A New "Shield of the Weak": Continued Paternalism of Domestic Violence Services in Uruguay (original) (raw)
Related papers
Resisting patriarchy within the State: Advocacy and family violence in Mexico
Women's Studies International Forum, 2010
all but three states in the Mexican Federation passed laws dealing specifically with family violence. These laws are more symbolic than substantive for protecting women's rights given their unbridgeable duality of objectives: one the one hand affirming the sanctity of the family, while on the other protecting family members from the threat of family violence. The patriarchal attitudes that permeate the State are reflected in the terms and objectives of family violence legislation. Although the formal aim of the legislation has been to protect women from partner violence, the subordination of its contents and implementation to the goal of preserving families has worked against protecting the victims of partner violence. This article adopts a poststructuralist feminist perspective on the State, conceptualizing it not as a unified entity, but in terms of the collaborations and conflicts of the multiple agencies, agents, and agendas which constitute it. Using Giddens' structuration theory, I examine patterns of resistance both to the patriarchal social structure and to the State that is reproducing it. Some State employees-most of whom are women-who work in agencies that provide direct assistance to victims of family violence and design prevention programs work around the familist agenda by reinterpreting and ignoring regulations, investing their own time and resources to protect victims of partner violence. This article explores the agency of these individuals and examines how they strategically challenge or derail the reproduction of patriarchal structures by the State, working from within it.
This article analyses the specific ways in which Latin American countries have judicialised domestic violence over the last decade. In particular, it highlights the new definitions of spousal abuse and procedures adopted in both criminal and non-criminal courts. The region has seen two countervailing tendencies, the first to criminalise, through penal codedefinitions and higher penalties, the second to divert this offence into legal arenas that tend, either implicitly or explicitly, towards effective decriminalisation and downgrading of this form of social violence due to their emphasis on conciliation and transactional procedures. This has resulted, in many cases, in a two-track, hybridised treatment of domestic violence that is ultimately unsatisfactory in meeting the various needs of women victims.
Social and Public Policy Responses to Domestic Violence in Argentina and Cuba
CESLA No 3, 2002
Este artículo fue publicado en: Los Derechos Humanos de las Latinoamericanas: el Cuerpo Importa. Edición a cargo de Marta Zabaleta. Revista del CESLA Nº 3. Aquí se ofrece un análisis comparado de información de primera mano recogida en Buenos Aires y en La Habana por la autora, respecto a la respuesta a la violencia doméstica en dichas ciudades. El trabajo se concentra en los dispositivos existentes para frenar la violencia y asistir a las víctimas de la misma. El artículo ofrece también una aproximación al debate existente sobre la intervención o no intervención del Estado para frenar la violencia doméstica, tanto en países anglosajones como en América Latina, para contextualizar dicha intervención en los países de estudio. El estudio concluye señalando los aspectos positivos de cada respuesta, y aquellos que podrían verse mejorados.
Gender, the State and patriarchy: partner violence in Mexico
2008
This dissertation is the product of a great formative experience at the University of Texas at Austin and the product of many years of work and challenges. Having the opportunity of studying at UT has been a privilege. In Austin, not only I became a real sociologist, and earned a Ph.D. but also I developed strong ties with professors, classmates and numerous friends. My deepest gratitude and acknowledgment to Dr. Ronald J. Angel, who has guided me throughout this process wisely and with a lot of patience. He is my role model, and an excellent mentor. He has taught me the importance of finding a balance between personal and professional life. During several years Professor Angel shared with me his knowledge and has been the biggest influence in the scholar that I am now.
Incoherent Gender Citizenship: Argentina’s Sexual/Reproductive Health and Gender-based Violence Laws
Revista Communitas, 2021
[English] Strategic activism led by the women's and feminist movements since the 1980s has impelled Latin American states to legislate on the issues of gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health. Yet, the translation of feminist demands and ideas, its processes and outcomes in multilevel state legislation, has only recently caught the attention of political scientists (Vickers et al. 2020). Using the case of Argentina, I qualitatively analyse national and provincial legislation and demonstrate that significant incoherencies exist in ontological and conceptual incorporations of gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health, gendering in complex ways its citizenship regime. These incoherencies unfold both horizontally (between policy areas) and vertically (between levels of government). This article invites future empirical research to account for those incoherencies and consider their implications for policymaking, feminist mobilization, and conservative resistance to gender equality-oriented public policies. [Português] O ativismo estratégico liderado por movimentos de mulheres e feministas desde a década de 1980 impulsionou os Estados latino-americanos a legislar sobre as questões de violência de gênero e saúde sexual e reprodutiva. No entanto, a tradução das ideias e demandas feministas, seus procesos e resultados, para uma legislação estadual multinivelada apenas recentemente chamou a atenção de cientistas políticos (Vickers et al. 2020). Usando o caso da Argentina, analiso qualitativamente a legislação nacional e provincial, e demonstro a existência de incoerências significantes e incorporações ontológicas e conceituais da violência de genero, e saúde sexual e reprodutiva, "gendering" regimes de cidadanias em formas complexas. Essas incoerências desdobram-se tanto horizontalmente (entre as áreas da política) como verticalmente (entre os níveis de governo). Esse artigo convida futuras pesquisas empíricas a dar conta dessas incoerências e considerar suas implicações para a elaboração de políticas, mobilização feminista e resistência conservadora às políticas públicas orientadas para a igualdade de gênero.
Explaining Domestic Violence Policy Outcomes in Chile and Argentina
Latin American Politics and Society, 2010
This article explains why Chile has outperformed Argentina in policy responses to the problem of domestic violence. It argues that policy variation is due to both macro-level institutional features (state capacity and centralization) and to more contingent political factors that shape the structure, role, and resources of the women's policy agencies that coordinate and implement domestic violence policies. The initial design of Chile's National Women's Service has allowed it to act as a crucial “insider” ally to advocacy groups. In contrast, Argentina's National Women's Council has suffered repeated downgrading and loss of resources due to ideological conflicts and changes in government, rendering it unable to coordinate policy responses to domestic violence effectively or to act as an ally to advocates inside and outside the state seeking increased resources and more effective policy responses to violence against women.
Women’s collective struggles in addressing domestic and gender violence
2015
La propuesta de este artículo se orienta a valorizar y problematizar el lugar que tienen los colectivos de mujeres y movimientos sociales que han incorporado la noción de antipatriarcado con el fin de dar respuestas efectivas a las mujeres en situación de violencias en el territorio de la provincia de Buenos Aires. El análisis se centrará en las acciones colectivas que posibilitaron incluir en la agenda social y de gobierno la violencia familiar y de género, y la situación actual de los reclamos de las organizaciones y colectivos de mujeres. En tal sentido, se analizarán desde un enfoque de género las entrevistas a referentes de colectivos antipatriarcales, realizadas en el marco del Proyecto de Investigación (11/J/129) “Las violencias contra las mujeres: Los discursos en juego y el acceso a la justicia” dirigido por la Dra. Manuela G. González y co dirigido por la Dra. Olga L Salanueva.Consideramos que el aporte de este artículo se sitúa en el análisis de la dimensión del testimo...