Chilean Women Celebrate Signs of Rapid Change |
Run Date: 01/19/06 |
By Jen Ross WeNews correspondent |
Times are changing rapidly for women in Chile, where Michelle |
SANTIAGO, Chile (WOMENSENEWS)–For 25 years, Maria Victoria Torres put “I took it, I endured, I forgave too much until, one day, I crashed,” But Torres says Chile’s new law criminalizing domestic abuse–which In Chile, only 1 in 3 women work outside the home and divorce was But on Jan. 16, hundreds of thousands of Chileans took to the streets Entire families cheered and waved banners, and grandmothers could be As a country known for its male-dominated traditionalism starts ‘New Page’ in Justice for Women“We’re turning a new page in justice for women in Chile,” said Cecilia Perez said the new law includes 12 major reforms, which will make She said that in the past, most of the women who had been killed by The new law might have saved their lives because it obliges the state Ten years ago, Chile made domestic abuse an infraction under the Of the 106,000 complaints of abuse documented by the justice system in Now that domestic abuse has been clearly criminalized by the new law, An Avalanche of CasesThe government publicized the new law by distributing flyers to The new tribunals received 1,000 petitions a day during the first week By Jan. 4, the tribunals had received 97,000 cases, exceeding initial The system is practically flooded, according to lawyers. More lawyers According to statistics released on International Women’s Day on Nov. Wendy Murphy, a law professor at Boston’s New England School of Law, Under the new law, physical abuse leading to serious injury can be The law has made repeated psychological violence a crime, defined as Chile’s Law Stands Out in Latin AmericaChile’s law stands out in the region. While most countries in Latin Some countries defend their reluctance to criminalize domestic Maria Lucila Colombo, president of Argentina’s National Council for “We see a grave problem because women put up with abuse, holding out Before Chile made domestic abuse a civil infraction in 1994, police Those numbers skyrocketed to 25,000, after it became a civil offense in Still, more resources are needed to back up the new law, which “We have a new law with severe penalties for domestic violence, and new She promised to increase funding for victim-support centers and create Jen Ross is a Chile-based freelance journalist who delves into Women’s eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org. |
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