Argentina: Information on women's rights and violence against women (follow-up to ARG6127)

In addition to Responses to Information Requests ARG6127 of 21 June 1990, available through the Refinfo database, and ARG9345 of 26 August 1991 (attached), both dealing with the status of women in Argentina, please find attached some documents that were provided by the Isis Feminist Network, which is based in Santiago, Chile (Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual).

The most recent statistics on sexual and domestic violence in Argentina currently available to the DIRB are from 1988, although the report providing this information is dated August 1993 (Hoja de Datos Aug. 1993, 5). These statistics indicate that 19,046 cases of sexual and domestic assault (agresiones domésticas y sexuales) were reported from January to July 1988, with 1,202 of these being reported at Regional Unit VI (the report does not specify what area is covered by Regional Unit VI, although the original source of information is the Council of Women in Buenos Aires province) (ibid.). The Woman's Police Station (Comisaría de la Mujer) reportedly received 200 reports (denuncias) in January and February of 1988 (ibid.).

Seven law proposals or bills (proyectos de ley) on domestic violence have been submitted since 1988, at least six of these by various women's organizations (Boletín May 1993, 8). The most recent proposal was submitted on 8 March 1993 (ibid.). Information on discussion or approval of any of these bills could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB. The report adds that the penal procedures code was reformed in 1992 to make admissible the oral testimony of a rape victim (ibid., 9).

Attached please find documents listing programs and institutions intended to assist women and victims of domestic and sexual violence. The DIRB cannot provide translations of the attached documents.

The listing from the Isis Directorio de programas (Directory of Programs) (Isis 1990) names assistance centres, educational programs, careers, commissions, legal and psychological aid groups and others. Each entry indicates individual institution's areas of concern, audience, geographic reach, goals, main activities, products and publications, status of the programs and institutions, the date or year they were started, personnel, financing, entity responsible for its work and nature of the institution (government department, NGO, etc.), address and telephone number.

The attached section from the Isis Bibliographic Catalog (Isis 1990) provides a brief summary of various publications on the status of women as well as sexual and domestic violence. Its entries are in English and Spanish.

The attached section of the publication Información y políticas (Information and Policies) (Isis 1990, 20-22) describes the status, in October 1990, of institutions, legislation and programs aimed at improving the situation of women in Argentina. The report states that women's groups and organizations are usually the source of initiatives in this area. Of the 16 programs in effect at the time of the report, 10 were non-governmental, five were the responsibility of the state and one was a university academic program (ibid., 20). The report describes the various goals and achievements of the programs, and states that victims of sexual and domestic violence can receive direct assistance from psychological and legal aid services as well as self-help groups, although the reach of these services is reportedly limited by a lack of adequate funding (ibid., 20-21). The programs, however, are said to play an important role in creating awareness, raising self-esteem and providing knowledge and experience in dealing with these problems (ibid., 21).

In addition to inadequate funding, the report also states that the economic crisis and the lack of political will (voluntad política) are important obstacles to the improvement of the situation, as is the lack of coordination between the various groups and organizations working on the subject (ibid., 22). The report states that despite increasing awareness about the problem of violence against women, sociocultural factors legitimizing and perpetuating the subordination of women prevail (including the sensationalist treatment of certain subjects by the media and the lack of cooperation from some government departments such as Education) (ibid., 22).

Finally, the report states that violence against women occurs most frequently as domestic violence, which includes physical and psychological mistreatment (ibid., 22). The document adds that the second most frequent forms of violence against women are violence at work (violencia laboral, which includes sexual harassment) and in the media (including sensationalism and pornography), as well as prostitution and rape (ibid.). Political violence (including repression and torture) is only mentioned occasionally (se menciona levemente, in the original text) (ibid.).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Boletín [Santiago]. No. 1. May 1993. Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual.

Hoja de Datos [Santiago]. No. 1. August 1993. Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual.

Violence Against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Bibliographic Catalogue. 1990. Santiago: Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual.

Violencia en contra de la mujer en America Latina y el Caribe: Directorio de Programas. October 1990. Santiago: Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual.

Violencia en contra de la mujer en America Latina y el Caribe: Información y Políticas Informe Final. 1990. Santiago: Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual.

Attachments

Boletín [Santiago]. No. 1. May 1993. Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual, pp. 8-9, 20-21.

Hoja de Datos [Santiago]. No. 1. August 1993. Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual, p. 5.

Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre (IRBDC), Ottawa. 26 August 1991. Response to Information Request ARG9345.

Violence Against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Bibliographic Catalogue. 1990. Santiago: Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual, pp. 6-8, 25-26, 46-51, 79-82, 103-106, 110.

Violencia en contra de la mujer en America Latina y el Caribe: Directorio de Programas. October 1990. Santiago: Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual, pp. 3-20, 147-151.

                Violencia en contra de la mujer en America Latina y el Caribe: Información y Políticas Informe Final. 1990. Santiago: Isis-Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia Doméstica y Sexual, pp. 20-22.