In establishing that the state of emergency due to gender-based violence would theoretically end on June 30, 2022, the idea was to “shake up the structure” with fixed goals that would force the government to take diligent action, the interior secretary said. Noelia Garcia.
“You have to shake the structure. This is not a lifelong emergency plan, it is not perpetual. It is created to cause a stop, to cause an immediate reaction. If we put it in perpetuity, we will not be efficient, so we have to face aggressive challenges in order to really achieve the execution that is being pursued, ”García said in an interview with Metro.
One of the most important tasks that Committee on the Prevention, Support, Salvation and Education of Gender-Based Violence (PARE)Garcia said, precisely to establish indicators that will allow the administration Pedro Pierluisi measure the impact of the executive order, as well as the areas that will need to be adjusted along the way.
The governor himself indicated that, above all, he would like to see a reduction in the number of femicides in the next 17 months, but acknowledged that the crisis includes other factors that also need to be carefully considered.
“We have values, the women’s ombudsman has values, the police have values. What are really the numerical variables that need to be set, that work as an emergency social thermometer, this is what they will set for us (PARE Committee). The first thing we have to challenge is if the statistics are correct and if we make the statistics with the correct methodology “, said the interior secretary.
“An executive order establishing an emergency situation for gender-based violence goes to the root of a social problem that we need to address with ‘boldness’, which we need to address as a matter of priority,” said García, who was previously director. of Convention District Authority.
García stressed that during the three weeks between the swearing-in of the new government and the enactment of the executive order, in addition to holding talks with defense groups and detractors of the emergency declaration, it was possible to identify the agencies that suffer the most. many problems until the moment of approaching the dynamics related to gender violence.
Specifically, the official added, it has been detected that the chain of response to incidents of gender violence has too many free links, which prevent the correct treatment of cases classified as domestic violence, which in 2019 exceeded 7,000, women being victims in 84% of they. .
García emphasized that the so-called compliance officer, a person appointed directly by Pierluisi, will have the important function of directly supervising the 10 agencies which, together with Office of the Ombudsman for Women, forms the PARE Committee.
“Among the (areas) that certainly need a special condition is the training of emergency response personnel. From the person picking up the phone to the ambulance arriving at the scene, the arriving police officer, sending and following the complaint, that whole answer line must be on alert. Violence against women or gender-based violence are hidden. We need to make sure that we have trained staff to identify those timid signals that a victim of violence sends. This is very important and sometimes we fail in this, “said the interior secretary, who stressed that this phase of response and support for victims deserves as much attention as the issue of violence prevention.
At a time when it is not known how much budget will be needed to implement the provisions of the emergency declaration, García said many initiatives will not involve higher payments.
“One of the things that women who represent institutions that protect, educate and help women have told us is that most emergencies that need to be dealt with don’t affect the budget much. (For the education component), we already have social workers and we are bringing education to the police, to the entire emergency chain, ”said García, who stressed that it will be necessary to reverse the reduction of about one million dollars OPM has suffered in its budget. last.
A few days after the governor issued the directive that public agencies and corporations cancel service contracts maintained by a lawyer Jerome Garffer, against whom the cause for arrest for a case of gender violence was found, García was not categorical when asked if the current administration would prohibit the award of contracts to persons accused of this type of conduct.
“Each agency has the discretion to identify whether its event or contractor meets the ethical values that the agency wants to pursue. In this case, the governor himself requested the cancellation of the contracts “, said García referring to Garffer, who since 2009 has been accused of violent acts against women at least four times.
What will be the standard for checking contractors for a history of gender-based violence? Metro.
“It simply came to our notice then. The government cannot pursue ephemeral values, we must be responsible for the message we preach … These analyzes must be profound. It cannot be executed, because someone has made an accusation. It can’t be a simple accusation. It is important to dig deeper and confront the evidence. (Garffer’s case) is already in court, “Garcia said.