WUNRN
PERU - COMMUNITY DEFENDERS HELP
VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
By Annie Thériault*
CUZCO, Peru, Jun 8, 2011 (IPS) - Where is the justice? In
Peru, a nation still struggling to recover from a sordid 20-year cycle of
terror and political uncertainty, this simple yet poignant question has become
an almost daily litany.
And for victims of intra-familiar violence - or every third
woman in Peru - it has translated into a cry of despair. Countless are those
who continue to be failed by a legal system plagued by inefficiency and delay,
and permeated by machismo and discrimination.
But twelve years ago, dozens of women from Cuzco's
overcrowded outskirts and rural highland communities decided to turn their
indignation into action. Trained and empowered as Community Defenders (CD) by
the Legal Defence Institute (IDL), they have learned how to help victims of
intra-familiar violence by providing non-judgmental emotional support, as well
as court orientation and accompaniment.
Planting seeds of change
Cuzco, the heart of the ancient Inca empire and the gateway
to Machu Picchu, draws in millions of fascinated visitors. But most travellers
are blind to the poverty and violence that lie beneath the Andean city's
capital-of-culture mask.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a
staggering 69 percent of women in Cuzco, a region where poverty and extreme
poverty continue to undermine health, education and development, have suffered
physical or sexual violence, or both. And 23 percent of adolescent girls 15 or
younger have suffered sexual violence.
The IDL project, which aims to halt the intergenerational
reproduction of violence, operates with an innovative and simple methodology:
working from the community, for the community. Because they are directly
involved and concerned, community members have become active participants and
stakeholders in their future, rather than passive beneficiaries.
"I feel respected and empowered to make a difference.
For the first time in my life, I have felt like a protagonist, like an agent of
change," said Guadalupe Cuba, a Community Defender - CD - who is in
her fifties.
Since 1999, Community Defender teams, or units, have grown
from eight to 65, and the number of CDs from 40 to 450. Trained to understand
the cycle of domestic abuse, these volunteers have offered orientation and/or
accompaniment to more than 36,000 victims of intra-familiar violence; mainly
impoverished, Quechua-speaking girls and women aged 12 to 59, with little or no
schooling.
Bottlenecked justice
"I carry every victim's story in my heart and soul. I
remember every detail, ever tear, every bruise. I know what violence feels
like, and how it hurts. And sometimes, because of all the corruption and
impunity, I feel like taking justice into my own hands," said Community
Defender Gladys Allasí.
Peru's justice system lags far behind other social
institutions in correcting its deep sexist, cultural and racist biases. It is
not uncommon for judges to resist qualifying intra-familiar violence as a
serious crime, and the way a woman dresses, for example, is still routinely
cited as an incitement to rape.
"The majority of police officers still regard
intra-familiar violence as a domestic and private matter. They tend to
interrogate and verbally abuse victims, justifying the physical or sexual
aggression. Questions such as: 'What did you do to provoke him?' and 'What were
you wearing?' are far from uncommon," said Claudia Rosas, a lawyer with
the NGO Manuela Ramos.
Access to justice through the formal legal system is also
rendered difficult by the cost of legal representation, geographical isolation,
inclement weather, language and cultural barriers, illiteracy, corruption, and
the lack of adequate transport, especially in Peru's Andean highlands and
jungles.
According to a World Bank study, more than half of
intra-familiar justice cases never reach a judgment, while many more do not
even make it to court.
In the face of the state's shortcomings, many rural and
peri-urban communities have relied on community-based dispute-resolution
institutions, such as rondas campesinas ("peasant patrols") or
justices of the peace.
Compared to the often hostile, time-consuming and
ineffective official justice system, these institutions are considered easily
accessible, fast-moving and efficient. But the rondas, because they are based
on customary and/or ancestral law, tend to push for reconciliation and the
restoration of community relations at the expense of more vulnerable groups,
such as women.
In some cases, machismo is so deeply-rooted that even women
justify violence. "The more he hits you, the more he loves you", is a
popular saying in Peru. And it is also widely believed that women cannot be
raped by their husbands or partners.
"Many victims don't come forward, out of fear, or
shame. Some machista values are so entrenched that they keep women from
challenging practices perceived as the norm," said Cuba.
Here to stay
Cuzco's Community Defenders take on a sometimes difficult
task of oversight of police and other public officials, proving that women in
rural communities can also play a role outside the home. By doing so, they
challenge the established social order, often triggering adverse reactions.
"Local authorities sometimes snicker at us: what do
these campesinas (mainly indigenous peasant women) think they're going to
achieve?" said CD Gregoria Guzmán.
As for reconciling unpaid advocacy work with family
responsibilities, it is definitely not an easy task. But the CDs have succeeded
in doing so because they are motivated by conviction, solidarity and empathy
rather than monetary or material reasons.
"Being a Community Defender has been a healing
experience. I lost my sister to intra-familiar violence. And although I can
never forget or forgive what happened, I find solace in the possibility of
helping others," said Cuba.
With a focus on becoming self-sustainable, the Cuzco
community defenders coordinating committee, CODECC, has put into motion an
innovative training programme so the accumulated knowledge and experience can
be passed on to younger generations.
And because 2011 marks the end of IDL's financial assistance
for the project, due to the withdrawal of certain aid agencies from Peru, the
internationally-recognised organisation has turned to small-scale fund-raising
and has presented its projects to Cuzco's Participatory Budget Unit.
"I've been a Community Defender for over 10 years, and
it hasn't always been easy. But I won't quit. As I've told my son: 'I am
planting seeds of change and, someday, you'll reap what I have sown',"
said Cuba.