The NGO Commission for Human Rights and Citizenship (Codehciu) in its recent report on monitoring gender violence, urged the Venezuelan government to create shelter spaces, train justice operators in human rights, as well as adopt zero-tolerance policies in institutions in the face of any violation of girls, adolescents and women.
According to the monitoring carried out in the period of September 2021 and April 2022, Codehciu recorded 260 manifestations of gender violence in seven municipalities of Bolívar.
Likewise, Caroní registered the highest index with some 132 victims. Angostura del Orinoco is in second place with 103; while Gran Sabana has 10, ranking third.
Gender violence data
The NGO collected data thanks to the monitoring carried out on the media, as well as on social networks and the cases presented in the Codehciu offices.
Similarly, the alert was presented after finding a drastic increase in cases of violence against women, specifically, in the first four months of this year.
At least 80 women, girls and adolescents became victims of physical aggression, many of them with serious injuries and facial bruises from blows and penetrating sharp objects.
Psychological violence the most frequent
The report showed that “psychological violence was one of the most frequent.” Although it alerted about 40 victims of sexual violence, 10 of them girls and adolescents between the ages of 1 and 14, in the state of Bolívar. as well as 5 femicides between September 2021 and April 2022.
One of the cases presented in the report is that of the 21-year-old, Karla Rivero, murdered by her partner in September of last year in front of her relatives.
That same month, the head of 25-year-old Jersis Fernández was found in a bag. A murder at the hands of a criminal gang. Fernandez left behind three minor children.
Other victims were Yris del Carmen Lee Tang (55), Aixa Castellanos Baraja (57) and Vanessa Pérez (31).
Monagas cases
Monagas, for its part, during the same period, had 24 victims of 32 acts of gender violence, mostly physical aggression (14). Likewise, Codehciu registered 3 femicides in this state.
One of the cases is that of 14-year-old Laura Rodríguez, who was shot in the face by a neighbor. According to the NGO report, “the body of another 15-year-old adolescent was found in the waters of the Morichal River on September 14, 2021. The young woman was raped by Robert Alexander Aragol. Who along with the victim’s older sister strangled her, raped her and threw her body into the river to fake drowning by accident.
Inés María Tocuyo, is the third case of femicide killed by a man with a firearm, while she was holding her baby.
Gender violence in Delta Amacuro
For eight months, Codehciu evidenced 14 victims of 19 attacks by gender in Delta Amacuro. Among the parishes are José Vidal Marcano, San Rafael and Monsignor Argimiro García de Espinoza, in Tucupita.
Irma García, a 37-year-old indigenous woman (warao) was one of the cases captured by the organization in its report. The body of this woman was found with signs of sexual abuse.
Given the social problems and the alarming figures, the NGO gave recommendations to the State to take action on these cases:
- Investigate the structural causes that lead girls, adolescents and women to engage in prostitution, survival sex or transactional sex.
- Identify the vulnerabilities that make girls, adolescents and women prone to being victims of internal and external trafficking networks.
- Provide free legal and psychological assistance to girls and women victims of trafficking and create shelters specials for them.
- Duly include a gender perspective in study programs.
- Intensify efforts to reduce maternal mortality.
- Modify its legislation to decriminalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, risk to the health of the mother and risk of serious malformations of the fetus. Eliminate punitive measures for women who undergo this practice and guarantee the availability of pregnancy termination services.
