The governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, has signed the executive order that declares a state of emergency on the island due to the increase in cases of gender violence. Feminist groups had been demanding this measure for a long time, a request accentuated by the more than 45 femicides that occurred in the country during 2020.
Order 2021-13, announced this Sunday, January 24, by the Puerto Rican Executive, puts an end to a request that citizens have been waiting for almost two years, although it is only the beginning of a very long road. Pierluisi had already advanced during his electoral campaign that he would activate the state of emergency if he won the elections. About three months after being elected as governor of the island, the president has kept his promise.
Puerto Rico, which has 3.2 million inhabitants, exceeded 45 women murdered due to gender. The highest peak was experienced from September 15 to October 19, when 17 femicides were recorded.
“It is my duty and commitment as governor to establish a STOP to gender violence,” the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Commonwealth has transmitted to the United States. The measure has different instruments to guarantee that compliance and development of the measure is guaranteed.
Among the most important is the creation of a Committee for Prevention, Support, Rescue and Education (PARE), chaired by the Secretary of the Family, Carmen González. The organization will consist of 17 members and three local organizations that are dedicated to fighting gender violence.
Another initiative is the appointment of an officer who will oversee the implementation of the order and its supervision throughout the state of emergency, the term of which runs until July 30, 2022.
One of the most frequent complaints has been the reliability of the data provided by the Police. The founder of the organization Matria against gender violence, Amárilis Pagán, assured in a statement to EFE that they did not trust the data provided, and launched a helpline for victims. The line received about 200 calls during the curfew. Pagán explained that the official data is 25% below reality.
In this way, the order signed by Pierluisi includes a section by which a series of resources will be put at the service of PARE that facilitate the compilation of data much closer to the real incidents of gender violence.
Along the same lines, an application for cell phones will be designed, through which victims can ask for help when necessary. In the development of the ‘app’ the Department of Justice will collaborate, in charge of assisting vulnerable victims.
The decree also takes into account the economic situation of the women affected. Thus, those responsible will be in constant contact with the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) to work on a program of opportunities within the labor market.
After 45 days from the first meeting, the PARE Committee must write a report, and so on every 30 days until the end of the order. This board may extend the time of the state of emergency if requested.
The Puerto Rican feminist community: resilience and struggle
Wanda Vázquez, former governor of Puerto Rico, announced a national alert in September 2019 due to an unsustainable context of violence against women. But this decision came after pressure from all feminist groups.
However, the claim of these groups was always to declare a state of emergency. Before the agreement to which Vázquez committed, there were voices such as that of Lourdes Monegro, representative of Taller Salud, who advocated the implementation of the order. Monegro told the media ‘El Vocero de Puerto Rico’ that a woman was murdered on the island “every seven days.”
The Feminist Collective organization called a demonstration right after the meeting in which the governor did not give her arm to twist, although she promised profound reforms under the national state.
Because our claim is fair, our fight has been constant. Today we achieve that gender violence ceases to be thought of as an individual “women’s” issue and is taken as a collective one, where the state has responsibility. pic.twitter.com/Mj6Zld4WzD
– Feminist Collective (@ColeFeminista) January 24, 2021
That mobilization did not change things much, until the beginning of this past year 2020. Official data reflected that 20 women victims of sexist violence continued to be missing in Puerto Rico. This unleashed a huge social outbreak, materialized in the protest before La Fortaleza on January 31.
The pandemic has not been a trivial matter and has accentuated the problem of gender violence. Such has been the aggravation that the security forces received a total of 919 incidents between March 15 and May 6 of last year. The most affected localities were Bayamón and San Juan.
With the signature of this new order, the feminist groups of the island manage to take a giant step in their fight against the eradication of violence against women.
The world of Puerto Rican music turned to the cause
The collective’s struggle to advance respect for women has been supported by several of the most recognized artists in Puerto Rico. One of them was the singer Ricky Martin, who sent a message of condemnation through his social networks when the body of Rosimar Rodríguez was discovered, who had disappeared in the municipality of Toa Baja on September 17, 2020.
“Neither Rosimar nor any, enough violence against women!”, Reads the artist’s message on his Twitter account.
Soon after, the Puerto Rican revelation of the urban genre, Bad Bunny, received the Billboard Music award for Best Latin Artist. In his thank you speech he mentioned that you always have to maintain respect. “Let’s learn that you can dance, be polite at the same time and respect if she does not want to dance with you,” said the Latin rapper.
Before the pandemic, Benito Martínez (his real name), had already shown his solidarity with the LGTBI + collective in Puerto Rico by wearing a shirt with the message, “They killed Alexa, not a man with a skirt”, during his performance at the Jimmy Fallon show. A claim that came after the murder of Neulisa “Alexa” Luciano Ruiz, a transsexual woman.
Another example of the fight against gender violence through music is the local artist Ede, who with her theme Dress up as a woman shows the horrible situation faced by victims of gender-based violence.
With EFE
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source https://pledgetimes.com/puerto-rico-decrees-a-state-of-emergency-due-to-the-increase-in-gender-violence/
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