s UNITE to end violence against Women.

The video can be viewed at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf_VqO8jXyQ

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PARLACEN COMMEMORATES VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

In a event held in Guatemala City on November 29th to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the President of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) and the President of its Commission of Women, Children, Young and Family, to-gether with the representatives of the UN Women and the regional Secretariat of the UNiTE cam-paign presented under different aspects opportunities that the regional integration processes offered to combat gender-based violence in Central America and the Caribbean.

During the event a Statement issued by the PARLACEN on October 27th , 2011 was read, in which PARLACEN congratulated the institutions working for the end of femicide/feminicide and other different forms of violence against women; called/exhorted the Security Commission of SICA (Central America Integration System), the Council of Women s Affairs Ministers of Central Ame-rica (COMMCA), the Central American Court of Justice and other instances to define policies and allocate resources to put an end to this problem, include violence against women into the agenda of the Ibero-American Summit and in its dialogue with the European Parliament; and declared their will to continue promoting the SG campaign , among other issues.

Finally, a tribute was performed to the PARLACEN former Presidents of the Commission of Wo-men, Children, Young and Family.

Download the Statement from:

http://www.parlacen.org.gt/Noticias/Noviembre%202011/Pronunciamiento%2025%20nov%202011.pdf

UNHCR LAUNCHES THE CAMPAIGN “THE PROBLEM IS THAT IT GOES UNNOTICED” IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

On November 29th, the UNHCR launched a campaign in the framework of the “16 Days of Activism campaign”.

Its goal is to call attention to the crimes against huma-nity caused by any act of sexual violence against wo-men and girls in a situation of an armed conflict and/or a forced displacement, as pointed out in the Resolutions of the UN Security Council 1820 and 1889. “The victims have the right to care, truth, justice, and comprehensive compensation”, states the UNHCR website. Likewise, it highlights the high impunity associated with these types of crimes since they are rarely investigated.

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ArgentinaBarbados

BoliviaBrazilChile

ColombiaCosta Rica

CubaDominican Republic

EcuadorGuatemala

HondurasMexicoNicaraguaPanamaParaguayPeruSalvadorSurinamTrinidad and TobagoUruguayVenezuela

COUNTRY

NEWS BY COUNTRY

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NO MORE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN ARGENTINA

Several activities were carried out by the United Nations in this country during the 16 Days of Activism.

On December 2nd, together with the authorities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Euro-pean Union, an event commemorating November 25th was held with the slogan NO MORE VIO-LENCE AGAINST WOMEN… No more impunity, Not even one more, It is everyone’s responsibility, where the messages of the Secretary-General’s campaign and UN Women were disseminated. Two panels, the one on “The Challenges of the Elimination of the Violence against Women” and the other on “Civil Society Initiatives to Contribute to the Eliminations of the Violence against Wo-men” occupied the day together with the presentation of the DVD “Instruments for the Women’s Equality”, which compiled the national, regional and international laws on women’s rights.

Around thirty reporters from various Argentinean media attended a workshop on addressing gender-based vio-lence in the media according to the standards of human rights. Additionally, UNDP presented the publication “Gender in Figures”, which contains a chapter with data on violence against women in Argentina.

In addition, promotional materials were produced and disseminated with the White Ribbon campaign and a conference on femicide/feminicide was held with the Ar-gentinean Association of Judicial Women Careers under the sponsorship of UN Women.

For more information:

http://www.onu.org.ar/Ggenero.aspx

Meeting on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 2nd.

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On December 3rd the campaign “A Mile in her shoes” was presented on Barbados. On that event, Roberta Clarke, Di-rector of the UN Women Regional Program in the Caribbean, and Teren-cia Coward, collaborating artist of the Secretary-General’s campaign, to-gether with other spokes-persons, participated in an activity organized by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Barbados.

This campaign s objective is to create an uni-que public experience creating awareness and educating people and communities about the reasons of sexual violence, offering strategies of prevention and rehabilitation and encoura-ging to continue developing and applying their knowledge and abilities.

In addition to a large group of people from Barbados, representatives from the National

Women’s Organization, pri-vate enterprise, the Club of Professional Women (headed by its President, Mrs. Nalita Gajadhar), and Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner, Vice Pre-sident of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM-OAS), were also present.

Mrs. Clarke confirmed that the indices of sexual violence are higher in the Caribbean coun-tries than the average in any

other part of the world and “…this represents a significant challenge for the citizens and human rights in the region”, she added.

BARBADOS WORKS FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND AN END TO VIOLENCE

SIGNIFICANT GOVERNMENTAL AND INTERAGENCY PROGRESS IN BOLIVIA

For more information, consult:

http://saynotoviolence.org/join-say-no/unite-walks-mile-her-shoes-ywca-barbados-chapter

The Ministry of Justice, through the Vice Ministry of Equal Opportunities, the UN agencies, through their Gender Interagency Group, and a wide number of women’s organizations continue to work in partnership on the framework of the Secretary-General’s campaign.

On November 8th, this partnership presented to the media the new campaign designed with the slogan Not one more, violence never again, starting a calendar of activities that seek to raise awareness in society, and the public opinion through fairs, marches, conferences and other pu-blic acts.

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Civil society organizations, women’s networks and Ministry of Justice, through the Vice Ministry of the Equal Opportunities, presented to the Vice President of Bolivia and the President of the Bicameral Congress, Mr. Álvaro García Linera, the comprehensive Bill to guarantee a life free of violence against women, that includes the proposal to typify femicide/feminicide as a crime in the Penal Code. According to the information provided by the police, 277 murders of women have been reported this year, but without distinction among homicide, suicide and femicide/fe-minicide cases because the Penal Code does not recognize femicide/feminicide as a crime.

On the other hand, by the Supreme Decree No. 1053, President Evo Morales declared every No-vember 25th to be the International Day against all Forms of Violence against Women and 2012 as a Year of the Fight against all Forms of Violence against Women throughout the country.

At the III National Forum of Judges about Domestic and Family Violence against Women (FO-NAVID, for its acronym in Spanish), held in Cuiaba, capital of the state of Mato Grosso, approximately 300 Brazilian magis-trates addressing cases of domestic violence participated in the debates in the frame of “Maria da Penha Law – a critical view on the topic”. In addition to this Forum, other spaces for awareness and reflection were carried out in the country with men (National Seminar on Violence against Women, Masculi-nities and Religion: Pathways to new culture), with small and medium private companies (Impact of the Violence against Women in the Workplace), soccer clubs and athletes (a coo-peration agreement was signed between UN Women and the Sport Club Corinthians) and with young people (reflec-tion group on combating racism and gender-based violence). Additionally, Tião Simpatia, one of the artists who partici-pated in the artists’ workshop organized last September by the UNiTE campaign, has continued disseminating the “Maria da Penha” Law, to prevent, sanction, and eradicate violence against women in Brazil.

For more information consult:

http://www.andina.com.pe/Espanol/noticia-bolivia-se-suma-a-cruzada-mundial-para-frenar-violencia-y-feminici-dio-385639.aspx

IN BRAZIL ARTISTS, MAGISTRATES… WORKING TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

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THE FIGHT TO ELIMINATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN MOBILIZES CHILE

The National Women’s Service (SERNAM) joined the Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to end Violence against Women. This is a sign of the governmental commitment to this issue. After this adhesion, many soccer/football clubs and players received from the Minister of SERNAM, Carolina Schmidt, a distinction as Ambassadors for the fight to eliminate violence against wo-men.

On November 25th, more than 15 Chilean cities de-monstrated to call an end to violence against women and girls. For this purpose, the National Women’s Ser-vice, called for the social demonstration through a You-Tube video that was widely disseminated in the social networks.

To consult the video go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsjT2RfI_58

The other actions were supported in these days and in many cities in the country by the UN: a workshop for communicators on violence against women, a march convened by women’s and civil society organizations, an exhibition of symbolic sculpture with Women with Voice, an In-ternational Congress on Criminology and Urban Violence with a gender-based approach with the Scientific Police, and a debate forum on bills related to the legal interruption of pregnancy , among other activities.

COLOMBIA: MEDIA AND OTHERS WORKING FOR THE END OF VIOLENCE AGAINS WOMEN

On October 19th, the promotional campaign “Nothing justifies violen-ce against women”, elaborated as part of the Educational Communi-cation Strategy prepared on the framework of the Spain and UNDP MDG-Fund Joint Program against Gender-based Violence, was presen-ted to the UN staff, civil society, the national government and the inter-national cooperation representatives. Bogota, Cartagena, Pasto and Buenaventura were “occupied” on November 26th by artists, women’s rights activists, young women and community leaders under the slogan of this campaign. In Bogota, the Citizen Group “Nothing Justifies the Violence against Women” was formed.

Numerous activities were carried out throughout the country, in diffe-rent regions where United Nations are working at, especially through

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its MDG-F Gender and Peace Windows Joint Programs. Many of these activities were related to artistic expressions and the collections of Supports for the commemoration Day organized under the XII Feminist Congress.

Additionally, on December 6th, printing house Casa Editorial El Tiempo presented in collaboration with UN Women an important multimedia special website called “Profession: Woman, Not even one more abuse”. A six page brochure included in El Periódico newspaper, the transmission of a one-hour special in some TVs, and the special published on Internet, has its own presentation song made by Voodoo Souljahs . Finally, on December 6th a Seminar on Promising Best Practi-ces against gender-based violence was organized as a closing ceremony of the aforementioned Joint Program against gender-based violence.

COSTA RICA: 2011 UNiTE AWARDS

Communicators and civil society organizations were awarded in Costa Rica at the UNiTE Awards 2011, or-ganized by the UN Interagency Gender Working Group.

The UNiTE award for the Press was given to two women reporters and an editor of the program Una Mirada for the report titled “Woman and the Media”, which reflects the influence of the media on society’s perception of wo-men, on the manteinance of gender stereotypes, etc.

There were two winners in the Civil Society category. The first prize was awarded to the Center for Social Rights of Migrants Foundation (CENDEROS) for its comprehensive care project to violence against wo-men. The second prize was awarded to the Association of Women United in Health and Develop-ment (MUSADE) for its effective work with women’s organizations in the rural and popular areas so that they could overcome the conditions of subordination and discrimination that they suffer.

To see the video of the awards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn2wt72GS_k&list=UUi3ygMdaM_qlBgcpD7QnGNw&feature=plcp

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THE WORLD OF CULTURE FOR THE END OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN CUBA

The communication campaign “I Say No to violence against women” has been launched in Cuba in the framework of the SG campaign. An image showing the hands of people of different places and ages has been chosen for this campaign, representing the responsibility that everyone has in Saying NO to violence against women and in its eradication. The campaign was presented in a concert organized by the United Na-tions System where artists such as Haila and David Torrens, Cuban artists who participated in the artists’ workshop organized by the UNiTE Campaign in Panama, took part. Other artists participating were Obbiní Batá, Raúl Torres, Dúo Karma, Rita del Prado, Rochy Ameneiro, and Aceituna sin Hueso, among others. Some of the slo-gans heard at this crowded concert were: “I say no to machismo”, “I say no to patriarchy”, “I say no to abuse”, “I say no to the media’s accomplice silence”…

On the other hand, the message of the UNiTE campaign was dis-seminated at the 33rd International Film Festival of Havana. The spot “In my generation… Not even one more” and different produ-ced materials (posters, brochures and stickers) were disseminated before the films shows and handed out in the same festival. Moreover, concerts and several informative, awareness, and training workshops were organized in different cities.

ECUADOR: THE WEIGHT OF THE PAST, THE STRENGTH OF THE FUTURE

On November 25th, the initiative “Women’s letters as uni-que stories. Tell us yours”, coordinated by the Municipali-ty of Quito, the UN Women Office for the Andean Region and the German Cooperation for Development (GIZ), was presented in Quito in the framework of the Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to end violence against women.

These activities seek to raise awareness and generate consciousness among the population, establish partners-hips with society, strengthen the proposals made for bet-ter care and prevention and, therefore, reduce the vulne-rability of women to violence.

Image of the campaign I SAY NO

The Mexican artist Eugenia León sang at the launch of the campaign..

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This initiative invites the Ecuadorian men and women to express their feelings, opinions, and/or experiences through letters that will be received from November 2011 to January 2012. For this purpose, several places for writing and submitting letters have been set up. Once all the letters are collected, these may be read in public spaces, disseminated in the media or incorporated to this campaign’s report. Additionally, they will be all taken into account to formulate public policies to end violence against women in Ecuador.

For follow-up consult:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CartasdeMujeresEc?feature=watch

EL SALVADOR TAKES ACTION TO DECLARE ITSELF FREE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The Interagency Working Group on Gender, the Millen-nium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F), and the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Wo-men (ISDEMU) carried out several activities to dissemina-te the Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE.

In San Salvador, banners with the slogan “We declare ourselves free of violence against women” were placed in the main governmental institutions. Additionally, 800 pins with the slogan I join in: no to violence against women were handed out and over 2,000 flyers with information about the different places where Salvadoran women can go to receive psychosocial care were distributed during the march organized to call attention to violence against women. Additionally, 18 buses that operate in San Salva-dor and another two units have disseminated the message inside the country.

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In November 25th over 10 government officials and autho-rities signed the De-claration UNiTE to End Violence against Women, headed by the President of the High Court of Justi-ce in Guatemala, Mrs. Thelma Aldana, and the Vice President elected by the Gover-nment of Guatemala 2012-2016, Mrs. Roxana Baldetti (the first wo-man as Vice President in Guatemala) together with the Attorney General, the Ombudsman of the Indigenous Women, Presidential Secretary for Women, the Director of the Institute of Pu-blic and Criminal Defense, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the UNFPA Repre-sentative, among others.

The same day, under the slogan “I JOIN IN”, a festival was held in Guatemala City for the end of violence against women. This event was attended by more than ten thousand peo-ple.

In addition to the special presentation of the singer Olga Tañón, known for her work against violence toward women, the other participants were Jean Fonsi, the group Viento en Contra, El Tambor de la Tribu, and Sandra Moran. One of the afternoon’s surprises was the statement of Olga Tañón, who offered her services to me-diate in the case of Barreda Siekavizza, a well-known femicide/feminicide case in the country, in addition to sending a message of unity to end violence against women. As a champion of women’s rights, Tañón said that it is “impor-tant to ask the people not to be afraid and to press charges”.

Many other activities were ca-rried out in this country. Bet-ween November 20th and 29th, more than 700 women marched in the most signi-ficant places of the country where silhouettes represen-ting the Guatemalan women murdered were exhibited. Evenings in the memory of the victims, a film forum and acti-vities with Universities, deba-tes organized by civil society and with ancestral authorities

were part of the activities developed during the 16 Day of Activism.

During this month at Pasos y Pedales (Steps and Pedals), one thousand footprints were co-llected in Guatemala City as one thousand rea-sons for the Guatemalan population to express its rejection to violence against women and girls in the country.

GUATEMALA: ALL COMITTED TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Mr. René Mauricio Valdés, Resident Coordinator in Guatemala and Olga Tañón.

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“THE WAILING WALL” IN HONDURAS

Marches to end violence against women were carried out in various municipalities by Tribuna de Mujeres con-tra los Femicidios and other organizations with the sup-port of UN Women and various international and local NGOs. During the march of Tegucigalpa the convened organizations read their statements. Near the installed information area, Lucy Argueta, an Honduran artist of the UNiTE Network, created with citizen participation a mural named “The Wailing Wall”, capturing phrases re-lated to violence against women, press articles related to femicides, etc. Meanwhile the musical group “Barrio Tranquilo” entertained the audience with a concert.

Additionally, UN Women held a training course on new alternative masculinities for the Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock staff and participated in the II Assembly of the Honduras’s Network of Women with Disabilities.

For more complete information:

http://www.undp.un.hn/Dia_NO_violencia_contra_mujer.htm

NICARAGUA UNDERTAKING ACTIONS

Among all the activities carried out by the United Na-tions Country Team, Let’s unite to live a life free of vio-lence presentation carried out in December, in Mana-gua, under the framework of the SG s campaign could be highlighted. A concert with the participation of Gaby Baca Vaughn, an artist friend of the UNITE artist Net-work, followed this presentation. A Knowledge Fair to present the young men s and women s projects to sup-port this initiative was also held.

On the other hand, the Nicaraguan Parliament approved on November 30th a comprehensive Law against the Violence against Women, where femici-de/feminicide is typified as a crime. According to the Women’s Network against Violence, 82 wo-men had died so far for gender-based violence. This law must be ratified article by article before its publication and enforcement.

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MEXICO: ONE MILLION SIGNATURES, ONE VOICE

On November 18th, one million signatures of the members of the Mexican national public school system were delivered in Mexico City to the UNiTE campaign, as a sign of the educational system commitment with the prevention of violence against women and girls.

These signatures were collected in the framework of the educational program implemented by the Ministry of Public Education to prevent violence in schools and build a culture of peace and equality, promoting the personal commitment of teachers, parents, and stu-dents to eradicate violence against women and girls.

On the other hand, the report “Femicide in Mexico. Approaches, tendencies, and changes 1985 – 2009”, elaborated by UN Women, the Special Commission on Femicide/Feminicide of the Chamber of Representa-tives, the Women’s National Institute, and the College of Mexico, was presented to the Chamber of Repre-sentatives. This report shows the country’s situation regarding femicide/feminicide taking into account the available legislation and the existing obstacles to end these crimes, the related statistical problems, and the cases recorded, among other topics.

Likewise, the United Nations organized a Round Table on “Access to a life free of violence for women in the area of politics”. Participants included Mr. Magdy Martínez-Solimán, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mexico; Mrs. Ana Güezmes, Director of the UN Women Subregional Office for Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and the Do-minican Republic; Mrs. Jadrandka Mihalic, Director of the United Nations Information Center; the National Commissioner of the National Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence against Women (CONAVIM), Mrs. Dilcya Samantha García Espinoza de los Monteros; Mrs. Victoriana Ji-ménez Jacinto, Director General of Gender Mainstreaming in the National Women’s Institute of the Mexican Government; Mr. José Alejandro Luna Ramos, President Magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal; and Rocío Gaytan, President of the Women’s National Institute, among others.

PANAMANIANS EXPRESS THEIR WISH TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

The Interagency Working Group on Gender coordinated different actions around the SG s cam-paign. By using the slogan of the Feminist Congress “Our voices multiply: for the right of women to a life free of violence”, support expressions were collected from 870 people through work-shops organized by the MDG-F Joint Program (Peace Window), in universities, and among young and women leaders. In all these activities, communicational materials with this slogan were dis-seminated. CLADEM (the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights) and UNFPA organized a presentation on the Analysis of the Disappeared Women of the country.

Teresa Guerra, UN WOMEN Mexico; Patricia Ola-mendi, Coordinator of the MESECVI-OAS Experts´ Committee; Leticia Gutiérrez, Director General of the Continuous Training of the Teachers in Service; Nadine Gasman, Senior Manager of the SG cam-paign in Latin-America and the Caribbean; Norma Gómez, PROVIOLEM National Coordinator; Angéli-ca Aragón, actress

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On November 25th, the voices of the United Nations sta-ff in Panama joined those of Panamanian civil servants and the civil society. In the morning, they participated on the march with 23 governmental institutions such as the Women’s National Institute (INAMU) and the Ministry of Economy; civil society organizations such as the Natio-nal Coordinator of the Panamanian Indigenous Women (CONAMUIP); and the members of the diplomatic corps, such as the United States Ambassador to Panama.

In the afternoon, the civil society, led by the group Espacio Encuentro de Mujeres and the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General’s campaign in Panama, conve-ned to a second march. This ended at the Ombudsman’s Office, demanding justice and paying tribute to all the Panamanian women victims of femicide/feminicide.

Images and video of the march:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFfxFdG638&feature=youtu.be

http://www.facebook.com/unetelac

TELEPHONE LINES FOR THE CARE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN PARAGUAY

Two telephone lines were launched in these days. On the one hand, the Secretary of the Women’s Affairs attached to the President of the Republic launched the Line 137 “SOS Women” in Asun-cion in the presence of the President of the Republic, Fernando Lugo, and the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Gloria Rubín. This nation-wide coverage line, opened 24 hours on all days, will offer in-formation and specialized assistance to the women facing gender-based violence. The Itaipu Bi-national Committee of Gender Equality, AECID, GIZ and UN Women are supporting the esta-blishment of this line.

Afterwards, the UNITE campaign video made by Yenia Rivarola and Marcelo Medina (lyrics-music and images-picture artwork, respectively), members of UNiTE Artists Network, was pre-sented to this launching audience.

On the other hand, the Secretary of the Civil Service launched the Purple Telephone, Line 175, for the attention of the discriminatory and sexual and workplace harassment cases occurred in the public services. This line will receive complaints from both men and women users of the public services, as well as from the own public servants within the state institutions.

Finally, a fair was set up displaying projects and publications of different public institutions and civil society organizations and a play called “Residentes. El General y la Vara de Guayabo” ba-sed on a real story was presented

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PERU: UNITED

Sixteen plastic and visual artists joi-ned in Peru the UNiTE campaign using their artwork as support messa-ges to end violence against women.

The artists used the art exhibition “Say no – UNiTE”, held in Lima on November 23rd with the support of United Nations System, to question this social pro-blem. They declared that “violence against women is intolerable and inexcusable, and unite to eradicate is an urgent action”, paraphrasing Ban Ki-moon.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ASSET IN ITS FIGHT TO ERADICATE GENDER VIOLENCE

Different UN agencies were involved in and supported the activities organized by the Ministries of Women, Education, Youth, Health and Labour; the Commission on Gender of the Chamber of Representatives; the Attorney General of the Republic; the National Electoral Board; provincial authorities; civil society; women’s and youth’ organizations; volunteers; the media and various artists such as Pavel Núñez from the UNiTE Artists Network.

Forums with authorities, professionals and civil society in different regions; training courses for young people; marches, debates, concerts, and theatre plays; work-shops on violence at workplaces; discussions with men and e media on their responsibility in the social chan-ge towards a life free of violence, etc. were held. As an example, the “UNiTE to end violence against women” and “White Ribbon” campaings were pre-sented jointly to the Gender Commission of the Chamber of Representatives, andthe Ministries of Education and Public Health, with a wide media coverage.

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SURINAME COMMITS TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S CAMPAIGN

Mrs. Leah Odle-Benson, UN Women Program Coordinator, presented the Secretary-General’s campaign in the Natio-nal Congress “Networks to end violence against women”, an event organized by UN Women, UNFPA, the Justice and Home Affairs Ministries, and the National Police. More than 100 people participating in this meeting congratulated the joint work that the United Nations System is carrying out to eradicate violence against women and girls by 2015. .

VENEZUELA CONTINUES ITS WORK TO PREVENT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE DURING DATING

Under the sponsorship of the United Nations, the University Network for Preventing Dating Vio-lence (RUPVN) carried out the “I University Meeting to Strengthen the RUPVN, Capital District Chapter and Maracaibo Chapter”. Its purpose was to strengthen the partnerships between the Student Development Offices and other public and private university entities to establish a stra-tegy to prevent gender-based vio-lence during dating in the country.

Additionally, several informative se-minars and meetings were held in various cities on gender approach at the workplace, on sexual and gen-der-based violence in Zulia, on the rights of the women deprived of liberty and on the urgent issues to be address for the end of violence against women.

More information is available at:

http://www.unifemandina.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=636:venezuela-celebra-el-i-encuentro-universitario-para-el-fortalecimiento-de-la-red-universitaria-de-prevencion-de-la-violencia-en-el-noviazgo&catid=28:venezuela&Itemid=33

Mrs. Leah Odle-Benson, UN Women Pro-gram Coordinator

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URUGUAY LAUNCHES ACTIVATE CAMPAIGN ORIENTED TO MASCULINITIES

ACTIVATE, the Uruguayan expression of the Secretary-General’s campaign, driven by the UN Country Team, presented its new image and message focused on the behavioral change of men, male youth and boys. The country and in particular its capital Montevideo was co-vered with different types of publicity disseminating this message among the population. This new phase of the campaign was presented at the IV High Level Intergo-vernmental Conference “United in the Action”, where various high level UN representatives were participating.

In December, several conferences, workshops and per-formances activities to raise awareness to end violence against women were carried out throughout the country. It is worth mentioning the seminar “We men demons-trate against violence towards women”, organized by UN Women and the Women’s National Institute, and the conference “Masculinities, violence, and sport” with the National Sports Club, both aimed at disseminating information and raising awareness, especially for men and boys.

For more information:

http://activate.org.uy/

http://www.unwomen.org/es/2011/11/espanol-la-directora-ejecutiva-de-onu-mujeres-aplaude-el-exito-de-la-campana-contra-la-violencia-hacia-las-mujeres/

Watch the video with Eduardo Galeano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJay2wMC7Vs&list=UUf1Djt0OCU5ivyXm6YeF_kA&feature=plcp

From left to right: Executive Secretary of the ECLAP, Alicia Bárcena; Senator of the Republic, Lucía Topolanksy; UN Vice Se-cretary, Asha-Rose Migiro; UN Women Exe-cutive Director, Michelle Bachelet; UNDG President and UNDP Administrative, Helen Clark.

“WOMEN’S FEAR OF MAN’S

VIOLENCE IS THE MIRROR OF

MAN’S FEAR OF A FEARLESS

WOMAN” Eduardo Galeano.

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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO PARTICIPATED IN VARIOUS EVENTS OF COMMEMORATION.

In the framework of the 16 days of activism, was launched the cam-paign It´s Our Basic Human Right, as a collaboration between the United Nations System and the YWCA. During the three emble-matic dates of this campaign (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, International Day of HIV and Interna-tional Day of Human Rights), various commemorative events were held.

Exhibitions of the campaign “Mille in her shoes” in partnership with various actors as the Red Cross which, in a symbolic manner, shown shoes of women, all of them vulnerable to some kind of vio-lence and also a solidarity march against gender-based violence were some driven activities.

For more information:

http://saynotoviolence.org/join-say-no/unite-walks-mile-her-shoes-ywca-barbados-chapter

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You can disseminate the Campaign’s profileS in social networks:

You can also send us related videos you want to share through the regional you-tube site.

CONTACT

The Campaign acknowledges your contribu-tions and opinions.

Please send your comments to:

Isabel Miguel y Eider Pérez

maria.miguel@unwomen.org y eider.heredia@unwomen.org

Third Floor, Building 128, City of Knowledge, Panama City, Republic of Panama

P.O. Box: 0816-1914Tel.: (507) 302-4710 / 4782

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