Rights group denounces 'inefficient policies' to tackle gender violence in Argentina

By Bala Chambers

LONDON (AA) - Amnesty International Argentina has denounced what it has described as "inefficient policies" aimed at combating the structural issue of gender violence in the South American country.

The assessment comes seven years after the first Ni Una Menos, a Latin American grassroots feminist movement, which began in Argentina in 2015 to combat gender-based violence and drove significant women's rights gains, such as legislation on abortion.

The rights group said the Argentine government has not taken "the necessary measures to combat this structural problem".

In a statement on Friday, Mariela Belski, the executive director of Amnesty International Argentina, said despite the relevance that has been publicly given to the fight against gender violence, the rates of prosecution continue to be low.

On Friday, the rights group published a report, which said one femicide takes place every 34 hours in Argentina, while 81% of the incidences occur in contexts of domestic violence and 62% of the femicides were committed by partners or former partners.

According to Belski, "it is essential to diagnose the deficiencies of existing public policies, address the root causes of femicides, transfemicides and transvesticides".

Belski says a "comprehensive approach" is needed and "measures must be adopted to guarantee access to justice" from "a transfeminist perspective".

The organization also called on the state to collect data and collate statistics to better understand the "dimension of online violence in the country" and said there must be "adequate laws, action plans and policies for the eradication of gender violence that contemplate its digital dimension".

According to the Amnesty International Argentina report, "it is essential to strengthen the role of the organizations that provide advice and support in cases of gender-based violence committed, assisted or aggravated by the use of information technologies."

On Friday, President Alberto Fernandez wrote on Twitter "7 years ago, women and LGBTI+ raised their voices to the cry of #NiUnaMenos" and that the government "listened to the demand from the streets and translated it into public policies to support those who go through situations of gender violence on their way to a free life".

In Argentina, on Friday afternoon Ni Una Menos marches are planned across the country. Another march will begin in central Buenos Aires, starting from Plaza de Mayo and finishing at Congress.

Social media campaigns to raise awareness about gender violence have also been planned by various social movements.

Since 2015 and the first Ni Una Menos movement, 2,041 femicides have been recorded, according to data from the Adriana Marisel Zambrano Observatory for Femicides in Argentina.