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Latin America in dialogue on addressing violence against women |
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Representatives from ten different Latin American countries met in Santiago de Chile to exchange experiences and discuss policy frameworks on how to respond to violence against women. UN-INSTRAW highlighted the international normative frameworks and regional enforcement mechanisms during the conference.
At the conference, 180 participants from all over Latin America heard presentations on the legislation of over ten South American countries. In addition, a constructive dialogue between security sector actors such as the police and legal workers, civil society and governmental representatives was initiated and used to identify gaps and opportunities. The focus of these discussions was to increase collaboration between the different actors, to create monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and to identify a more suitable response to delicate issues concerning violence against women.
The conference was held from 16 to 18 June 2009 by the Chile National Service for Women (Servicio Nacional de la Mujer en Chile) with the support of the Swiss government, the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and Wallonia-Bruxeles International.
Together with national and Swiss authorities, Minister Laura Albornoz opened the event emphasizing the need to make hidden patterns of violence more visible and encouraged participants to work on productive and fruitful dialogues. UN-INSTRAW was invited as a UN representative to highlight the international normative framework and regional enforcement mechanisms surrounding violence against women in the Region.
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