Page Seven / La Paz
The courts of La Paz and El Alto were the center of protests by women’s organizations and activists who demanded harsher sentences for femicides, rapists and corrupt judges. Within the framework of International Women’s Day, President Luis Arce announced five measures to fight against violence; One of the main ones is the creation of a comprehensive Special Force to Fight Violence (Felcv).
“We ask for tougher sentences for those who commit the crime of femicide through a draft law,” said the executive secretary of Mujeres Campesinas Bartolina Sisa, Flora Aguilar.
Photo: Carlos Sánchez / Page Seven
The women who are part of this organization and sectors related to the ruling party marched from the city of El Alto to Plaza Murillo, where they delivered to the President a bill that seeks to toughen sentences to more than 30 years through a sum of years of prison for people who commit femicides, infanticides, rape of children and adolescents, as well as trafficking in minors.
This bill proposes the authorization of chemical castration for recidivist sexual offenders. It indicates that those sentenced must perform “forced labor” to cover their expenses.
This sector -also- presented a second bill that seeks to declare the reform of the judicial system in Bolivia as a national priority. Thus, they seek to eliminate the corruption of the justice operators that allow these criminals to leave.
“We are working on the regulations to toughen the penalties for bad judges,” said the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Freddy Mamani, yesterday while accompanying this march.
Until yesterday afternoon, the Mujeres Creando collective and the families of the victims maintained the occupation of the Departmental Court of Justice (TDJ) to demand justice and for all the femicides who are free to return to prison.
In front of the TDJ, women and activists installed a carpet with photos of femicides, rapists and judicial officials denounced for corruption. The activity was called the “gallery of shame”.
Women and activists from other groups came to the doors of the courts in the city of El Alto to protest the delay in justice, said one of the representatives, Pilar Apaza. “We are demanding justice. Several women were murdered. Others were raped. In addition, there are colleagues who are harassed at their jobs,” said the activist, indicating that they demand justice in all cases.
“The working conditions in El Alto for women are very precarious. We ask the Government to be able to review all the complaints we present on a case-by-case basis. We receive more than 15 processes of women who go on pilgrimage for justice, the wait is from eight to 15 years”, she said.
In the afternoon, other groups of women and activists took to the streets of La Paz to continue the protests. The demonstrations were also registered in other regions of the country. In Cochabamba they presented the Femicide Wall and in Potosí they marched with withered flowers to remember the women murdered by their partners.
Yesterday, President Luis Arce received the official march in Plaza Murillo. “Women have always been at the forefront in building a more just society, from the anti-colonial struggles to the construction of the Plurinational State, and recently against the coup and the recovery of democracy,” he said.
Arce announced five measures. The first refers to the construction of the integral Felcv in the cities of the axis. “These (spaces) will have the presence of institutions that are involved in processing an act of violence,” he said. She promised the creation of social housing programs for victims of femicides. He announced the programs: Economic Autonomy, business seal “free of violence” and an employment plan.
