Call to curb violence against women

A Nicaraguan bishop has called on the Government and society to join forces to put an end to the high female murder rate, writes Isabel de Bertodano.

In the first three months of this year, 46 women were killed by men, most by their partner or husband. “It is a question of education and we all must take responsibility – Government, women’s organisations, the Church,” said Bishop Rolando Alvarez of Matagalpa.

The murder figures follow an alarming trend, with 72 women murdered last year and 85 in 2012, with the aggressor rarely punished. Last year a law known as Ley 779 was passed to punish violence against women with a jail sentence of up to 30 years .

At the time the Church strongly objected to the measure, saying it would adversely affect families. “We have said repeatedly that the mark of the Devil is no longer 666,” said Bishop Abelardo Mata Guevara of the Diocese of Estelí. “It is now 779 because this law is destroying families.
How many times have people who accused a husband, uncle or cousin out of anger or revenge, once the storm had passed,  decided to drop the case?”

Last week, Bishop Álvarez said that the Church’s role is “to educate and promote the dignity of women, which we see trampled on so often”.