The director of Access to Justice, Laura Louza, assured that women victims of gender violence “have practically no one to turn to.” Before Cedaw, he reiterated what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has said about this situation, because although there are courts, prosecutors and specialized police units, “they usually lack a gender focus and do not have ability to do justice
The director of Access to Justice, Laura Louza, participated this Monday, January 15, in the 85th session of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw), where she denounced the situation of the detainees in jails and dungeons, victims of gender violence and the lack of response from the Venezuelan State regarding the protection of women.
The Cedaw committee reviews this week the situation in Venezuela, Slovakia and Spain regarding the advances or setbacks of women’s rights.
Louza, representing several NGOs, denounced that there is only one prison for women in the country, where 500 of them are in unsanitary conditions. “In addition, there are more than 2,000 women detained in annexes to male prisons, where it is difficult for them to receive visits and, on many occasions, they may be victims of sexual violence.”
*Read also: Prison Observatory: Overcrowding in prisons for women is 188%
Sexual violence in prisons and detention centers, both against prisoners for political and common reasons, was denounced by various specialists in “The desire to humiliate”, the last chapter of The republic that torturesa documentary about SuchWhich where the serious violations of human rights committed in the country by the security forces with the consent of the State are exposed.
The republic that tortures: The desire to humiliate – Chapter 9
“The desire to humiliate.” As if torture and deprivation of liberty were not enough, the security forces have modified their methods to violate every last trace of dignity of a detainee, they affirm… pic.twitter.com/9AFe3PZGFI
– TalCual (@DiarioTalCual) May 13, 2023
The lawyer also mentioned the harassment and ill-treatment to which women and their families are subjected when they visit a detained person, whether in a jail or a police cell.
Regarding women victims of gender violence, the director of Access to Justice assured that “they have practically no one to turn to.” She reiterated what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has said about this situation, because although there are courts, prosecutors and specialized police units, “they usually lack a gender approach and do not have the capacity to do justice”.
*Read also: “Women Left Behind” Prioritize Food Over Other Needs
«The Venezuelan State has recently made some regulatory improvements, including in terms of the protection of women, but the absolute absence of the rule of law and justice is not due so much to problems of its regulations, but rather to the institutional rupture, product, on everything, that judges, prosecutors, public defenders do not have any autonomy, and therefore, they do not fulfill their role of controlling political power, “said Louza during his participation.
In the lawyer’s opinion, the country requires structural and real changes, “more than regulatory and circumstantial changes, and one of the most necessary is that true justice operators be appointed who comply and defend the rights of citizens and do not limit themselves to follow orders.”
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