The cold came suddenly. And in the midst of a crisis like never seen in the history of our country due to lack of gas, the president is traveling giving talks. Meanwhile, his candidates deploy their verbose denialist languages on all kinds of issues.
Is there no gas to light the stoves and heat your houses? Don’t worry: listening to libertarian senator Francisco Paoltroni will surely raise your temperature. Last week, during his participation in the radio program “Whatever happens”, hosted by journalists Reynaldo Sietecase and Ernesto Tenembaum, the senator from Libertad Avanza once again questioned the legal figure of femicide. In that space for dialogue and debate very well conducted by Ernesto and Reinaldo, Paoltroni addressed sensitive topics such as gender ideology and revealed a position similar to anti-rights people who deny the existence of gender violence and femicides in our society.
Senator Paoltroni, by questioning the legal figure of femicide, is he aware that he is challenging the undeniable reality of gender violence? Does the senator know that this violence claims the life of a woman every 22 hours in Argentina? As a public official, does he understand that denying the existence of femicide is ignoring a deep problem, rooted in gender inequality and machismo that continues to kill at an alarming rate in our society?
Luciana Peker, a feminist writer, said that Argentina currently has the highest record of femicides in history since they have been recorded. In the government of Javier Milei, women die more than ever, after a decrease of 13 percent in the last three years. Of course, the number of victims was not reassuring, nor can we say that it was what was expected, but compared to the current peak, we can assume that it was the product of specific policies. While such a setback occurs, those senators who defend crime by being contrary to the norms that protected women – as Luciana says – should go to prison.
I find it worrying to see how this man tries to divert attention from the real problem, using simplistic arguments such as women also kill men. How many times do we have to explain that we recognize the existence of exceptional cases? It seems that many people have a hard time understanding the idea that exceptions do not form a pattern, something that repeats. When a type of crime is named with a new word, it is done precisely because it is detected that there is something constant with common features. The fact that femicides exist does not invalidate the fact that murders of women against men can occur, much less that they should go unpunished. On the other hand, we know that crimes by women against men do not occur systematically. Men die more from insecurity than from the hatred of women who believe they are their owners.
This type of pseudo-innocent rhetoric that so many display seeks to distort the fight against gender violence and perpetuate a narrative that undermines the advances in rights and equity achieved in our society thanks to the struggle of women and dissidents.
The term “femicide” is defined as the murder of a woman for reasons of gender and misogyny. In Argentina there was a lot of fight for its incorporation into the dictionary. Here we create a language to say that women are murdered for being women. We get tired of hearing phrases that demonstrate this: “I killed her because if she is not mine, she belongs to no one”, “I am your owner”, “you cannot leave me because you are mine”, etc. “Femicide” is a crucial term in the fight to make visible and recognize the specific violence suffered by women. Trying to erase this concept is to dismiss the achievements of thousands of women and sexual diversity in our region, as well as directly attacking our right to Comprehensive Sexual Education and a vision that addresses cases from a gender perspective.
I tell the senator that the figure of femicide is approved in the Argentine penal code. The femicides began to be counted in 2008 through La Casa del Encounter and today they are counted by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.
It is essential to understand that denying the existence of gender violence is going back in time and perpetuating a sexist system that endangers the lives and freedom of women. Those who deny this reality not only oppose progress, but also contribute to the preservation of a system of inequality and violence that violates fundamental human rights.
