The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (“Special Rapporteur”), said this week that Argentina lacked “a systematic, coherent and effective implementation of international and federal legal standards” on violence against women, leading to gaps in protection for women and girls across the country. In particular, the Special Rapporteur criticized the country’s approach to sexual violence, saying that Argentina’s criminal laws and procedures made it very difficult for women to prove rape or hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes. She said Argentina had made some progress in addressing the country’s “machismo culture” that tolerates violence against women, but that “more work was needed for Argentina to meet its international obligations and to tackle entrenched patriarchal attitudes and gender stereotypes.”
The Special Rapporteur, Dubravka Šimonović, is expected to submit her full report to the UN Human Rights Council on her visit to Argentina in June of 2017.
Compiled from: UN Finds Violence Against Women Systemic in Argentina, TeleSur (November 22, 2016); UN Special rapporteur challenges Argentina to step up protection of women in “machismo culture”, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights News (November 21, 2016).