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ICTs and violence against women

By Mirta Rodríguez C.

Santo Domingo, October.– The new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have brought about both advantages and disadvantages.

The situation has reached such a point that 50 countries are now involved in preparing and/or passing fresh legislation to deal with computer crime. Clarín, an Argentinean daily newspaper, recently said that ICTs have moved faster than law.

This seems to be the case of certain acts of violence against women that are not described or sanctioned under the law in the United States, Germany, Austria, Argentina, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Spain and Chile.

Some current criminal categories could, however, apply to specific actions like harassment, interference, pursuit and vulgar expressions. Around 95 percent of these actions are inflicted by sexual partners.

There may also be women using ICTs to keep their husbands or boyfriends under control. For the time being, there are no figures, but estimates.

A new problem has arisen: a growing number of women complain about their husbands calling them on the phone to know where they are and what they are doing.

The above came from Dafne Sabanes Plou, regional coordinator of the Women’s Networks Support Program (PARM). She is an expert in gender issues and ICTs who has just given a course on GEM Methodology in the Dominican Republic. This is an evaluation system seeking to include gender equality in governmental and civil-society projects and programs.

WNS interviewed her on the occasion, at the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications. We knew that the new forms of violence against women are poorly included in the legislation, but they need to be fought because they are spreading very fast and are already damaging women’s self-esteem and rights.

"I think ICTs are something relatively new. There is still a long way to go, but many pieces of legislation can apply right away to Internet-related situations," she stressed.

She brought up a couple of cases: a Dominican man who had filmed a university student in the privacy of her home and an Argentinean governor candidate who had been filmed in underwear by her sexual partner. The two men put the materials on the web.

"We women can not feel intimidated. We have to master the new technologies to be safe and raise awareness", she stressed.

Over 14,000 websites against gender violence

Although there are many pornographic sites, there are over 14,000 sites fighting violence against women. They provide information and make it possible to chat and participate in virtual forums.

"We can talk to people and seek counseling from experts on the other side of the world", she emphasized.

We launched a campaign (Let’s master the new technologies) on November 25-December 10, 2006, and had a portal on the web.

Chatting with somebody may seem to be just fine at the beginning and get dirty later on. "The situation can reach a point where a woman will fear turning on the computer and finding the harasser with his vulgar expressions and explicit, violent sex images", Dafne told WNS.

Does technology provide any antidote?

Yes, it does. It consists of ways of blocking and curbing aggressions, virtually at least. You may say: she can turn off the computer. But this does not put an end to harassment. We often wonder why a woman does not break with her abusive husband. Well, similar situations occur on the web, she explained.

Where were you? Why didn’t you answer the phone? I sent you a message and you did not reply. These questions reveal a husband’s attempts at keeping his wife under control, Dafne exemplified.

We need to master the technology to block these attempts and prevent a man from installing a tracking device on her computer or car, or using a cell phone as a video camera to follow her private actions and movements, she commented.

There are 36 million inhabitants in my country (Argentina) and 28 to 30 million cell phones. They are available even to low-income people, she said.

What to do?

"ICTs are posing new challenges. We need to raise awareness about their existence and spreading", she indicated.

Women and feminist movements should take them seriously because we are not always in a position to go beyond a website or a mail list. We are not always willing to do research on the gender approach to the information society. "I think we need to sit down and discuss all these issues", she added.

"Women’s organizations should also deal with virtual violence, a phenomenon that is undermining our self-esteem, sparking fear and causing problem", she stressed.

"We should start from there to be able to take action on technological changes we can not anticipate," she concluded.

HIV/AIDS and women

By Alba Trejo

Guatemala, October.– Telling your husband you got AIDS will probably condemn you to physical and psychological torture for life. If you dare to tell him you got it from him, you will certainly be threatened to death.

The above came from a group of HIV-positive women who have set up a Network to Combat Violence against Women. It aims to challenge the patriarchal system that prevails in the country. Their testimonies were included in a study entitled “HIV/AIDS and violence against women”.

Some of them said that they had contracted the disease after having had sex with their HIV-positive husbands or having used no condom over sexual relations.

Out of 13.4 million inhabitants in Guatemala, seven million are women. Many of them live off less than one dollar a day, and have a low educational level (second grade) and five or six children each.

Most of them get married when they turn 20. Those included in the study were 26 to 35 years old. Some of their husbands have just died of AIDS, an epidemic that has killed around 6,000 Guatemalans and is currently affecting another 78,000.

Arturo Echeverría, director of Action Aid, an NGO financing projects for women and children, indicated that seven every 10 women in the country suffer from family violence.

Those who have revealed that they are HIV-positive see their rights trampled upon and take the risk of enduring other forms of violence or abandonment, said Alma Guerra, a gender expert who was involved in the interviews conducted for the study.

Most respondents sought support only after their husbands or sexual partners died or after they were diagnosed and acts of aggression against them grew.

"There may be many reasons behind their silence", stressed Govanna Lemus, a Network member. "Most of them have been abused since they were little girls", she commented.

In fact, children are abused since they are born. According to the National Commission to Combat Child Abuse, seven every 10 children are physically and/or psychologically abused. Over 5,200 minors were reported to have been beaten last year alone.

There is no law to punish abusers. Children’s rights organizations submitted a bill to Congress in 2005 to categorize sexual crimes and impose tougher sanctions on rapists.

Members of the Network to Combat Violence against Women said that Guatemalan women can not negotiate condom use or any other method to have safe sex with their sexual partners. "If they do, they will be attacked", they emphasized.

Officials at the Central American AIDS Action Program (PASCA) said that over 60 percent of sexually active Guatemalans do not use condom.

Most of them have sex for the first time when they are 13, a local health survey corroborated.

PASCA data showed that 42 every 100 inhabitants do not use condom and one every five has sex both with men and women.

Although there are no data about reports by women living with HIV/AIDS, local network members emphasized that they have been attacked at home and in public. "We were forced to leave home, have endured growing physical and verbal aggressions, have been excluded from social life, and have lost family support", they remarked.

The Ministry of Public Health reported the first AIDS case in the country in June 1984. The number of patients totals 78,000 today. UNAIDS data show, however, that the actual number of cases is around 100,000.

Over 52 percent of HIV-infected people are aged 20 to 34 and 94.4 percent got it over sexual relations.

The government believes that the number of reported cases has grown due to better registration procedures and HIV testing.

Karina Arriaza, coordinator of the Ministry of Health's HIV Prevention and Control Program, stressed that local information campaigns are usually controversial because condom use is considered taboo and the Church strongly opposes such a practice.

In fact, government-implemented prevention strategies make more emphasis on abstinence and faithfulness than on condom use. And senior officials never recommend using condom.

HIV-AIDS treatment is provided free by non-profit organizations and government agencies like Positive People and New People, Médecins sans frontières and the Global AIDS Fund. The Guatemalan Institute of Social Security covers all its members.

The Ministry of Public Health is providing treatment to 3,699 adults and 620 children in Guatemala City and the departments of Izabal and Quetzaltenango.

Some NGOs favor the idea of promoting prevention actions. This is the case of Action Aid, which supports a women's campaign by supplying posters and brochures that seek to raise awareness about family violence and AIDS.

Cuba: Teenagers and abortion

By Raquel Sierra

Havana, September.– Janet is 18 years old and 15-week pregnant. When she became aware of her condition, it was too late to resort to abortion. She has been lucky, however. Although she has had two abortions, she is still fertile.

Experts indicate that infertility can come after abortion, especially when more than one has been performed in adolescent patients.

Dr. Jorge Sancristóbal Díaz, a specialist in comprehensive general medicine who is currently working at Plaza de la Revolución polyclinic and has been involved in primary healthcare for 22 years, stressed that abortion usually causes restlessness in young patients.

These girls, their sexual partners and even their parents tend to see it as a way out and do not think about the risks. They do not seem to understand that the decision to resort to abortion clearly shows that several things have failed along the way, he added.

They include poor trust and communication between parents and children, inadequate information and education to discourage early and unsafe sex, and no responsibility on the part of the couples involved.

Dr. Sancristóbal is a member of the Local Multidisciplinary Group on Family Planning and the Cuban Society for Family Development. He believes that the family plays a fundamental role in young people’s attitude toward sex.

Those resorting to this practice usually live in dysfunctional homes, including single mothers whose children do not have the same father. "This leads to inadequate care for teenagers and early, unsafe sexual relations", he stressed.

"Youngsters should know that there is a wide range of harmless and effective contraceptives available", he noted.

"We always recommend using condom to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) at a stage in life when curiosity, peer pressure and lack of knowledge push them to sex", he remarked.

Experts estimate that around 50 percent of adolescents aged 15 to 19 lead an active sex life and that there has been a steady increase in the number of girls who begin to have sex when they are 12.

On the other hand, 25 percent of teenagers get pregnant and 60 percent of gestations occur within six months after they have sex for the first time.

One every four abortions involves a woman under 20 years of age, experts indicated.

Legalized in 1965, abortion is a women's right in the island. It can be performed up to the 10^th week of pregnancy. It is allowed after such a period only if the patient’s health is at risk.

"Although it is carried out by specialized staff, it should not be indiscriminately used", Dr. Sancristóbal emphasized.

It is a “blind” method that can result in immediate complications such as use of anesthesia, perforated uterus, cervical lacerations, uterine hemorrhage and infection. Long-term complications include outside-the-uterus pregnancy, chronic pelvic inflammation and infertility.

Causes

It is no secret that children of teenage couples tend to begin their sex life very early, wrote Dr. Jorge Peláez Mendoza in the latest issue of Sexology and Society magazine.

Peláez, who is the president of the Cuban Society of Infantile and Juvenile Gynecology, said research works have shown that 34 percent of the teenagers who resort to abortion have very young parents and over 50 percent are daughters of adolescent mothers.

Other risk factors include having divorced parents or living away from one or both of them, he wrote in an article entitled “Teenagers and abortion”.

Adolescents and their families face a dilemma (what to do?) right after an unwanted pregnancy has been detected.

Studies have corroborated that the family plays a key role in decision making and that most girls want to continue studying and are convinced that they are not prepared to become mothers yet. Parental consent is required for abortion when the patient is under 16 years of age.

Peláez highlighted the fact that peer groups here do not have the same strong influence as in other countries.

Other studies

A descriptive study was conducted between September 2004 and February 2005, at the Dr. Eusebio Hernández Gyneco-Obstetric Hospital in Havana. It involved 87 adolescents aged 12 to 19 and confirmed that most of them began to have sex when they were very young and that they use no protection method.

A local magazine (16 de abril) carried out a survey among 17-year-old medical students. Over 66 percent of them had sex for the first time before they were 16; 22.9 percent had just completed senior high school or intermediate-level education; and 56.3 percent recognized they use no contraceptives.

Around 27 percent began to have sex at 15 and five respondents said they were 11 when they first had sex. Over 39 percent had resorted to abortion on more than one occasion. This clearly showed poor guidance and counseling services.

My 19-year-old sister-in-law has two kids and has had three abortions. She became orphan when she was 14 and nobody helped her take a responsible attitude toward sex, said Maritza Rojas, a worker at a healthcare center.

Emergencies

Dr. Sancristóbal finds it vitally important to promote responsible sexuality today, when many adolescents and youngsters exhibit irresponsible behaviors.

Young men should not be involved in a sort of competition to see how many girlfriends they have. This is something we parents still encourage, he added. We should tell our sons: If you love the girl, you should protect her.

Most girls come alone to the family-planning consultation to ask about contraceptive methods and even abortion. "We should try to have the two members of the couple present because they should make responsible decisions together", he said.

He favors the idea of organizing sex talks at educational facilities, just as had been the case in the past. "Some parents wrongly believe, however, that talking about sexuality and responsible attitudes to their children is an invitation to have sex", he emphasized.

Young people usually lead a wild life and the best thing is to educate them to prevent unwanted pregnancy, abortion and STDs.

Families should understand that abortion is not a contraceptive or fertility- regulation method. It is a high-risk medical procedure that should be avoided.

"Emergency or post-coital contraception, which is used to prevent pregnancy after unsafe sex, should not be considered a reliable method", he concluded.

Recuadro

Latin America: Ten million youngsters are jobless

By Zoraida Portillo

Lima, September.– There are 10 million unemployed youngsters, 22 million who do not study or work, and over 30 million who work in the informal sector or under precarious conditions in Latin America today. The region has around 106 million people aged 15 to 24.

These figures were included in a Study over Decent Jobs and Youth in Latin America, put together by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The Peruvian Chapter was launched in Lima, on September 15.

Unsteady jobs, little or no employment opportunities, and no social protection are currently affecting the regional labor market, said Francisco Verdera, an ILO employment policy specialist.

In Peru, unemployment is affecting 10 percent of young labor (around 300,000 people) and the unemployment rate in young women is five times higher than in adult women. "Unlike other countries of the region, sustained economic growth rates in the last five years have not led to increased jobs for the youth", he stressed.

Young women’s share in the region’s labor market is much smaller than that of young men. Only 38 percent of women have jobs and 16 percent (11 million) work as domestic servants.

The study recommended formulating policies aimed at establishing similar working conditions and rights for all domestic servants. They are discriminated against because they are women, poor, indigenous and/or Afro-descendants.

Over 30 percent of young women do not study or work and take care of house chores under a deeply rooted cultural tradition, the document read.

Pregnant teenagers (especially poor, uneducated and single) have no access to productive, decent jobs. Most adolescent mothers live with their parents, do house chores and look after younger brothers and sisters. They are very unlikely to go to school and join the labor market.

Other international studies have also shown that early motherhood is a factor reproducing poverty.

Improving young women’s access to decent jobs demands granting incentives to public and private companies willing to recruit them.

Peru: Sex life and wrong attitudes

By Zoraida Portillo

Lima, September.– Local teenagers begin to have sex when they are 13 years old, a survey showed.

While young men are interested in having safe sex, young girls give priority to falling in love and finding the other half. They use protection to avoid unwanted pregnancy rather than preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS.

Women believe that condom use is a sole responsibility of men because they can make no decision about it and raising the issue is “socially inappropriate”.

Another finding showed that youngsters feel that condom reduces sexual pleasure and causes irritation in the vagina.

Although girls think that the right age to have sex for the first time is 18, they do so when they are 12 to 15.

The survey was conducted by the Ministry of Health and the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS in early 2007. It involved people aged 11 to 24 living in cities with high STI/HIV prevalence rates, including the cities of Ica, Chimbote, Pucallpa, Iquitos, Lima and Callao.

In jungle areas, for example, teenagers begin to have sex when they are 11. Most of them believe that there is no risk of getting pregnant over the first relation.

The health authorities have decided to carry out a national information and prevention campaign including radio and television ads, posters, brochures and other materials. It is intended for teenagers and youngsters aged 11 to 24, and poor women aged 25 to 45.

We should provide education at home and at school, and include grassroots leaders in the campaign, said Nora Ojeda Celi, technical coordinator for Goal No. 1 (HIV) at the Global Fund.

Dr. José Luis Sebastián Mesones, coordinator of the National Healthcare Strategy on STI/HIV Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health, stressed that the survey has corroborated that Peruvian teenagers and youngsters make up the most vulnerable population group in the country.

Officially reported cases contracted HIV when they were 15 to 19 years old. The 2006 World Report on AIDS indicated that Peru ranked 17th on the list of countries with high HIV prevalence rates in the 15- to 49-year-old population.

"While the epidemic used to affect 10 men every one woman in 1983, it is affecting three men to one woman today", the expert added.

"It is hitting vulnerable groups, but will soon reach the general population if further sanitary intervention measures are not adopted", he concluded.

The Women's News Service from Latin America and the Caribbean, International News Agency, offers this weekly service. No reproduction without authorization. Any comment o suggestion please contact us: semlac@redsemlac.net