4/2020 Human Rights of Persons with Covid, adopted on July 27, 2020). …In order to overcome (it), measures must be adopted immediately that include gender equality and intersectional perspectives…(including) children and adolescents, and women, particularly pregnant women and victims of gender-based violence.” (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. COVID-19 and Human Rights: The Problems and Challenges must be Addressed from a Human Rights Perspective and with Respect for International Obligations.)įor its part, the Commission pointed out that “… the social stigma associated with Covid-19, which extends to anyone perceived to have been in contact with the virus, there are other instances of stigmatization and structural discrimination that hamper access to the right to health of especially vulnerable groups, such as…women…and others. Statement of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 1/20 of April 9, 2020. In its Statement of April 9, 2020, the Court declared that “In light of the social distancing measures that may result in an exponential increase of violence against women and girls in the home, it is necessary to underscore the State’s obligation of strict due diligence with regard to the right of women to live a life free of violence, so that all necessary steps must be taken to prevent cases of sexual and gender-based violence to provide safe mechanisms for receiving direct and immediate complaints, and to reinforce assistance for victims.” (I/ACtHR. The Inter-American Commission and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the principal human rights organs of the inter-American system, have issued specific guidelines that give special attention to the protection of women in light of the sanitary crisis. UN Women has stated that “according to data of the Pan-American Health Organization, in Latin America and the Caribbean one of every three women has suffered physical or sexual violence during her lifetime and, according to ECLA, the number of women in 33 countries of the region who were killed in 2019 for the sole reason of being a women was more than 3,800.” (See: ) Contrary to what has been stated in the preceding paragraph, the number of feminicides -killings of women because of their sex- grows every day. The COVID19 pandemia is one more, of the many, type of violence perpetrated against women. The numbers eloquently show that only a few women hold high governmental posts and it is shocking that very few have been presidents of Latin American countries, to mention only two examples that demonstrate that the fight to make real the legal advances has only begun. It is a commemoration of a history of claims that have led to great progress juridically, especially with respect to inter-American norms and jurisprudence and to domestic laws, even though in many of our countries they have not yet had a deep impact in the justice, political, social and cultural fields. In celebrating March 8 each year, we recall the many changes of societal life that have occurred due to women’s movements for their autonomy, the full control over their bodies and their sexuality, their economic independence, their right to work and respect for their dignity, both in their public and private lives. The IIHR joins in commemorating International Women’s Day honoring the women who are on the front lines of the battle against Covid-19, those who in the harsh conditions of unemployment, margination, violence and vulnerability who are caring for and sustaining their families and those who continue to defend their rights against brutal attacks, especially the right to a life free of violence and to achieve, as individuals, equality with men, without discrimination of any kind.
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