SANTIAGO, Chile (CMC) — The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has voiced concern about the large number of women who are being killed for gender reasons, otherwise known as “femicides”.

According to official data compiled by ECLAC’s Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean, at least 1,678 women have been murdered in 17 countries in the region for gender reasons this year.

“We cannot allow Latin American and Caribbean women to keep dying due to the mere fact that they are women,” said ECLAC’s Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena on the eve of the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Bárcena called on the regional countries to improve their administrative records to find out the real number of “femicides” and to foster adequately funded programs for prevention and victim reparation.

ECLAC said “femicide” or “feminicide” is the most dramatic expression of violence against women, “which must be faced comprehensively by States, taking into account the factors of economic, social and cultural inequality that play out in society and in the power relations between men and women”.

Currently, ECLAC said 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries have laws on violence against women, although only eight of them, or 40 per cent, allocate specific resources in their national budgets.

In addition, ECLAC said 14 of the region’s countries have penalised the crime of femicide.

ECLAC drew attention to the abuse perpetrated in the streets and in city transportation systems, which constitutes “one of the most minimised and naturalised forms of violence against women”.

At the same time, the United Nations regional organisation warns about political harassment, “which infringes upon the achievement of gender equality, the autonomy of women and the quality of democracy”.

For female candidates seeking popularly elected positions, ECLAC said that some manifestations of political harassment include being assigned to districts “that will clearly be lost”, a lack of material or human support, and threats and aggression during the campaign period.

In the case of elected women, ECLAC said the harassment may entail their appointment to commissions or areas with little or no budget, discriminatory treatment by news media, greater demand for accountability compared with their peers, and intimidation, threats and physical and/or sexual violence against them or their families.

To date, ECLAC said Bolivia is the only country in the region that has approved a law against harassment and political violence against women (2012).

ECLAC said four other countries are in the process of debating similar laws — Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

Kicking off the 16 days of activism launched by the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign, ECLAC said it has “bathed in orange” the façade of its headquarters in Santiago, Chile, to raise awareness in society about “this scourge that jeopardizes women’s human rights and country development”.

‘Paint YOUR World Orange – LEAVE YOUR MARK’ is the UN invitation through December 10.

It said confronting violence against women is one of the main subjects that will be addressed at ECLAC’s 13th Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will take place in 2016 in Montevideo, Mexico.

CAPTION:

BARCENA… we cannot allow Latin American and Caribbean women to keep dying due to the mere fact that they are women