Puerto Rico declared a state of emergency this week because of violence against women – a move that activists hope will help stem the wave of gender-based killings on the island, which averages at least one a week, reports say.
The statement by the governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, calls for the creation of a mobile application to help victims report attacks and request help, in addition to starting a new program to monitor women who have taken restrictive measures against their aggressors, according to AFP. It also provides protection for gay and transgender residents.
“The victims suffered the consequences of systematic machismo, inequity, discrimination, lack of education, lack of guidance and, above all, lack of action,” said Pierluisi in a note, adding that gender violence was ” an evil that did a lot of damage for a long time. ”
Puerto Rico declared a state of emergency due to violence against women.
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In 2020, Puerto Rico registered 60 femicides, reported the Miami Herald, citing the Observatory for Gender Equity, a local watchdog group.
In the previous year, two other island-based human rights groups released a study that found that at least one woman is killed in Puerto Rico every seven days, the newspaper added.
Puerto Rico’s state of emergency defines gender-based violence as actions that result in physical, sexual or psychological harm to others who are motivated by stereotypes, reports AFP.
“Today is a big day for women, girls and everyone who believed in the declaration of a state of emergency for gender-based violence, which we requested three years ago,” said Lisdel Flores, director of a shelter for victims of such attacks, said the AFP.
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Vilmarie Rivera, who heads the Puerto Rico Shelter Network for Domestic Violence, added that “the government has recognized that there is a problem that we must address as a priority”.
The news agency says the statement also comes days after a nurse was killed by her husband in an attack he was said to have confessed.