BUDGETS ARE LACKING

On March 7, 2018, Casa de la Mujer, affiliated with the Coordinadora de la Mujer, and institutions working for women's rights in Santa Cruz joined their voices and demanded sufficient budgets to address gender violence and efficiency in their implementation.

Under the slogans “Budgets against violence, now!” and “We want to live,” around one hundred women and some men who joined the cause gathered. The meeting took place at 7 a.m. at the Women's Center, where the caravan began to demand compliance with Law 348, through budgets that allow real access for victims and women in general to their rights and to justice.

The caravan began its journey and the first point of arrival was the Santa Cruz de la Sierra Police Command, where the protesters asked to speak with the highest authority of the olive green institution.

Receiving no response or attention, they decided to block the road to ask for the support of drivers and publicize their demands. In response, police officers intervened to stop the protest, prohibiting the temporary stoppage of traffic. During the ensuing argument, one of the protesters shouted, “Sexist police!”

Afterwards, the caravan headed downtown, toured Plaza 24 de Septiembre with its slogans, handed out posters to passersby, and concluded the event with a press conference in the Governor's Press Room, where several media outlets covered the speeches of spokeswomen such as Silvana Vásquez, activist and promoter of public policy against violence; Lida Lozano from the Gender Directorate; Leslie Cedeño, lawyer from Casa de la Mujer; and José Carlos Soruco Barbey, from the Departmental Legislative Assembly, also spoke.

The figures cry out for budgets.

Recent data highlight the urgency of addressing this social problem:

In Bolivia, a woman dies every three days as a victim of gender-based violence. Every day, 13 women of all ages are victims of sexual crimes. These cases represent the highest percentage of crimes, accounting for 15% of a total of 30,351 reported cases, according to data from the Public Prosecutor's Office in 2017.

In the specific case of Santa Cruz, the Public Prosecutor's Office registered 6,654 complaints under Law No. 348 in this department during the past year, including 16 femicides and 1,302 sexual offenses. This department has the highest rate of such crimes nationwide.

Despite the figures, the budgets allocated by departmental governments to gender equality and the fight against violence against women do not exceed 1.2% (at best) of their total budget allocation.

In the case of Santa Cruz, for example, the Aggregate Budget of Activities and Investment Projects by Expenditure Programs (Ministry of Economy, 2018) is Bs 5,671,421,030 (the largest budget compared to other departments), of which 0.60% is allocated to the expenditure item "Promotion and policies for vulnerable groups and women".

This still insufficient allocation is compounded by the low levels of budget execution. In the case of Santa Cruz, the Governor's budget for combating gender-based violence in 2016 was Bs 8,923,426, with an execution rate of only 24.42%, according to data collected by the Gregoria Apaza Women's Promotion Center of the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance.

“The budget is a fundamental indicator of political will and interest in a given issue. If our authorities consider the issue of violence a priority, this should be reflected in the budgets. And that hasn't happened,” stated Fabiola Rojas, project manager at Casa de la Mujer.

“We have taken significant steps in terms of regulations against violence, but these advances must be accompanied by policies that have sufficient and efficient budgets to ensure that women can truly live a life free from violence,” the spokeswomen of the caravan stated.

This initiative to monitor the exercise of women's rights in Bolivia has the support of International IDEA and the Embassy of Sweden.