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Writer's pictureThrive
Jun 22, 20213 min read

Venezuela

Population size: 

28,515,829 (2019). [1]

Number of people experiencing domestic abuse each year:

In 2005, Amnesty international, recorded that 36,777 women reported abuse by partners or former partners to NGOs. This was an average of one woman every 15 minutes. [2] No research on male victims or other gender identities.

Cost of domestic abuse to the economy each year:

No research.

Estimated % change due to COVID-19:

Save the Children reported a 33% increase in demand for support for gender-based violence between March and May, with cases of sexual assault against children and psychological and physical violence against women by their partners. An increase of almost 80% in calls to their helplines and 62% in psychological first aid consultations reflect the situation that Venezuelan families are experiencing. [3]


Current law and policy:

Venezuela ratified the Convention of Belém do Pará in 2007. Just after this, Venezuela passed a Law on the Right of Women to a Life Free of Violence. This defines 21 forms of violence against women including psychological violence and media violence. In 2014, this law was reformed to include femicide and penalties of 25 to 30 years in prison. Domestic violence is specifically criminalised. The law punished perpetrators with penalties ranging from 6 to 27 months in prison. The law lists 13 measures for protection and security of the victim. This includes temporary shelter, removing the perpetrator from the home, limiting how close a perpetrator can get to a victim, establishing a women’s bureaus at local police headquarters and tribunals specialising in gender-based violence. It does appear that the law has been accompanied by a fairly active state policy of implementation. [4]


In Venezuela, Article 15 of the Law for Women’s Right to a Life without Violence defines female homicide in similar terms as those of the UN, yet the country suffers increasing numbers each year of women, who lost their lives due to domestic violence. The Fundamental Law on the Right of Women to Live Free of Violence of 2007, which describes 19 forms of violence against women was designed to combat it, yet domestic violence and rape in Venezuela remain common and are rarely punished in practice. The Venezuelan Observatory of Women's Human Rights, an umbrella organization for more than 40 women's organizations, makes reference to an increase in violence against women but acknowledges that official statistics on the incidence of domestic violence in Venezuela do not exist. Amnesty International reported in 2009 that there continued to be a "gap" between the provisions of them and the actual implementation of protection of women, and stated that "women fleeing domestic violence are still denied proper protection, as well as the rights to justice and reparation" . The government in Venezuela in 2010 has initiated public awareness campaigns and a national hotline for victims, according to Country Reports 2010. Unfortunately, as the complex humanitarian emergency intensifies, hyperinflation, unemployment, migration and shortages directly impact violence in families and couples. In 2011, a research coordinator at the Women's Studies Centreindicated that there were approximately 150,000 complaints of violence against women, of which approximately 80 percent are considered to pertain to domestic violence, and each following year there has been an increase of the number. [5]


Frontline Services:

 

Sources


[1] The World Bank, (1).


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