Regarding International Women’s Day, from TCRN, we wanted to pay tribute to all of Costa Rican Women and the world, for their simplicity, their coquetry, their work in each space, their love of life and neighbor and their courage. Courage, is what should define us in each action.
Where did the idea of this celebration come from?
The United Nations Organization began the celebration as the International Day of Working Women, but in 1975, it institutionalized the International Women’s Day, in commemoration of their struggle and participation within society, standing for the emancipation of women and their full development as persons, every March 8th.
By the way, the theme of the United Nations celebration last year 2020 was “I am from the Equality Generation: For Women’s Rights”, because the world has made unprecedented progress, but no country has achieved gender equality. Instead, this year 2,021, the theme of the United Nations is “Women leaders: For an equal future in the world of COVID-19”.
This topic is timely to take into account every effort made by women and girls around the world to forge a more equal future and recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic. It is worth noting that it is women who are on the front line of the Pandemic crisis as health workers, caregivers, innovators and community organizers, as well as victims of both physical and psychological domestic violence.
Women in society
The fact of being a woman has to be majestic, because women are beings that have various roles to fulfill in today’s society. Today, there is so much talk about empowerment, which is a growth of the body, mind and soul.
Empowerment refers to the series of processes by which the participation of individuals and communities is increased, which is generally found in a minority or unequal position within spaces such as politics, the economy, various institutions or organizations, all this in order to promote beneficial changes for the group. Philosophically, empowerment has a focus on Paulo Freire’s Popular Education work. This approach has to do with participation and development.
The concept of empowerment was first proposed in the mid-1980s by DAWN (1985), a network of women’s groups and researchers from the North and South, to refer to the process by which women gain control over resources (material and symbolic) and reinforce their capacities and leadership in all areas.
Violence against women in Costa Rica
In the world, a large number of women are mistreated at work and at home, in short, in every space where they work. First, we wanted to investigate the situation in Costa Rica. Since 2007, the year in which the Law on Criminalization of Violence against Women (LPVcM) was enacted, at the end of 2.019, there were a total of 355 femicides, according to Report NO. 1885-PLA-ES-2020 of the Sub-process of Statistics of the Planning Directorate of the Judicial Power.
Last year 2,020, we do not escape from this unfortunate reality and that is that according to the latest analysis of the Inter-Institutional Subcommission for the Prevention of Femicide (February 17, 2021), in the country there were 19 femicides (31%), out of a total of 61 deaths.
Violence against women in countries of the American continent
If we focus on other countries we can know that … According to figures for the year 2020 from the organization Ayuda En Acción, Bolivia had a date of 83 murdered women between January and August of last year and during the quarantine there were 53 cases. In Colombia, the figures were 445 women murdered up to September (during the 243 quarantine).
Ecuador, organizations identified that 748 women were murdered from the year 2014 to March 2020. In Mexico, 724 femicides were reported until September. Nicaragua had a total of 50 and Venezuela, approximately 172 women were killed by gender violence in the first eight months of the year.
When we talk about rape against women…
Experts from various organizations say that 37 percent of women have experienced physical or sexual violence by their partner, or sexual violence perpetrated by a person other than their partner. This data does not include sexual harassment. Other figures reveal that 38% of the murders of women that occur worldwide are committed by their male partner.
Among the types of gender violence are:
Intimate partner violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, female genital mutilation and child marriage. Now, according to the United Nations, violence against women is defined as – any act of gender violence that results, or may result in physical, sexual or psychological harm to women, including threats of such acts, the coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether they occur in public or private life. It is a violation of human rights.
Worth noting is that last year the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Government of Costa Rica organized a discussion on women’s mental health during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
TCRN and the approach to Women in their special day
Women’s Day must be celebrated every day with great respect and conscience. However, we did not want to overlook the official date, this March 8th, where the following ladies expressed their views on the fact of being a woman.
Melissa Sweet, founder of the Authentic Life organization, said: “International Women’s Day puts a necessary focus on the suffering that women around the world have simply because of their gender. In the modern and free world, we are so blessed for the evolution of spaces with greater appreciation and respect, deeper between the sexes and that fact continues to give hope. We must all seize the opportunity to give our attention and help to women, and to all peoples, experiencing unthinkable suffering.”
Grethel Jiménez, a specialist in Communication with an emphasis on Public Relations, commented: “Being a woman for me can be summed up in two words:” Courage and Resilience “, we apply them every day in decision-making both in our personal and work life, be brave by reminding ourselves each day that we have the ability to face the challenges that life throws at us and resilient, so that despite the many situations we may face, we can once again rise up. Let’s use our jobs to give other women dignity and opportunity, so that they grow professionally and they too can be excellent leaders. As women, let us strive to see each other as allies, we are going one by one, bridging the great gap that there is with gender equality. Let’s propose this 2,021 to be empowered, brave and resilient women in each of the decisions we make and this will open many doors for us”.
From TCRN, we affirm that International Women’s Day is a good time to reflect on the progress made, ask for more changes and celebrate the courage and determination of women who have an important role within the societies of the world.
