Whisper from the victims

Voices of Denunciation

Rodrigo JimĂŠnez Sandoval Author

Susan Benner Translator, Spanish to English

Voices of Denunciation

Introducing the book

Women who turn to the legal system for justice must confront not only the harm they have suffered, but also a secondary victimization.

Such victimization can take on multiple manifestations and spring from different forms, but they all cause additional harm to the victims, at times even worse than the harm caused by the original crime.

The systems for the administration of justice in the region have developed a series of initiatives to avoid the secondary victimization of women who have suffered gender-based violence They have enacted laws designed to guarantee a life free of violence for women, they have created specialized courts to deal with violence against women, they have developed protocols for the care of victims, rules that guarantee the rights of victims, systems for the comprehensive care of victims, policies for equality in accessing justice, and departments of gender issues, among others.

La FundaciĂłn Justicia y GĂŠnero (The Justice and Gender Foundation) and institutions from the justice sector, with the help of OXFAM, have participated in the design and execution of the Campaign for the Prevention of Gender Violence in El Salvador and Guatemala.

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Introducing the book

This document has been prepared with the input of prosecutors and judges from Guatemala and El Salvador who have contributed more than seventy cases of judicial resolutions.

We’ve chosen ten as a base for our analysis, to all we offer our profound gratitude.

The goal of this audio document is to raise awareness among providers in the justice system and those who use their services about the weaknesses that linger in the system, and the obligations of its officials, as well as factors to keep in mind in order to determine or demand one’s rights from a gender perspective.

The project includes a written section and an audio portion to facilitate achieving these goals. The audio portion can be used in radio broadcasts to help raise awareness in society as a whole about the obstacles confronted by women who have been victims of violence.

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Contents

Equality and nondiscrimination as a legal foundation . . .

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Impartiality: eliminating gender roles and stereotypes in criminal investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Assessment of power relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Recommendations to avoid re-victimization during investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Obligations to comply with due diligence . . . . . . . . . . . .

Whisper from the Victims .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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1- Equality and nondiscrimination as a legal foundation

The principle of equality is the organizing principle of human rights for women and populations at risk for reasons of age, ethnicity, sexual diversity, disability, migrant conditions, and economic condition, among others.

This is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 1, which establishes that: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.�

As a principle, this serves diverse functions; first, it can be enforced by the judicial system. It questions, changes, or maintains social realities, and justifies the existence or creation of diverse judicial norms.

The International Code of Human Rights is based on the principle of non-discrimination, reiterated in various documents such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons, and 9

1- Equality and nondiscrimination ...

the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169), among others.

This regulatory development establishes the principle of equality in the judicial hierarchy as being above governmental criminal regulations such as the penal code or criminal procedures.

It is important to have a correct interpretation of the principle of discrimination in order to then apply it to that of equality.

Discrimination is based on two concepts: i) treating differences as if they were the same, and ii) treating those that are the same differently.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women defines discrimination in article 1: “For the purposes of the present Convention, the term ‘discrimination against women’ shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.”

We should note in this definition the following key aspects: i. The legal meaning of discrimination is defined and should be applied by all those in the justice system. ii. It establishes that both the intent and the results of inequality are discriminatory and should be sanctioned. iii. It breaks with an androcentric idea of equality and establishes a substantive equality based on differences.

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This means that the formal equality recognized in regulatory documents is not enough, and that instead we must ensure real and substantive equality.

Substantive equality is based on the idea of equal treatment for what is equal, and different treatment when such treatment is necessary to ensure equality.

This differentiated treatment should be based on objective, reasonable, and justifiable objectives in order to avoid having it turn into a privileged position.

According to international law, non-discrimination and equal treatment are equivalent, that is to say that equality of people includes two concepts. The first looks at the principle of non-discrimination as a negative aspect of equality in the sense that it prohibits differences that cannot be justified by reasonable and objective criteria. The second is the principle of protection, which is developed through special measures aimed at achieving real or positive equality.

This brings us to the concept of intersectionality, an indispensible criteria for interpreting the principles of equality and human rights, and for the analysis of reality. This concept of intersectionality has a documentary application from the view of the comprehensiveness of human rights, and raises the issue of double and triple discriminations.

From this consubstantial concept of equality and nondiscrimination we can better examine the concept of woman (as a unique paradigm), as it shatters the binary frameworks and takes us deeper into the idea of diverse identities for reasons of age, ethnicity, sexual diversity, or disability, among others.

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1- Equality and nondiscrimination ...

It is interesting to reflect on the re-conceptualization of woman-as-person and the importance of not falling into the mistake of creating the archetypical woman, the consequence of which would be to make invisible the diversity of women.

Recommendation #28 of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) introduces and develops the judicial category of intersectionality.

They present it as a basic concept for understanding the scope of the general obligations governments must take into account, and emphasize that discrimination against women for reasons of sex or gender are intricately connected to other factors that effect women, such as race, ethnic origin, religion or belief systems, health, socio-economic status, age, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Women who are victims of gender violence are not exempt from discrimination in the judicial process. The women in “Whisper� are discriminated against for being women, as is most evident in the case of Flor. If we consider intersectionality, Mariana, Guadalupe and Sandra are discriminated against due to their age, and Esther due to disability, among other issues.

Questions:

Listen to the testimonies in Whisper from the Victims, and explain: i. In what ways is Flor discriminated against? ii. How is intersectionality manifested in the cases of Mariana and Ester? iii. How would you recommend that the principles of equality and non-discrimination be applied in assessing the facts in a case of violence against women?

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2- Impartiality: eliminating gender roles and stereotypes in criminal investigation

The direction a criminal investigation takes hinges on an evaluation of previous understandings obtained through experiences and the life history of the person carrying out the investigation.

Many of these understandings have been acquired through a process of patriarchal socialization and are applied in judicial practice. They generally follow a syllogistic schema that values the establishment of facts and judicial precepts.

The search for legal truth is based on three inferences: i) a deductive process that looks for the affirmation of a fact or event and a body of laws for establishing that the actions were committed by a particular person. ii) an inductive process based in evidentiary activity in order to establish that the actions did in fact take place. iii) the practical syllogism that combines the other two approaches, incorporating the normative, dispositive piece with the concrete facts that must be assessed.

These three inferences imply a degree of freedom of choice on the part of the person directing the criminal investigation as well as a degree of discretionary power that they exercise over the analysis.

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2- Impartiality: eliminating gender ...

In order to reduce doubts and the power of the person directing the criminal investigation for fear of possible biases due to patriarchal socialization, we need to have tools to identify the prejudices and stereotypes that can contaminate the analysis of the facts.

Thus it is necessary to reduce this doubt and consequently the degree of power of the person directing the investigation.

One basic step is to identify the diverse identities associated with gender, age, ethnicity, disability, and sexual diversity, among others.

This facilitates: i) identifying roles, stereotypes, and prejudices acquired in the process of patriarchal socialization. ii) questioning whether the evaluation of the facts has been contaminated by socialization in order to then evaluate the facts in more objective ways, taking into consideration the differences that stem from identities due to social constructions and biological conditions.

Patriarchal socialization creates false categories based on social assumptions that start with a patriarchal paradigm and are aimed at strengthening relationships of power and domination over those who are not part of this paradigm.

These false categories are the roles, stereotypes, and myths aimed at pigeonholing people and maintaining the power relationships of the patriarchal system.

This is how this kind of construction goes about creating a series of stereotypes: i. The idea of the “virtuous woman� is connected to her sexual history, over-emphasizing virginity, fidelity, 14

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modesty, and submissiveness, among others, and this influences those who carry out the criminal investigation to determine guilt, innocence, and mitigating factors of an action. ii. Woman as mother, one who is devoted to her children and puts their needs above her own. iii. Woman as wife, whose highest priority is being attentive to and serving her husband. iv. The provocative woman whose behavior or actions elicit criminal behavior, and she is the responsible party or the one at fault. v. The weak/passive woman who has no agency to act. vi. The crazy, irrational woman whose state of psychosis doesn’t allow her to act rationally. vii. The vengeful and deceitful woman who manipulates the justice system for her own benefit with the intent of exacting vengeance or of gaining privileges.

In terms of men, the patriarchal system has created prejudices, roles, and stereotypes that benefit the patriarchal paradigm: i. The violent man who cannot control his aggression, as it is an innate part of his nature. ii. The valiant man who risks his life without taking into consideration the consequences of his actions. iii. The domineering man who exerts his dominion over others whom he encounters in his world. iv. The strong man whose strength is part of his nature and beyond his control. v. The sexual man who cannot control his sexual impulses.

For these reasons, criminal investigations should keep these roles, stereotypes, and prejudices in mind when evaluating facts so as to avoid discriminatory biases and distortions 15

2- Impartiality: eliminating gender ...

of reality. What is needed is an evaluation of the facts that springs from the principle of equality, taking into account biological differences due to sex, age, disability, and sexual diversity, among others.

The evaluation of evidence needs to start from the premises described in the previous paragraphs as a process intertwined with the evaluation of the facts and events. It implies the application of both inductive and deductive mechanisms of the evaluation of the facts and events.

Two models of evaluating the evidence have been developed: i) a mathematical one based on mathematical methods or instruments for evaluating the evidence, and ii) schemas of verification between claims and proofs, verifying each claim one by one. Both models look for mathematical probability and inductive probability or logic.

But these evaluations can be swayed by patriarchal roles, stereotypes, and prejudices.

For this reason, we need to turn to certain criteria for evaluating: a. what is irrefutable in the evidence being evaluated, which is reaffirmed in processing the contradictions between the prosecutor and the defense attorney. b. whether the existence of a causal or logical nexus between the hypothesis presented and the evidence is the reason for accepting the hypothesis.

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Questions:

Looking at the examples from Whisper from the Victims: i. What roles, prejudices and stereotypes can you see in the stories being narrated? ii. How was the evaluation of the evidence contaminated by these roles, prejudices and stereotypes? iii. What impact did these roles, prejudices, and stereotypes, have on the final judicial outcome?

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3. Evaluation of power relationships

Power is the capacity to influence and impact other human beings and goes beyond the individual. It touches all social relationships and the bodies and souls of people.

Power is hierarchical and asymmetrical, establishing unequal relationships where force is used to control other human beings.

Power relationships are not always visible, and on occasion are naturalized in order to facilitate the exercise of power by those who hold it and the submission of those who resist.

The process of patriarchal socialization has been a fundamental tool within a human paradigm to facilitate the patriarchal power of men over women and those who don’t comply with the requirements established by the patriarchy.

This is how the system establishes three forms of control in order to exercise its power: Power to: based on the gender roles and stereotypes constructed by the process of patriarchal socialization where the potential to influence one’s own life is limited by the social mandate of complying with the established social roles and assigned stereotypes.

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3- Evaluation of power ...

Power of: the social conditioning that occurs with the use of power to limit the generation of ideas in relationships between genders where men generate all the ideas for determined matters in the public sphere, while women are allowed to generate ideas in the private sphere.

Power over: based on force, control, and strength, for which a series of social institutions are used, such as the military, the police, the couple relationship, family life, and employeremployee relationships. Physical force, weapons, and money are used, among others.

These uses of power granted by the system facilitate the oppression and submission of women by men where vulnerability springs from the environment that has conditioned the situation.

The construction of patriarchal masculinity insists that the exercise of this power be consistently evident and direct, and that not only should the patriarchy demonstrate its power, but that there should also be social pressure to do so, and that this is understood by all.

Questions:

i. How did the power of, power to, and power over influence the behavior of the victim? ii. Were power relationships evaluated in the criminal investigation and resolution of the cases? iii.

Did the lack of recognition of power relationships influence the resolution of cases?

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4- Recommendations to avoid re-victimization during investigations

International human rights laws and domestic legislation to support a life free of violence against women have established a list of rights that should be guaranteed for the victims of gender violence during the judicial process.

A basic requirement is to have personnel specialized in helping women, according to their age, disability, criminal history, immigration status, ethnicity, etc., who have been victims of violence.

Similarly, services for victims should be provided in a space that guarantees privacy, accessibility, and security.

One of the cornerstones of victims’ rights is obtaining justice, and this is guaranteed by having full access to one’s rights during the judicial process.

In the criminal investigation of cases of violence against women, rapid action by police in investigating the scene of the crime or place where the events occurred is required for proper collection of evidence and biological remnants, and the possibility of finding witnesses or other victims.

The handling of the evidence should follow all rules for the chain of evidence, using appropriate techniques so as not to alter or contaminate findings.

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4- Recommendations to avoid ...

The compilation of evidence should be aimed at proving who committed the criminal actions, and also at establishing what harm was done in order to provide appropriate redresss.

Protective measures in the case of gender violence are based on article 7 of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women.

Among the obligations established in article 7 is the obligation of governments to adopt legal measures that require the perpetrator to refrain from harassing, intimidating, or threatening the woman, or using any method that harms or endangers her life or integrity or damages her property.

These protective measures are classified into three areas: a. Security Measures: their objective is to avoid and halt domestic violence in any of its manifestations. b. Preventative Measures: measures that attempt to guarantee compliance with family responsibilities. c. Precautionary Measures: measures that seek to prevent the reoccurrence of domestic violence and to break the cycle in which the victim finds herself trapped.

During the public hearing, the victim has a series of rights, such as: 1) Not having to confront the perpetrator face-toface, including the use of a Gesell dome (a type of one-way mirror) or a screen, as well as the taking of evidence in advance of trial to ease the victims recovery from trauma. ii) The victim has the right to have the process of the criminal trial explained to her, and to visit the court installations and thus to prepare herself emotionally for the trial. iii) If necessary, the trial can be held in private in order to avoid secondary and tertiary victimization. iv) In the case of a victim who is a minor or who has a disability or other problem meriting such, 22

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she can be accompanied by an appropriate advocate during the debate. v) The psychological health of the victim and her fitness to testify at trial should be taken into account, and an inquisitional attitude or accusatory interrogations should not be permitted. The victim should not be subjected to an exaggerated emphasis on strict adherence to formalities and conventions nor to incomprehensible vocabulary, and the court should be patient with blockages or anxieties the victim experiences in the process of testifying.

After the judgment has been pronounced the victim should be notified if there is any modification to the sentence, and she should be guaranteed the right to have her opinion heard by the court. In the case of expected release of the perpetrator, the victim has the right to be granted protective measures from the person who caused the harm, such as not allowing the perpetrator to harass the victim, no contact orders, or that the perpetrator be required to move for the peace of mind of the victim or is prohibited from entering certain spaces of the victim, such as her neighborhood or city.

Questions:

i. In Whisper of the Victims, which rights of the victims were violated? ii. How did these violations of rights influence the criminal investigation? iii. How did these violations influence the decisions of the court?

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5 - Obligations to comply with due diligence

The obligation of the State to comply with due diligence is recognized in international documents such as the InterAmerican Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

These obligations are reinforced by the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, examples of which include the decisions in Velásquez Rodríguez vs Honduras, Campo Algodonero vs México, Veliz Franco vs. Guatemala, and María Pehna vs Brasil, where these States were convicted of failing to comply with due diligence.

In this last case, the Commission on Human Rights established: “... the duty of Governments to refrain from engaging in violence against women and to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women and to take appropriate and effective action concerning acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons, and to provide access to just and effective remedies and specialized assistance to victims;” 25

5- Obligations to comply...

The Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women has provided the following guidelines to measure compliance with due diligence: i. ratification of international human rights instruments; ii. constitutional guarantees on the equality of women; iii. the existence of national laws and administrative sanctions that issue adequate compensation to women victims of violence; iv. policies or plans of action that concentrate on the question of violence against women; v. making the criminal justice system and police more aware of gender issues; vi. access to and availability of support services; vii. the promotion of awareness and a modification of discriminatory policies in the sphere of education and the media; viii. the collection of data and publication of statistics on violence against women.

In a study carried out by the Justice and Gender Foundation (Fundación Justicia y GÊnero) in collaboration with women’s rights activists, several indications of compliance were found.

In terms of prevention: i) the development in both Guatemala and El Salvador of legal norms aimed at guaranteeing a life free of violence for women and that guarantee a fair process for avoiding impunity ii) interpretation and application of legal norms in agreement with human rights and a gender perspective.

Law schools in both countries have made important efforts to train providers across the board about a gender perspective and human rights for women iii) the provision of specialized services to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women. Both countries have specialized courts to judge cases of violence and programs to provide services to victims, and 26

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iv) public policies on equality that have been developed in public judicial institutions.

In terms of protection: i) when appropriate, provide means of protection without discrimination. ii) provide measures according to the situation and the risks to the victim. iii) monitor and carry out protective measures, and iv) provide protocols for the care of victims.

The investigation and trial involve: i) carrying out investigations mandated by the court ii) specialized institutions for investigating violence against women iii) punishment for providers of justice who obstruct or slow the investigation iv) inter-institutional coordination in investigatory processes v) allowing a judge’s taking of evidence in advance of a trial in cases of violence against women.

With respect to punishment and compensation: i) incorporate the perspectives of gender and the human rights of women in judicial resolutions ii) establish funds for compensation for women who have been victims of violence iii) provide comprehensive support services to victims in accordance with the harm they have experienced iv) provide mechanisms for compensation under the principles of restorative justice Questions:

i. How was the principle of due diligence violated in the stories of Lucia, Laura, and Rosario? ii. What impact did the violation of due diligence have on the lives of Lucia, Laura, and Rosario? iii. What should the public prosecutor do to guarantee due diligence in the judicial process?

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WHISPER FROM THE VICTIMS

Presentation

Women who are victims of violence not only have to confront the harm caused by their aggressor, but also that caused by the very system of criminal justice.

“Whisper from the Victims” (“Susurro de las Víctimas”) is based on rulings handed down from the justice system in Guatemala and El Salvador, in which fictitious victims narrate how they experience the judicial resolutions in their cases.

MARIBEL

My name is Maribel, I’m 14, and my daughter Lourdes is one.

They tell me I’m lucky now that Francisco asked me to marry him and we’re creating a family.

One afternoon I was watching butterflies when Francisco told me that you can see lots of butterflies down by the river. I always loved butterflies, and I followed him to see. But when 29

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we got there he tore off my clothes and kissed me and I felt a terrible burning in my vagina. I begged him not to touch me and I cried and cried. He threatened me and said if I told anyone he would kill my mother.

After what happened with Francisco I felt dirty and I cried all the time. My grades at school dropped, and my stomach started to get bigger. I wasn’t interested in butterflies anymore.

My teacher began to suspect that something had happened and she called the police. I had to tell them about what happened with Francisco.

I had to tell lots of people about what happened. Every time I talked about it I cried and cried and I didn’t understand anything about what was happening. Sometimes I felt really confused.

One day Francisco’s lawyer came to our house to talk to my mother, and they decided that the best thing would be for Francisco and me to get married. That way I would have a family for the baby that was on the way.

The judge released Francisco from jail, saying that that was the best for our family. I didn’t understand. What family?

And the judge said that it was a protection provided by the law called the constitution. Later I realized that the family the judge was talking about was Francisco, my daughter, and me.

Francisco gives me $30 every month for food and other things I need to buy. Sometimes he does to me what he did down by the river. I don’t cry anymore, but I don’t like it. Sometimes 30

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I start crying when I think about the butterflies. I read the paper that the judge gave me, and I still don’t understand what it says, and even less what he means by family. I could never love Francisco, like the minister says. I hate him and he makes me sick.

Commentary

We need to eradicate sexual violence against girls based on prejudices about when they are ready to have a family.

Ironically people talk about protecting the family. What family? One in which the husband is much older than the wife and holds power over her?

For this reason, we are fighting to eradicate laws that allow marriage between minors and adults.

MARIANA

It was around one o’clock in the morning when Pedro kicked and yanked me out of bed. I thought he was going to beat me up again. He started insulting me and telling me I was a whore. He started breaking things, even the dresser mirror in the bedroom.

Pedro was out of his mind. He beat me and made me kneel down and then he stuck a pistol against my head. I begged him not to shoot.

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My children, Cecilia who’s 12 and Arturo who’s 15, asked Pedro what was going on and he told them to go back to bed.

They put me in a bag, threw me in the back of a pick-up truck, and took me to the department of forensic medicine.

Pedro confessed that we had had a fight and that he shot me.

Lourdes, our housekeeper, stated at the trial that Pedro had been violent and abusive, and that that morning he’d said he was going to kill me.

My brother testified that Pedro wouldn’t let me visit my family, and the neighbors testified that they heard yelling and arguing.

The shot that killed me was to the head, and they found gunpowder on Pedro’s hand.

The forensic experts found I had bruises from the beatings Pedro gave me.

The media declared that I had been a bad wife and had cheated on Pablo and that I was depressed.

The judge determined that the confession Pedro made to the police was inadmissible, as was his statement to Lourdes that he had killed me. He said there was no evidence that Pedro hated me, and in fact that I enjoyed a good, economically solid life and even had my own car. He also disqualified the medical and ballistic evidence of the experts with incomprehensible arguments such as claiming that the crime scene had been contaminated, that there were serious errors that made it impossible to guarantee the chain of custody of the evidence, 32

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and that he had to take into consideration in dubio pro reo, that doubt favors the accused, since there were doubts that Pedro had killed me.

The prosecutor is appealing the sentence. I don’t know what happened—everyone is blaming everyone else for the mistakes made in the process.

I don’t even want to think about whether Andrés and Pilar believe what the media says or what the judge said about me.

I’m horrified that my children are living with my murderer.

Oh how I would have loved to see them grow up and graduate, and to know my own grandchildren. I’m sure they would want that, too.

Commentary

Central America is one of the regions with the highest number of women being murdered because they are women.

Violence against women has become naturalized and is allowed by society in general.

This has created the need to enact special laws and create courts specialized in dealing with violence against women.

These efforts have provided important gains, but there continue to be judges who interpret the facts through a sexist lens and who ignore the human rights of women.

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SANDRA

I’m 11, and it all happened when I was 4 years old.

I had to talk to a whole lot of people and tell them what my uncle Pepo did to me.

My aunts and uncles and grandparents don’t talk to my mom anymore because she told the police about my uncle Pepo.

They say she destroyed the family.

I remember how uncle Pepo touched and groped me. It didn’t feel good and I didn’t know what was happening.

On that day he pulled down my pants and stuck his penis between my legs when my mom came into the room.

My mother was so angry and she went to the police right away, and from then on I’ve had to tell a bunch of people what happened. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to talk about it, I don’t even know what to say anymore, they ask me so many questions and get me all confused.

I don’t like to talk about what happened, I feel dirty and I still wet the bed. I have a hard time concentrating and big men scare me.

Today my mom is sad. She says that the judge let Pepo go.

It seems the judge thinks that I’m a liar. He says I gave contradictory answers, that my mom didn’t see what she saw, and that the doctors who looked at me didn’t find any signs of any sexual attack. Even though the psychologists believed me, the judge didn’t.

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Mom doesn’t speak to the family anymore, we’re all alone and they call us liars.

I wish I’d never known my uncle Pepo. He took something away from me, I’m not sure just what, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get it back.

Commentary

Those who dispense justice sometimes don’t know how to interpret the situation when children are part of the judicial process.

Sometimes they are adult-centered, discrediting the opinions or testimony of children in court.

They don’t know how to make decisions based on the best interest of the child and don’t provide arguments based on the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

GUADALUPE

They call me the prick teaser thanks to the sentence given out by the judge. He said it was all my fault.

He said I went around dressed provocatively, but I just used to wear shorts. At home they said I had “developed early,” I was just 13, but I didn’t understand what they meant.

One afternoon Marco tricked me, and when we were alone, he started to grope me and then he raped me.

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Miss Julia at the health center found out that I had a disease, and she made me tell her about what Marco had done to me. She told me that since I was only 13, she had to report it to the police.

We went to the police and some other offices where I had to tell them what Marco did.

The neighbors said it was my fault because I wore sexy clothes and went out at night.

They said I was very pretty and that I was just looking for it.

Marco, on the other hand, they said was a good young man, very honest and hard-working.

They said I just accused him so he would pay me 100 dollars.

The whole town was there when the judge read his sentence, that’s why now they call me the prick teaser.

People don’t respect me, and they make fun of me and say I’m worthless.

I just want to grow up and get out of here, go somewhere where they won’t call me the prick teaser.

Commentary

The inclusion of a gender perspective in adjudication is an important undertaking for the administration of justice.

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However, there are still judges with serious sexist prejudices who interpret the facts through the traditional roles and stereotypes of a patriarchal system.

It is essential to continue efforts to teach the providers of the justice system about the human rights of women from a gender perspective, and for women and society in general to recognize women’s rights.

ESTHER

He was a man of God. Every Sunday he led the congregation, and he asked my sister if I could help him with cleaning the church.

One day after the service he cornered me there and ripped off my clothes and something horrible happened.

I was terrified. He was a man of God and everyone looked up to him, even my sister said that I was so lucky to be able to help him.

He made it a habit to take advantage of me all the time after the service. I cried and cried, and also prayed while he did what he wanted with my body.

He said it was God’s will and I believed him, but I don’t know why I cried all the time. That made my sister wonder what was wrong, and I told her everything.

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We went to the police, and that’s when all the shaming started.

Nobody believed me, they said I was lying because I wasn’t very smart.

They gave me the verdict and in one paragraph it says: “Depression, characterized by frequent crying, hopelessness, despair and anxiety, indications of emotional stress and shame, especially in relation to the case under investigation...Likewise, significant indications of immaturity, insecurity, instability, need for affection, and low self-esteem are noted, associated with various factors such as her age, sociocultural and familial context in which she has developed (SOCIOCULTURAL UNDERDEVELOPMENT),personality characteristics, and of course exposure to stressful situations in her life, all of which make the patient susceptible to being easily influenced and vulnerable to different types of abuse, as well as indications of MILD MENTAL IMPAIRMENT...”

That’s what the judge thinks, I don’t know why. Maybe because I’m not very smart, maybe because of that the pastor did what he wanted to me.

Commentary

Women who suffer from multiple discrimination have more difficulty in obtaining justice.

Providers of justice not only need to eradicate discrimination and violence against women, but also discrimination based 38

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on age, ethnicity, socioeconomic situations, and disability, among others.

The challenge is to interpret the facts free from discrimination and lay the foundation for laws within the intersectional theory of discrimination and human rights.

CARMEN

I’m 24 years old, and it all happened when I was 16. It’s been 8 very difficult years, making the rounds of the police, the public prosecutor, the forensic experts, and the courts.

Then when they read the decision, I thought, all that effort for this?

Years of fear, anger, disbelief and hope.

On that 23rd of August, Enrique offered to take me home. I didn’t think anything would happen.

But that experience changed my life, I lost my dreams, and instead became filled with fear and rage.

For the judge, the important thing was that they didn’t handle my underwear carefully enough, the test the psychologist used wasn’t appropriate for the assessment they wanted, and the psychiatrist’s report didn’t mention any legal document verifying my identity in his evaluation.

The doctor who examined me wasn’t very thorough; he didn’t do a biopsy of the hymenal tissue, he didn’t take any 39

Whisper from the victims

photographs nor video of the examination, nor did he do a vaginal exam.

The judge concluded that the presentation of the facts by the prosecutor’s office was inconsistent.

And me?

Nobody cares about what happened to me.

Commentary

The justice system can do more harm to victims who turn to it looking for help.

This is what is called secondary victimization, and due to this, the State recognizes that institutions of justice need to comply with the rights of victims.

Providers of justice need to recognize the rights of victims, and the system should make sure that victims know their rights and have the mechanisms for demanding them.

ROSARIO

I don’t understand why they released him.

The judge believes that I told the truth, that Asdrubal beat me.

I was sure they were going to send him to jail, but no.

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Voices of Denunciation

I need someone to explain all this. Apparently the public prosecutor should not have accused him of “continuous psychological abuse,” because they said the facts didn’t fit that charge.

I think they do. Asdrubal got it into his head that I should go back to him.

I’m afraid of him; he’s beaten and threatened me. One night I had to run away to my parents’ house with my daughters.

I told the judge that on various occasions he’s shown up at the house and tried to take me away by force.

The first time, he chased me around the house and tried to take me away by force, another time he threatened that he would kill me, and the last time he said he could get into my parents’ house whenever he wanted.

The judge believed me, but he let him go because he didn’t commit “continuous psychological abuse.”

He’s still free with no worries of being imprisoned.

I’m the one in a kind of prison; I’m terrified that at any moment he’ll show up at my parents’ house and threaten me or beat me.

Maybe I’m going to have to go back to him.

Commentary

The ideology of the guarantee of civil rights is a way of looking at, understanding, interpreting and explaining the law, that 41

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developed out of a distrust of power, under the premise that power carries the potential for abuse and that it is necessary to neutralize that power with a system of guarantees.

An exaggerated ideology of the guarantee of civil rights arises from an excess in applying these principles in protection of those charged, thus prejudicing the victims and causing revictimization.

Providers of justice need to be trained to apply guarantees of civil rights without going to excesses that can affect actual justice.

FLOR

It was just a quarrel, and it was justified because I had cheated on him, that’s what the sentence said.

He said he was my boyfriend and found my cell phone with a photo of me with another man. That caused the fight and the bruises that were verified by the forensic doctor and photographed by the police.

It wasn’t the first time he’d hit me and insulted me, but it was the first time he’d done it in the street.

He came up to me saying that he needed to talk to me and that I should go back to being his girlfriend. I said no.

He grabbed my sweatshirt to stop me, but I kept going so he grabbed me violently by the left arm and then hit me with the 42

Voices of Denunciation

palm of his hand and knocked me down. I got up right away and ran. I went to the police, where they took photos, and then to the public prosecutor to report him.

The defense claimed it was just a quarrel because I had cheated on him. At the hearing the judge thought that the prosecutor needed to do more investigation. But they had the photos, the expert testimony, and even Alberto’s declaration describing the fight.

They dismissed the case. But what other evidence did they need?

Commentary

Blaming women in order to excuse their aggressors for their behavior has been a constant in judicial proceedings.

A woman’s sexual history, her fidelity, and her fulfillment of roles established by the patriarchal system play into the decisions of some judges.

In repeated sentences, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has declared that these judgments violate the rights of women.

Women and providers of justice should not permit judges to engage in such practices.

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LAURA

He loves me, in his way.

We were coming back from a Christmas party at work. When he’s been drinking, he starts to get violent.

I told him he’d had enough to drink, and he got furious; he grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground. He started beating me, everything was hazy and I screamed and cried.

The police grabbed him in the act.

They arrested him and took me to the hospital. I had a broken nose and some other injuries, but nothing to worry about.

I love him; he asked me to forgive him, he said he gets crazy when he drinks. He swore it wouldn’t happen again and that he was determined to stop drinking.

His lawyer told me that I should testify that I’d broken my nose the day before in a fall and that we’d just had an argument, but that he didn’t beat me.

How could the judge believe me? The police and my coworkers had all seen him beat me, they’d taken photos, the hospital had treated my injuries.

But the judge believed me, and said that if there was any doubt, he had to side with the accused, and for the good of the family he let him go.

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He knows I don’t want him in jail. I just don’t want him to hit me anymore.

Commentary

A lack of understanding of and a misguided approach to the cycle of violence against women creates impunity and more violence.

The administration of justice must recognize the importance of working with interdisciplinary teams that help to develop sentencing from a gender perspective.

Victims need to seek help and the State needs to provide support in order to break this cycle so that women can live a life free of violence.

LUCIA

During school vacation I had found a temporary job at a store downtown.

He showed up one day shortly before closing time. He wanted to buy a shirt; I showed him several and he said he’d wait for me after I closed up.

We went out for a few months, but he got angry when he heard I’d gone out dancing with some of my girl friends.

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He forced me into his car. He was furious and he drove out to a remote spot. There he assaulted me, he beat me, stabbed me, and put a plastic bag over my head.

He hit me really hard in the head and I started to vomit.

I begged him not to kill me, and then I realized I was no longer breathing.

My mother was really worried. She told the police I was missing, but they said they had to wait 24 hours before they could do anything.

Months went by, and then an anonymous call came that they had found remains of a body. Yes, it was me.

When the police arrived, they contaminated the scene and they didn’t comply with the rules for the chain for evidence. A lot was lost.

The reports of the ocular exam and of the removal of the body were incomplete and contradictory.

The police were busy investigating my sex life and trying to establish that I was a woman with a wild night life who drank and went with a bunch of men at the same time.

No one knew which court should try my case; one claimed it wasn’t within their jurisdiction, and the other said it wasn’t within their legal power.

The authorities did not investigate whether I had been raped; they didn’t look for semen.

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The police received another anonymous call, a woman who said she had seen someone in a car dumping my body, and that she knew where the car was. But it took the police a year and a half to follow up.

Three years later they looked into the calls that I had made.

The investigation and the processing took years and years, and the clues faded as I sank into oblivion.

They never knew what happened, but my case was taken to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and they denounced the state for their lack of due diligence.

My murderer is still free.

The state should fulfill their duties to assure that institutions meet their obligations.

I hope they will be more efficient and that they don’t forget how they bungled my murder.

Commentary

International tools for the protection of human rights such as the sentences handed down by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognize complying with due diligence as obligations of countries in order to prevent, detect, tend to, sanction, and redress violence against women.

Those who use the courts have the right to report when they are victimized by these services.

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