99.3% of domestic violence cases remain unpunished in Bolivia due to rejection, abandonment or dismissal of the complaints, warned activists who demonstrated on Tuesday against the reform of the law against gender violence proposed by pro-government senators who consider that this law is “anti-men”.

26 femicides and 16 infanticides have been registered in Bolivia from January 1 to April 24, 2024, according to the Attorney General of the State, Juan Lanchipa. This alarming situation has generated great concern about the increase in violence against women and children in the country.

After 11 years of Law 348 in force, the regulation is in the eye of the storm because there are sectors and authorities that maintain that this norm is used in a malicious way against men, an aspect that is rejected because they consider that the observations come from misogynist and sexist groups. Another argument is that, in spite of the validity of this legal body,

It is estimated that every day at least 185 clandestine abortions are performed in Bolivia, a situation that puts at risk the lives of girls and women who resort to unsafe processes to terminate their pregnancies, a situation that puts on the table for debate the legalization of this practice in the country.

Senator Virginia Velasco Condori is participating in the VIII International Parliamentarians’ Conference on the Implementation of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), which is being held from April 10 to 12 in Oslo, Norway.

In a political context marked by intimidation and violence, women in Bolivia are facing significant challenges to their full participation in the country’s political life. With a total of 109 resignations in the last five years due to violence, pressure and harassment of women in elected office, the urgency of addressing this problem in a comprehensive and systematic manner is evident.

Cases of pregnancies in girls and adolescents in 2023 totaled 22,177; of these, 1,302 were in children under 15 years of age, according to preliminary data from the National Health Information and Epidemiological Surveillance System of the Ministry of Health and Sports (SNIS).

One out of every two women and four out of every ten adolescents have suffered physical or sexual violence during their lives in Bolivia, according to a study presented on Thursday, which also ratified the lack of confidence in the questioned judicial system to ensure reparations to the victims of these events.

Bolivia commemorates International Women’s Day with the persistent problem of violence against women and concern about cases of violent deaths with increasingly younger victims, such as the case of Noelia, a teenage human rights activist whose murderers were two minors.

The United Nations in Bolivia (UN-Bolivia) called on Friday, International Women’s Day, for the country’s public and private sectors to invest in policies and programs to “build equality” between men and women.

In one of his first group therapies in the Men of Peace program, Ronald broke down and admitted that he was violent. At first, he showed resistance and even asked: “I’m not crazy, why did they send me here”. Day after day, and after listening to the testimonies of 11 other men denounced for domestic violence, he dared to tell the truth and revealed that he had mistreated his wife and children.

The United Nations System in Bolivia condemned on Friday the femicide of a 17-year-old girl who was a human rights activist and who a few days ago was found dead and with signs of sexual violence in the Bolivian city of El Alto, neighboring La Paz.

The National Listening Commission of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference, which began operating in June 2023, is advancing in its task of receiving and accompanying possible victims of abuse within the Church, reflects ACI Prensa, a Catholic news portal.

Of the crimes related to rape (38.4%), rape of children and adolescents is the most common among the country’s inmates. Of all inmates, 15.9% perpetrated rape against minors. Drug trafficking and robbery and aggravated robbery are secondary crimes.

Carnival is one of the most important festivities in Bolivia, but it is also, unfortunately, where very worrying figures of violence against women are registered every year, a reality that Pro Mujer and UN Women organizations want to change through the campaign #SinMáscarasSinViolencia (NoMasksWithoutViolence).

The president of the Association of Victims of Feminicide and Infanticide in Bolivia, Rosiario Méndez, regretted that to date the Legislative has not dealt with the bill to favor the orphans of feminicide, who are estimated to exceed one thousand children and adolescents, since law 348 came into force in 2013.

The crimes against women occurred in Cochabamba, La Paz, Tarija and Potosí. The perpetrators are partners and ex-partners of the victims.

January closes with the tragic balance of six femicides, 50% less than in the same month in 2023, when 12 murders of women were recorded.

Threats, aggressions, salary withholding and pressure to sign “shared agreements” are some of the situations experienced by women authorities in Bolivia, a reality that increased in 2023 with 151 cases of harassment and political violence registered.

More than 50 institutions that make up the Alianza Nacional por los Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes Huérfanos de Feminicidio (National Alliance for Children and Adolescents Orphaned by Feminicide) are lobbying the Plurinational Legislative Assembly for a law to care for orphans left behind by women who were murdered.

Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Minister of International Development, arrived in Bolivia to announce and launch two new projects on sexual and reproductive rights, which are being promoted in Bolivia by his country, with funding of 19 million Canadian dollars (equivalent to more than 14 million USD), and which will directly benefit 151,000 adolescents and young people between the ages of 10 and 29. The projects will be implemented by the United Nations and Plan International.