Women against Violence: Breaking the Silence (UNIFEM, 1997, 116 p.): Women's Human Rights and Latin American Criminal Law: Integrating Gender into the Democratization Process

Women against Violence: Breaking the Silence (UNIFEM, 1997, 116 p.)

Women's Human Rights and Latin American Criminal Law

		(introduction...)
		Integrating Gender into the Democratization Process
		International Discourse on Specific, Concrete Rights
		Women in Latin America's Criminal-Law Codes
		Abortion and Infanticide
		Lack of Protection for Sexual Freedom
		Criminalization of Extramarital Relations
		Domestic Violence
		Economic Conditions
		Guidelines for Criminal Law Reform with a Gender Perspective
		Decriminalization of Behaviour Grounded in Reproductive Freedom
		Repeal of ''Extenuating Circumstances'' Based on Women's Biology
		Treatment to Protect Motherhood During Prison Terms
		Protection for Sexual Freedom as Part of Personal Prerogative
		Redefinition of the Crime of Family Abuse
		Protection for Women in Prostitution
		Greater Guarantees for the Enforcement of Support Obligations

Integrating Gender into the Democratization Process

A critical reading of criminal codes cannot ignore the historical context in which they were written. Laws in every society reflect the interest of those in power. In democratic societies, however, the evolution of these laws also reflects an ongoing struggle between different social forces. With regard to laws concerning the status of women, those forces opposed to change have been until recently overwhelmingly powerful. Thus criminal codes are loaded with archaic standards regarding women. It is unbelievable that at the end of the 20th century, abortion with informed consent is forbidden, while infanticide by the mother or close relatives is not, if the desire to protect family "honour" is involved. Virginity is still sanctified. And abusive violence is not recognized as a crime so long as it occurs within the family.

During the last half of the 20th century it has become possible to "internationalize" the grounds for human-rights standards, which are now based on broad international consensus. International human-rights conventions, once signed and ratified by nation-states, entail a commitment to build international standards into domestic legislative life. Nevertheless, the amendment process is slow and uneven, requiring the expansion of broad social awareness and an opening of the legislative process in each country. What is needed is a broad gender perspective, stepping back from advocacy of patriarchal interests and recognizing women's and men's rights, in all their diversity, to formulate different ways of analyzing reality and proposing legislative solutions (CEMUJER 1995). The goal, as Peruvian attorney Giulia Tamayo has argued, is to find new ways to build justice into people's daily lives, integrating justice into all institutions of society. Indeed, a change in institutional norms means admitting that there is no single way to resolve the contradictions and tensions generated by women's demands; rather these depend on conditions in each society (Jelin 1993:60).