Trujillo (Peru), Jan 21 (AP) Pope Francis denouncedfemicides and other gender-based crimes that have turned LatinAmerica into the most violent place on Earth for women,calling for legislation to protect them and a new culturalmindset as he visited one of Peru's most dangerous parts.
At a Marian prayer in the northern seaside city ofTrujillo, Francis called women, mothers and grandmothers theguiding force for families. And yet, he said, in the Americasthey are too often victims of murder and "many situations ofviolence that are kept quiet behind so many walls."The first Latin American pope called for lawmakers toprotect women and for a new culture "that repudiates everyform of violence." His remarks came the same day large crowdsmarched throughout the United States and other countries insupport of female empowerment.
Francis' use of the term femicide the killing of womenwhere the motive is directly related to gender marked thesecond time in as many days that he has spoken out against"machismo" culture in Latin America. The region has thedubious honour of having the world's highest rates of violenceagainst women occurring outside romantic partnerships, and thesecond-highest within.
Even though more and more countries in the region areadopting protective policies for women, female homicides arerising in Latin America with two in every five resulting fromdomestic violence, according to a November 2017 report from UNWomen and the UN Development Program that called thephenomenon a "global pandemic."In recent years women have taken to the streets acrossLatin America, including in Peru, to protest gender violenceas part of the international "Ni Una Menos" or "Not One Less"campaign.
In the Peruvian Amazon this week, Francis denouncedforced prostitution and the trafficking of women in the area,saying it pained him how they are "devalued, denigrated andexposed to endless violence.
"Violence against women cannot be treated as 'normal,'maintaining a culture of machismo blind to the leading rolethat women play in our communities," he said Friday. "It isnot right for us to look the other way and let the dignity ofso many women, especially young women, be trampled upon."Francis' decision to directly address the issue followeda reticence to speak out last year when he visited CiudadJuarez, the Mexican border city notorious for hundreds ofkillings of women that brought international attention to theproblem.
More than 100 women died in eerily similar killings inthe city across from El Paso, Texas, starting in 1993,although the serial or copycat nature of them tapered off adecade later.
At a 2016 open-air mass in Juarez, Francis made anemotional plea to recognise the "human tragedy" of thetreatment of migrants but made only a passing mention of thewomen's killings. At the time he did not use the word"femicide," saying only, "And what can we say about so manywomen who have unjustly had their lives taken?"Mothers of some of the Juarez victims had soughtunsuccessfully to meet with Francis, and Saturday marked thefirst time he is known to have used the term "femicide" inpublic.
Central American countries have the highest rates ofgender-based violence, but the issue is also a serious problemin Peru. More than 1,000 women died from gender violence inthe South American country from 2009 through last October thevast majority murdered by a partner or relative according to areport by the Public Ministry.
Francis' comments came in his final event in Trujillo,where devastating floods last year killed more than 150 peopleand destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. (AP)AJR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.