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Argentines protest rising crimes against women

Tuesday, 10 March 2015 1:15 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 10 March 2015 1:14 PM ]

Women take part in a parade marking International Women

Manoel Giffoni
Press TV, Buenos Aires

Thousands of women filled the thoroughfares of downtown Buenos Aires and marched to the Presidential Palace to mark International Women’s Day.

In the past 5 years the government multiplied by three times financial resources allocated to fight gender violence and domestic abuses, however the number of crimes against women kept growing and showed alarming results during 2014.

Although activists acknowledge progress was made, they say the situation is far from being resolved.

In 2009 the national parliament passed a law dubbed "Act for the comprehensive protection for women" which significantly increases the penalties for domestic violence, abuses and offenses. However many say it had little or no effect on curbing crime against women as security forces are not properly trained to identify the cases and deal with the victims or the perpetrators.

Although Argentina has one of the highest incomes per capita in the region, thousands of women die every year because of poverty.

Social organizations praised the steps taken by the government to fight the abuses against women and hailed the move by the current administration to put forward new and stronger legislation, however they also said that there's still a long road ahead as some crimes such as women trafficking remains on the rise. A report by the Argentina’s Security Ministry showed that the number of missing or kidnapped women increased by 20% last year.

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