Global News | Nov 14, 2019

Access to justice for women in situations of gender-based violence is a social responsibility in Argentina

Justice for women in situations of gender-based violence

By Florencia Yanuzzio, Executive Director of Fundación Avon Argentina

In Argentina, a woman is killed every 30 hours just for being a woman as a result of gender-based violence (GBV).  In most cases, the perpetrator is the partner or former partner of the victim.   Only a small percentage of women who have encountered some type of a violent act file a police report or ask the state agencies for help. The neglect and mistreatment of women who experience GBV remains a daily reality in our country and a reminder that it is necessary to take comprehensive measures to improve protection efforts and access to justice. As a result, Avon, one of the few organizations supporting this cause, is assuming an active role on this epidemic.

As part of Avon’s continued commitment to help women and girls live a safe life free from violence, the US global Avon Foundation for Women with support from Fundación Avon Argentina and in partnership with global NGO Vital Voices Global Partnership, is convening ‘Voices Against Violence,’ an international training program to strategize with and support local leaders in their efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in Mar Del Plata in Argentina.

This week, the South Market Group is hosting its 4th training of this kind.  Trainings have also taken place in Neuquén and Tucumán, and Santiago, Chile.

Fundación Avon Argentina will also provide training to Avon Representatives because we believe they have a key role in supporting and providing information to their clients in GBV situations. Avon Representatives come to the doors of many homes every day and their clients trust them.  As a result, Fundación Avon Argentina decided to empower their Representatives by providing them with tools with the goal to potentially save many of these women’s lives.  We aim to strengthen Avons mission to help end violence against women and girls. In Mar del Plata, we are hosting 70 Representatives with a full day of training on GBV and breast cancer awareness.

For more than 10 years, Fundación Avon Argentina has been working passionately to bring awareness to this issue by encouraging conversations, providing information and improving support to help end violence against women and girls.

In 2018, Fundación Avon Argentina launched “Embrace the Change,” a viral campaign that aimed to bring awareness to situations of violence towards women that in Argentina and in many parts of the world are normalized and perceived as non-violent. We also launched a Protocol and License for GBV within our company in order to provide a legal framework that allows the company to adequately support and respond to questions from our own Associates.

While we know there is much more to be done, we are proud of our accomplishments and invite everyone to join us in our commitment to this cause with the aim to help improve the lives of women every day.