The Minister of Women, Gender and Diversity, Ayelen Mazzinawas “shocked” by the numbers of femicides that are registered in the country and argued that this This problem is not going to be solved by that portfolio alone, but by an “interministerial policy” and “justice with a gender perspective”.
In a meeting he held in his office with journalists from different mediathe official also confirmed the continuity of the state program Accompany economic assistance to people in situations of gender violence, reinforced with federal public policies that guarantee the employment and autonomy of those who go through this situation.
“I accepted the position with the guarantee of having an adequate budget and confirmation of the continuity of Accompanying,” said the minister.
“I accepted the position with the guarantee of having an adequate budget and confirmation of the continuity of Accompanying”
mazzina He took over less than a month ago. He took over the area on October 13after the resignation of Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, the first to hold the position in Argentina.
By the end of Gómez Alcorta’s administration, official statistics indicated that the program Acompañar provided financial support to more than 200,000 people in situations of gender-based violence since September 2020when President Alberto Fernández made it official.
The economic aid is for six months, does not require a judicial complaint, is compatible with other state assistance and to start it, it is necessary to sign Nation agreements with provinces and municipalities.
Precisely “the commitment” of the provincial and communal governments, and “the territorial management of national policies” was a definition of the minister when speaking of the high rates of femicides in Argentina.
Femicide figures
Télam revealed that the femicides committed in the last month in the country increased almost 50% compared to Septemberaccording to the different civil organizations that make their own measurements of crimes linked to gender violence.
So far this year, 247 femicides and 7 transvesticides have been registeredwhich reflects an average of one murder every 29 hours.
“The numbers of femicides impact me, they go through me, and you have to think about them from public policies. This Ministry will not solve it alone, an interministerial policy and a Justice that thinks with a gender perspective is needed,” said the official. .
About the Accompany program
He recognized that the 6 months of help offered by Accompanying “are not enough to change people’s lives, that is why I am talking to other ministries to act in the aftermath, with training that allows the employability and autonomy” of those who are going through situations of violence.
He also considered that it is necessary to make visible some provincial experiences that exist in this sense “because it is necessary to think and execute policies with territorial experiences.”
In this sense, he pointed out that “We have to change the dynamics” of the Federal Council that works in the Ministry “so that each province has more time to present its policies, and so that we receive suggestions and constructive criticism.”
He anticipated that his intention is to travel to all the provinces and that his cabinet “will be joined by personnel from different parts of the country” following the federal logic that he wants to give to his administration.
Budget 2023 for the Mazzina portfolio
Regarding the budget for the Ministry, he assured that “it is adequate, otherwise I would not be here.”
The budget 2023, which is under debate in the Senateafter passing through the Lower House, is $54,683 million for the Women, Gender and Diversity portfolio.
That of 2022 was $17,583 million “which against the initial forecast for 2023 ($54,683 million) multiplies by 3 that of last year,” explained a ministerial source.
Care Law and the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean
On the preliminary draft of the Care Law that promotes a comprehensive national system designed for those who care for children, the elderly and people with disabilitiesand that extends the maternity, paternity leavecreates new ones by adoption and modifies others, Mazzina said that she is “dialoguing with legislators to advance with the treatment.”
“Care is transversal, it is the basis of inequalities and the backbone of violence. The project needs consensus. I regret that we did not reach the Regional Conference with a law”commented.
This is the XV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, which begins next week in Buenos Aires, in which authorities from countries in the region and social organizations will participate, and the axis of the meeting will be care.
About the new Minister Mazzina
Ayelén Mazzina (33) is a professor of Political Sciencewas a counciloroccupied a position in the Secretary of Youth, was a candidate for national deputy and secretary of Women, Diversity and Equality of saint Louis.
“Being a minister is a personal challenge for me and to make visible a group (LGBTIQ +) that must occupy places,” stressed the official, who is a lesbian.
He said that he “avoids” and that “he is not concerned” about some journalistic publications or on social networks related to his private life or his militancy.
She brought to the journalistic meeting the situation that occurred a few days ago, when a video of her from 2018 was made public, where she demonstrated against legal abortion.
“I changed, I campaigned for the right to abortion in 2020, because I carried out a process with colleagues, with networks, there were spaces, places that transformed me, like this Ministry that was achieved through the struggle and that is a space for transformation”, defined. That is why he considered “unusual” the closing versions of the Ministry.
