“We are not anyone’s victims”: first lady’s statements on violence against women cause a stir in Ecuador

The statements of the first lady of Ecuador, María de Lourdes Alcívar, in an event on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in which she rejected the idea that women are victims, and said that she withdraws when she sees her husband “changed”, Have caused controversy.

The wife of the Ecuadorian president, Guillermo Lasso, spoke today at the campaign launch event “From outrage to action”, promoted by the Government to make sexist violence visible, and it went off script when trying to express with its words its ideas about what women should do to face this social scourge.

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“Many times we have the desire to think that nobody understands us, we become victims and it is terrible. No, women, we are not victims of anyone, only of ourselves if we let ourselves ”, and added: “If we do not make ourselves respect, nothing will change”, he said in his speech.

He also addressed the women and girls when he recalled that when he was between 9 and 10 years old his mother used to tell him “Watch out, that man, no matter how uncle he is, watch out, that man who came” before asking the minors “No flattery” to warn the “little girls who take care of themselves as little girls”.

In just three hours since that event took place in Tweeter, the trend in Ecuador is First Lady with more than 4,000 tweets, mostly outrage precisely because institutions and NGOs have reported that 196 women have registered so far in 2021 victims in violent circumstances, the highest number since femicide was criminalized in the country in 2014.

“No women, we are not victims of anyone, only of ourselves.” To the girls: “No flattery” with men. “We finally have the First Lady,” they said in May 2021, “says a trill on the social network.

Another user rated as “Terrible the speech of the first lady @MLAlcivar. How many women does it incite to shut up and “fix” problems indoors, exposed to being attacked in a psychological, physical way and even being murdered ”.

Alcívar also referred to situations of marital disagreement when declaring: “If in your home you have a husband who suddenly raises his voice, he (sic) goes out of his mind, or yourself, God wants you to have someone by your side who does not, because if two do not fight, they do not those circumstances, believe me ”.

“We at home try that, if Guillermo is a little upset, I prefer to go to the right”, said the first lady.

According to the portal Femicidios.ec, which is managed by the Council of the Judiciary, between January 1 and November 7, 2021, a total of 196 women died violently in the country, and 175 crimes related to these were reported. cases.

These data represent an increase of 19% with respect to the registry for all of 2020, and of 32% in relation to the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

The official historical records of femicides in the country that began seven years ago show a total of 1,263 women murdered in the 24 provinces of the country.

Ecuador is one of the countries with the highest normalization of violence against women in the region, and is among the first in child (under 14 years) and adolescent pregnancy, according to UN Women.

Violence against women and girls is a serious violation of human rights and the right of women to live without violence is enshrined in international agreements. Worldwide, only 40% of women seek help after suffering violence, forcing institutions to promote prevention and aid policies.

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Deshawn