Like being at home

The more I wish that being at home would lead me to a state of stillness, the more I long to be outside, to go out into the streets, to watch the people passing by in silence and to hug the hundreds of people who, with a lost look, wander between the dream of getting their "daily bread" and the nightmare of returning home empty-handed: "closed until the pandemic is over"

What do ordinary people know about pandemics? Granted, actions aimed at explaining the disease and when it becomes a pandemic are necessary, but beyond the information and very close to us, there is the life of people, with their basic needs unmet, struggling between buying a mask, a kilo of rice, or some bread. Never before have we seen how diseases are linked to socio-economic conditions, to inequalities based on gender; the quarantine has exposed the oppressions that condemn women, with 3 femicides so far during the lockdown.

Although some support mechanisms have been put in place, nothing frees a woman from violence. Arriving at the scene to protect the person reporting the abuse and to apply the sanction that the law stipulates for the aggressor takes time, moments in which women only think about their children, they sense that with their silence they will mitigate the fury of their tormentors and they give up on reporting, placing themselves in a high-risk zone.

Amid this chaos of insecurity for women, some institutions, defying the 24/7 stay-at-home order, are offering a helping hand to women living amidst violence. Casa de la Mujer, operating under disadvantaged conditions with a small team of professionals and limited equipment, is striving for effective results and committed to providing comprehensive protection for victims of gender-based violence. While coordinating with other state institutions, these efforts are insufficient to safeguard the lives of adolescent girls and women; much more than a declaration or good intentions is needed.

Just as rigorous measures are being enacted against the coronavirus, comprehensive protection measures must also be enacted for the victims of sexism and for the reparation of damages caused to women who suffer sexist violence. Equipment and transport are needed to assist, comfort, and save the lives of women and girls, in addition to rigorous sanctions for those who refuse to comply with the law and provide the required humanitarian aid.

Women's Center