Around the world, every November 25 marks the International Day for the Eradication of Violence against Women, officially decreed by the UN in 1999.
The date arose in honor of three Dominican sisters murdered that day, in 1960, by order of the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, of whom they were opponents.
Currently, this movement to make violence against girls and women visible is not only limited to this day, but also extends to the 25th of each month, which is known as Orange Day. The project is part of the so-called Orange Unite Campaign, implemented since 2008 by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
In Cuba, at the initiative of the Global Youth Network of the Unite Campaign, Orange Day has been celebrated since August 2012. National organizations and networks carry out different monthly activities to raise awareness against gender violence. Every day is a day of struggle, the efforts of the government and other sectors do not cease in the search for the emancipation and development of women as an indispensable part of society.
Despite this, the data from recent years are warning. In 2019, the National Survey on Gender Equality (ENIG-2016) confirmed that 39.6 percent of the women interviewed had suffered violence at some point in their lives, in the context of their relationships. The study was carried out by the Center for Women’s Studies of the Federation of Cuban Women and the Center for Population and Development Studies of the National Office of Statistics and Information.
Subsequently, the COVID-19 Technical Report: A gender approach, published by the United Nations Population Fund in Cuba, indicates that in times of crisis, “women and girls may present a higher risk of suffering violence inflicted by the couple and other forms of domestic violence, as a result of growing tensions in the home.
Since the triumph of the Revolution itself, priority attention to the women’s sector began through the founding, by Vilma Espín, of the Federation of Cuban Women, in 1960. However, the efforts can be greater, taking into account the fact that we live in a country with deep-rooted patriarchal tradition.
Violence is a reality, in all its formats, and it is there, in the neighborhood, at work, on the street, in restaurants, inside the home. You can exercise it without knowing it, you can suffer it and reproduce it every day without intention, and retaliation is not enough. When it comes to violence, the work must begin from the base, with education.
Precisely with this objective, the National Program for the Advancement of Women (PAM) was adopted in March 2021, by Presidential Decree, which, since its creation, has managed to provide support for hundreds of women throughout the island, at the same time that has promoted feminist culture, especially in the male sector.
