Thank you very much.
[Witness spoke in Spanish, interpreted as follows:]
Thank you very much, members of the committee and Madam Chair.
I'd like to explain my life path, how I came to be a member of the legislative assembly of Bolivia and how I have defended women's rights, specifically with regard to sexual and reproductive rights. That's where I started, and then I broadened the scope of my activities. I will explain.
In Latin American, and specifically in Bolivia, we have to recognize that the structure of society is not neutral. It really is a masculine enclave. There is patriarchy that comes with masculine values, and that is throughout society.
There are levels of violence that are the highest in the region, and this we can see on a daily basis. Women are under attack. They are assaulted. They are subject to violence in the home. These are all part of the structural problems we have in our society. This happens in the public sphere, as well, when women start to exercise their political rights, not only by voting but also by representing others.
There have been a number of examples of progress when it comes to women's rights in Bolivia. These began with the vote for women in 1952. Then there was a quota law in the nineties for political participation. Then in 2009, there was a recognition in the country's constitution of women's equality. There has been a great deal of participation by women activists to achieve this, and there is also an effort within the government to achieve the same number of women and men within the institutions of government.
I think the patriarchal structure still remains in one place, and that is where.... We are talking about the president and the vice-president, because there is no requirement there for gender parity. But there is a bill that we would like to present to solve this problem.
The progress with regard to effective participation by women has made it possible for us to be at almost 54% women in the legislative assembly. I have seen this. I have worked toward it, as well. What I've seen in the last few years with regard to gender parity is that only 25% of women in the legislative assembly actually get to make decisions. What I mean is that they are not the chairs of committees; they do not have the positions that would enable them to make decisions; they are relegated to secondary status. There are no women who are leaders of a political party nationally, either.
Given this political participation by women and its characteristics, as well as the violence against women in the private sphere and in the public sphere, there was a bill that was adopted in 2013 that came from the murder of a municipal representative in one of the provinces of Bolivia, in Oruro. It was the result of the pressure on her by the patriarchy.
The bill adopted in 2013 was there to regulate political harassment against women. It's a very detailed bill. It explains what harassment is and what violence is in that context, as well. But there is a problem with the enforcement of that detailed bill.
In the national assembly there was a study carried out by an NGO that showed that 75% of the women in the legislative assembly have suffered from political harassment or violence. But when you look at how many times this has been revealed or spoken about by women, from 2016 to 2018 there have only been 95 denunciations. That doesn't mean there are no cases of harassment. What it means is that women are under pressure not to make any kinds of accusations with regard to political harassment or violence, given the nuances of belonging to a given gender or to a given party.
It's also a reflection of the way the judicial body in our country works, because when it comes to violence against women—and that is in both spheres, private and public, not just political—it's very rare to have a sentence applied to someone who is accused of violence against women, and it can take five to six years to even get a ruling even in a case of the murder of a woman.
There was a woman police officer, a sergeant, who was attacked by her husband, who was also a police officer, and the police, the system, was not supportive of that woman. They did not take disciplinary measures against the police officer who committed the assault against his wife. That gives you an idea of the hope that women have when they accuse someone of violence, be it domestic violence or gender violence generally.
We can see in the political sphere as well that things are not changing. There have been no sentences handed down—only one, in fact—with regard to political harassment and violence. So it is very unlikely for women to accuse anyone of that crime under that legislation. That also has to do with the corruption within the system that, in fact, minimizes the victim and does not protect the victim as it should.
This has led to a number of laws, including Law 348, which is the one that applies to gender-based violence and domestic violence, and Law 243 on political violence and harassment. They ended up being very well-intentioned laws, but lack coercive power, so they cannot be correctly enforced by the judicial branch. And this happens systematically. I have been a victim of political harassment and violence and have been unable to be heard by an impartial body that acts rapidly enough to address my case. Therefore, all of these bills that are drafted relating to women and that meet certain demands, even international demands, end up as dead letters on paper without enforcement.
Talking about those of us—men and women—who defend sexual and reproductive rights, this remains a taboo subject in our society, and within the state apparatus itself it is made invisible. The education ministry, for example, forbids NGOs from working in schools on these issues without prior authorization from the education ministry, and that authorization is never granted. It ends up being an obstacle that prevents one of the most important measures for reducing the very large number of clandestine abortions in Bolivia.
Also related to sexual and reproductive rights, the state has not been able to offer guarantees, nor change the law, to guarantee safe abortions for women.
Having said all this, I think it's very important in the future to think about networks to make more visible matters such as sexual and reproductive rights in Latin American countries that still hold on to these taboos and prejudices. On the other hand, we must also advocate for greater education at every level.
I also think it's very important to receive international support from various countries to make sure that these laws don't simply remain unenforced and without the coercive power to be able to transform a situation that is very concerning in Bolivia.