Aggression against women, a normalized and deep-rooted practice in society

Aggressions against women is a practice that has become normalized and rooted in society, in addition to the fact that they are forced to migrate with the consequences that it entails for individual, currently, violence is also presented through digital media, agreed university experts and experts from higher education institutions in Mexico and Latin America.

While participating in the workshop "Not one more daily machismo", in commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the director of the Faculty of Engineering (FI), Carlos Agustín Escalante Sandoval, said that the National University assumes a zero-tolerance policy against harassment and reiterates the willingness to meet the demands of its community linked to this problem, which threatens human rights.

He said that the entity he is in charge of declares inadmissible this phenomenon and of any kind, because it compromises the healthy coexistence of its community, that is why it acts to eradicate it, to favor integration, inclusion, plurality, and freedom of action. In congruence with this vision, with a participatory spirit, the mechanisms and protocol for attention, accompaniment, and follow-up of these cases are being improved, he added.

In turn, the communicator José Alfredo Cruz Lugo explained the difference between violence and aggressiveness: humans are born with an inherent condition that can be associated with the latter; we need it as an engine of life, it is even associated with resilient mechanisms; the former is a decision and "if there is someone who can stop it, it is the one who exercises it".

The also ex-co-coordinator of the Latin American Network of MenEngage Masculinities, explained that the violence that is carried out is selective. That is to say, "I choose where and whom to violate; I don't look for who did it to me, but who pays for it". It is common for men to associate an emotion, anger, with the exercise of their aggressions. It is a legitimate and necessary feeling, just like happiness, love, or sadness. The problem is when I use it as a basis for violence, and thus try to justify it.

Severity

As part of the activities carried out by UNAM to commemorate 25N, Patricia Valladares de la Cruz, professor of Clinical Psychology at the Faculty of Higher Education (FES) Iztacala, gave a lecture on "Types of gender violence", organized by the Institute of Renewable Energies, in which she pointed out that the problem is that it is a normalized and ingrained practice in Mexican society, which many find it difficult and time-consuming to dismantle.

There are various forms: physical aggression, rape, sexual abuse, shouting, threats and insults, as well as invisible forms such as humiliation, devaluation, contempt, ignoring, emotional blackmail, blaming, sexist jokes, control, making invisible what they say, annulment and micromachismo; femicide is the tip of the iceberg. From birth they face situations such as "black eyes, which is the most typical as part of physical aggression, but also psycho-emotional, psychological, sexual, economic, patrimonial, against reproductive and obstetric rights, for example", she clarified.

Valladares de la Cruz mentioned that femicide is the product of the violation of their fundamental guarantees; in the public and private spheres, it is the set of misogynist behaviors and contempt towards the feminine, which causes social and State impunity.

Also in networks

At the Faculty of Engineering, María Gabriela Castellanos Abundiz, professor at the Faculty of Higher Studies Acatlán, said that aggressions through digital media are considered symbolic violence and can manifest themselves through jealousy, insults, sexual and obscene jokes, comments, or jokes about private life, taking or disseminating photos and videos without the consent of the other person, invitations to go out, unwanted and persistent calls or messages, unwanted exposure to pornography, asking for sexual favors and more.

When presenting the topic "Not one more violence in social networks, what to do about it", she stated: with the health crisis and the need to transition to life in the digital environment, these types of interactions have increased; however, they can be reported. Specialists who are sensitized on the subject will provide attention, so it is of great help to use this tool to combat these acts that have no place.

Standardized practice

The academic of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Norma Baca Tavira, spoke at the event organized by the Internal Commission for Gender Equality of the Center for Research in Environmental Geography of the UNAM, in which she explained that women represent almost half of all migrants in the world, changed the profile of gender composition of this phenomenon, the diversity and work niches in which they are inserted, as well as the dynamics of the towns from which they were expelled.

According to data from the Mexico Migration and Remittances Yearbook, prepared by the National Population Council and the BBVA Foundation, 99 percent of undocumented women and migrants in transit crossed through Mexico and tend to move collectively, unlike men. The UN Refugee Agency considers that women and girls in the Latin American context have less information about the right to asylum, but also about what happens during their transit through Mexico.