Fourth week: Women issues and movements in LA

 

Women in Latinoamerica have many issues, especially violence issues. We have social issues too, like the possibility of abortion or discrimination in a work environment and the salaries. Also, the types of jobs she can apply for or the system accepts. In the last post, for example, I mentioned the care workers and the poor or not valued in these jobs but the preference of having a woman in those kinds of jobs.

The readings of this week also mentioned that is not only because they are women but you have to add some other aspects like the color of their skin. This shows that society has many issues when a woman you are going to be treated or given a service like health care or job opportunities. 

We have seen in this modern world that is an international issue too, as an example many actresses in the Hollywood industry also have spoken when they have a chance about it. Or the scientists who claim their position in the academic world. But it has been hard to achieve and a long way to at least be recognized as an issue and to build mechanisms to be more fair.

Many countries also have big violence issues against women. Not only physical violence but psychological violence and/or their rights are violated. But in Latin America, violence has big numbers. In Colombia, I remembered that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the women's community was very worried about the women who lived with their aggressor because before the pandemic, the aggressor went out of the house to work, but at that time we were in quarantine women must resist 24 hours with their aggressor. Here is an article that talks about the subject: Women victims nightmare during quarantine.

There have been many efforts to educate people about psychological violence because physical violence is something visible but psychological is subtle and not always detectable. This violence is very common against women and they live it inside their homes. Here is an example of a campaign that tries to be conscious about domestic violence: physical and psychological. This was aimed at both women and men because even the women couldn´t recognize it sometimes. 

VIOLENCIA SICOLÓGICA - ECONÓMICA / CAMPAÑA RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL CARACOL TV

VIOLENCIA FÍSICA / CAMPAÑA RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL CARACOL TV

This other from Argentina from twelve years ago, mostly about physical violence accompanied with psychological violence:

This one is from Perú and is a nice project because is a woman talking to a new generation:

This one is from Uruguay and is also a beautiful project because is interpreted by two generations of men so they get involved in the campaign and make a call to recognize that is not good treatment and is in their hands to end it even if is a custom of the older generation:

These are efforts in many countries in Latin America, that at least are trying to make visible the problem and to make it public. To show how subtle it can be but also is an intent to people end it or at least, the victim calls for help if they need to.

"There is no sovereign power that is only physical. Without psychological and moral subordination of the other, there is only death power, and death power by itself is not sovereignty."  Fregoso, Rosa-Linda, and Cynthia Bejarano (2020, p. 74)

The other violence is the one that is in the streets. In Mexico or Colombia, the numbers are alarming. In other countries too but, these two countries have combined the macho figure with narcotrafficking. This combination makes the numbers go higher or the cases are brutal. These numbers are just the cases that are reported, but there are many cases that authorities don´t know of, so the statistics are approximate. 

Other cases bring in the matter, the foreigners that visit Latin America to do what they want because they are from another country or have a passport from the United States or Europe. Especially the ones who make sexual tourism. For example:

In this case, the more upsetting thing is that the one who got a ticket was the woman and not the man. Others, come to find children for sex. and finally, it has been known that other foreigners, take the woman to their country and, when she is far from her family and her environment, she is abused, her passport taken, uncommunicated, and imprisoned in a house. Or are deceived into illegal prostitution.

Women in Latinoamerica have made efforts from their own zone or territory. One was well-known. It was the initiative of Chilean university students who created a collective called LasTesis who created a song against rapers and the legal system because as in the last case in Medellín, usually the woman involved is not only the victim but also the one who pays the price, if not legally, socially. So when a woman is rapped, maybe it is because of the clothes she wore.

When you see theses choreographies, you can also see a popular symbol, the green scarves, which was a symbol that started in Argentina against illegal abortion. It is very symbolic because one of the most important women's collectives is Mayo Mothers who were a group of mothers and grandmothers who asked for answers about the disappearance of sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, and siblings in Argentina during the dictatorship. The symbol of the Mayo Mothers is a white scarve, and the feminist movement took this symbol and added the green color, to protest against the laws that make abortion illegal.  

"Cada Pañuelazo, con su llamado “Levanta tu pañuelo donde sea que estés”, logró superar fronteras nacionales y físicas. El pañuelo se hizo emoji, motivo decorativo en pasteles y cupcakes, pines, camisetas, cuadernos y calcomanías, marco de foto de perfil de facebook, y envolvió estatuas como las del Monumento a la Bandera en Rosario, Argentina, a la Diana Cazadora y los monumentos a la madre y a Francisco I. Madero en la ciudad de México, y cubrió la boca de la Virgen en la obra María Feminista de la artista argentina Coopla." Felitti, Karina  y Ramírez Morales, María del Rosario (2020). 

In addition, some laws are created around femicide that move the feminist groups in a territory or a country, like was the case of the Rosa Elvira Cely Law in Colombia in 2015. This law was an achievement of the feminist movement in Colombia when women strongly protested and took Rosa Elvira Cely's case which was brutally rape and murder, as a symbol that this can´t happen again and that the legal system must act as it should be. It was a great achievement because it established parameters like; It doesn´t matter if the victim knows or not the aggressor. It should be investigated and penalized. Or the clothes she was wearing. Or if it was a power relationship. It is considered a crime.

"This advance in the recognition of gender violence against women was the result of the efforts of feminist and women's organizations that for years demanded that the State classify this form of violence as a crime, to guarantee the proper investigation and prosecution of those who commit femicides. However, the face of this achievement at the legal level is that of Rosa Elvira Cely, a 35-year-old woman from Bogotá who was murdered, tortured and a victim of sexual violence by a fellow student; this case is a reflection of the discrimination, inequality, gender-based violence and misogyny that has taken the lives of thousands of women." UNFPA (2022)

Women's collectives are growing every day, and the feminism movement is not only about street visible protest, mass media strategies, or popular symbols, it is also about women meetings breaking the boundaries or doing their work in their own territory. Sometimes from social media to literature discussions. Like the initiative PoderosasQueInspiran, which tries to make visible women´s achievements, especially from Latin America. Also, women in this group are from different nationalities and meet to discuss literature or anything happening around feminism in their literature club. Other projects like NoSeAceptanPiropos which talks about women's issues in social media, Mujarsa (This initiative tries to move women around cultural events), and many more that try to bring feminism to the discussion in many different ways.

Another issue the readings talk about is the violence against transgender people, especially transgender women. I personally had several experiences in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Yes, in Argentina the gay community has more freedom to show their sexuality and gender in public (For example, a couple of lesbians can easily make up in McDonald's), but is not the same with the transgender or the travesty community, that are usually bullied and laughed at. The first time I saw this treatment was in 2009, in the Subte (That is what the subway is called), a group of travesty entered and other men threw them aluminum cans and yelled them bad things. So is confusing, how they accepted part of the LGBTIQ+ community but not the hall community.

In Colombia, Travesties are not that well accepted but it is treaky. For example, I have gay and transvestites friends. One is a transgender woman. When we go out with her in a group, maybe she gets some looks, but that´s all. But if she goes in a group with other transvestites or transgender, maybe she will be more in danger. Or there are streets, with transgender and travesties prostitution where they are in groups and is more like a territorial zone. The problem is that when they get in a car, they can be in danger with the client. In Buenos Aires, there is well-known a street in Palermo Parks, and happens the same thing: when they are in the zone, they are in a group and are more protected. But many times in the news, you can see cases when they were assaulted. This situation is different when it is the Pride Parade or involves a commercial activity. 

This reminds me of something we talked about in class which is the economy. When a group moves the economy of the town or country, the society is more permissive for good or for worse. For good, in the case that if the LGBTIQ+ move the economy, so they are looked at with better eyes. They began to be accepted. For worst in the case of narcotrafficking, because the police or the law turn a blind eye.

Finally, I agree with the authors about feminism in this: 

"we must establish critical political alliances. We can no longer afford to be a movement without political articulations" Ochy Curiel.

Bibliography

Fregoso, Rosa-Linda, and Cynthia Bejarano, eds. Terrorizing women: Feminicide in the Americas. Duke University Press, 2020. 70-92.

Ochy Curiel (2016). Rethinking Radical Anti-Racist Feminist Politics in a Global Neoliberal Context.  Meridians: Feminism, race,transnationalism 14 , no. 2 Smith College (2016) : 46-55.

Videos

Canal Encuentro (2012).Campaña sobre la violencia contra la mujer: Circularidad - Canal Encuentro. Link: https://youtu.be/vThzIpzH-L0?si=Jm02D5TExbd7yFLP

Felitti, Karina  y Ramírez Morales, María del Rosario (2020). Pañuelos verdes por el aborto legal: historia, significados y circulaciones en Argentina y México. Link: https://encartes.mx/felitti-ramirez-panuelos-verdes-aborto-argentina-mexico/

Gómez, Camilo (2015). Violencia Física / Campaña Responsabilidad Social. Caracol TV. Link: https://youtu.be/MKzfGEnutUg?si=RXuBVwYCBztxLqlF

Gómez, Camilo (2015). Violencia Sicológica - Económica / Campaña Responsabilidad Social. Caracol TV. Link: https://youtu.be/xkkTf5dXMeM?si=yet3lh8qf8B8nSkc

La Nacion Costa Rica (2020) El violador eres tú! NACIÓ ASÍ el HIMNO FEMINISTA. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUwtOHc7yLk&t=0s

MIDES Uruguay (2019). Violencia doméstica. Campaña cambiá el trato. Link: https://youtu.be/bc-Xhr8ZbSU?si=RNQ4TfNMwC6wejHe 

PCM Perú. (2020). Campaña en contra de la Violencia hacia la Mujer #ViolenciaDisfrazadaDeAmor. Link: https://youtu.be/ITKVTwKjOAM?si=O16U8DT-BNhu2yuv

Teleantioquia Noticias (2022). Polémica por mujer que caminó semidesnuda en El Poblado. Link: https://youtu.be/PlaKwkAkneY?si=rKxprg80_ECMAVzq

UNFPA (2022). Feminicidios en Colombia 2022: Ley Rosa Elvira Cely. Link: https://colombia.unfpa.org/es/news/feminicidios-en-colombia-2022-ley-rosa-elvira-cely