International Observatory on Violence against Women meets Cities for Peace

The event was co-organised by the City of Bogotá, the Forum of Mayors and Elected Women of Ibero-America and UCLG, a partner in the “Territories protecting women victims of violence” programme.

The role of women as leaders in social peace policies was one of the central themes of the discussions. The Forum proposed to open up the debates on peace to the concepts of resilient territories in response to climate change, social justice in response to inequalities, and the defence of local democracy in response to authoritarian tensions within States. In this context, policies to fight violence against women are key to building a democratic and inclusive society. They are a tool both for eliminating one of the main violations of human rights – gender inequality – and for reducing the impunity that allows violence in our societies.

The International Observatory took part in a laboratory on “Policies to eliminate systematic violence against women” and “Feminist municipalism” with 11 women leaders from Latin America. The discussions were moderated by international experts Ana Falú, former Regional Director of UN Women, and Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

The discussion on feminist municipalism called for a redefinition of political priorities by placing women at the heart of decision-making. This “4th transformation“, as Clara Brugada, Mayor of Iztapalapa, calls it, is a democratisation involving women that changes the centralisation of power and social and political priorities. These are new territories “where life is at the centre”, as Silvana Pissano, Mayor of Municipio B Montevideo, explained, “cities that take care” of women but also of all social groups, especially the most marginalised. Feminist municipalism responds to the issue of violence against women in a comprehensive way by structuring a feminist economy, redesigning public space, valuing the invisible work of “care“, giving women back their free time so that they can become autonomous, and including the ecological issue in the management of the city.

Networking is becoming an essential step in facilitating the implementation of these policies. It enables practices to be exchanged, but also solidarity in the face of the sexist attacks that women politicians are the target of on a daily basis in real life or online.

One of the biggest challenges of these local policies is to tackle cultural representations. This means knowing how to create services where there is not yet an explicit demand, and stimulating it in order to transform patriarchal patterns.The city of Bogotá has taken up this challenge with the Manzana del cuidado, a comprehensive programme designed to empower women in the face of structural inequalities linked to the gendered division of tasks. The Manzana del Cuidado are community centres that bring together a number of spaces dedicated to women, where qualified staff can look after the dependents they care for (children, disabled relatives, the elderly) while they carry out activities for themselves, such as going back to school, training, wellness activities and rest.

Local governments have a wide range of responsibilities in the fight against violence against women, from prevention to care, including sexual and reproductive health through health centres, as advocated by the Mayor of Quilmes, Maya Mendoza (Argentina). Investing in economic integration programmes is also a challenge that needs to be tackled at local level to give victims the means to leave their violent partners.

The work of the International Observatory is a tool for linking all these initiatives. It provides a space for the emergence of a collective of local governments with a range of solutions and for relaying common demands to international bodies. The laboratory organised by UCLG helped to raise the profile of the work of the Seine-Saint-Denis department among Ibero-American elected representatives and to publicise the global network project. The discussions provided an opportunity to outline avenues for advocacy with the help of UN experts.

The International Observatory on Violence against Women also met with the Director of the Department for the Elimination of Violence against Women of the City of Bogotá, and the cooperation officer of the French Embassy.