Noticias

On Tuesday, November 11th, the panel discussion on the "Comprehensive Protection for Women against Gender Violence" was held in the framework of the campaign “Por Ellas”, with the participation of Congresswoman Rocío Casco, Lucia Sandoval and Fiorella Migliore, at the headquarters of the LGBT Community Center.

To start the panel, Rocío Casco emphasized: "We are developing a campaign called #PorEllas. When we started the campaign, we were doing a follow-up on the case of Lucia Sandoval, but then, this campaign -and the bill itself- emerged from a focus group where many women stated that it was difficult for them to be recognized as victims, mainly due to the common misunderstanding of gender-related issues in our society, where sometimes the complexity of women is hidden -as in its multiple dimensions".

In this regard, Lucía Sandoval mentioned "I think that these meetings are very positive because in them we do not only talk about discrimination against women, but we talk about overall violence and, suddenly, we find out that there are many people who happen to live such situations at some point."

The panel was also attended by Fiorella Migliore, who called for action to end gender violence and inequality. "We all add our voices, we all can can do something at the same time. I found myself in another area in past couple of years, and the experience that I lived in the recent weeks has helped me to be more than involved with this campaign and its key messages. This shows everyone that we don’t need a lot to do a little bit. Every single action counts -and there’s a lot to be done", finalized Migliore.

Sergio Lopez, representative of SOMOSGAY, also contributed with reflections on the bill, the #PorEllas campaign, among other things. "The project itself is quite positive and so it’s the campaign. It is important to reflect on two points that are quite important: we are not just talking about gender-based violence but talking about all kinds of violence that exist; one of them is talking about the systematic violence that the media generates. Lucia Sandoval is representative of thousands of Paraguayan women today, and there are other social spaces where systemic gender-based violence is a reality, and here’s where Fiorella falls in the spotlight. It is important to recognize that Rocío, Lucia and Fiorella are very brave people to come here today and for having done what they did to throughout this week and I think that is the feeling and thinking of many of us."

The #PorEllas campaign promotes debate and seeks support for the adoption of the draft Law on Protection of Women in our country. It is driven by the Equity and Gender Committee of the National Congress, chaired by Deputy Rocío Casco, with support from the Ministry of Women, UN Women and the Coalition to Eradicate all types of Violence against Women. Throughout the campaign, different socialization activities, promotion and discussion of the content of the draft Law on Protection of Women Integral are to be developed.

Due to the many scenarios of violence and discrimination experienced by women in our country, LESVOS and SOMOSGAY invite everyone to join this initiative, which arises from the need to create a space for everyone to advance in the construction of a society without sexism and inequality: a more egalitarian and non restrictive Paraguayan society.