Chile to have comprehensive violence against women law
The new law establishes guidelines to address violence in its different expressions, and the duties of the State in this area.
Great news was announced by authorities in the run-up to 8M. Chile will finally have a Comprehensive Violence against Women Law.
Congress unanimously agreed the comprehensive law to prevent, punish and eradicate gender violence. The law establishes the bases and guidelines to address violence against women in its different expression, and the duties of the State in this area.
This law has been a priority for the current government. It was presented by Chile’s Women and Gender Equity Minister in 2017.
“We women have always picked up where those before us left off. And if our grandmothers could be among the first to enter formal paid work, if women recovered democracy, if we could have the first laws on domestic violence, femicide and the creation of the Women Ministry, today we have also taken a new step for the following generations, to have a comprehensive law against violence,” stated Women and Gender Equity Minister Antonia Orellana.
Scope of the new Comprehensive Law to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Gender Violence
This new law establishes a regulatory framework to address the prevention, punishment and eradication of gender violence against women. It establishes the bases and guidelines of this approach, as well as the duties of state bodies in this area, in accordance with the commitments of the Belém do Pará Convention, an international instrument signed and ratified by Chile in 1996.
Among other aspects, once enacted, the law will improve the oversight of precautionary measures and establish a judicial supervision mechanism to guarantee compliance and relevance. It also extends precautionary measures against crimes and attacks that occur outside of filial, emotional or cohabitation relationships. Until now, immediate precautionary measures could only be decreed in cases of domestic violence.
Furthermore, the law will strengthen the role of legal representation by the National Women’s Service (SernamEG) in cases of femicide or femicide suicide; guarantee free legal assistance and representation to victims of gender violence; include children as victims of the violence experienced by their mothers or caregivers, not only witnesses; and provide a comprehensive case management system, so that all organizations working on the prevention, care and reparation of violence against women have the same information and can intervene and coordinate efficiently, avoiding re-victimization.
This law defines the concept of gender violence and its different expressions, such as physical, psychological, sexual, economic and gynecological-obstetric violence. Using a preventive approach, the goal is to promote the development and implementation of plans, programs and protocols for prevention.
Fundamental is that this initiative establishes the duties of state bodies in the areas of prevention, investigation, protection, punishment and reparation of violence against women. It mandates that they act with due diligence, which implies that they investigate and prosecute acts of gender violence, as appropriate, and adopt timely, suitable and exhaustive measures to guarantee access to justice, thus avoiding the filing of cases.
Another fundamental change is that it stipulates that the mitigating circumstance of having acted out of impulse or tenacious obfuscation cannot be applied.