- Title: Activists in Bolivia, Venezuela and Brazil march on Women's Day
- Date: 8th March 2021
- Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (MARCH 8, 2021) (REUTERAS) GENERAL OF ACTIVIST PAINTING THE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS MONUMENT WHILE ANOTHER ACTIVIST TRIES TO SHIELD CAMERA SO THEY CAN'T BE IDENTIFIED ACTIVISTS BLOCKING CAMERA VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS DAMAGING BASE ON WHICH MONUMENT STANDS WHILE OTHER ACTIVISTS TRY TO BLOCK CAMERA ACTIVIST PAINTING MONUMENT MAN TRYING TO BLOCK CAMERA AS ACTIVISTS
- Embargoed: 22nd March 2021 20:07
- Keywords: Women's Day marches femicide protest social activism
- Location: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA; SAO PAULO, BRAZIL; CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- City: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA; SAO PAULO, BRAZIL; CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Bolivia
- Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001E384VGN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Women across Latin America marched on Monday (March 8) to demand equal rights, to demand punishment for perpetrators of femicide, the term used for homicides that deliberately target women.
In Bolivia, one group of activists painted graffiti on the Christopher Columbus monument in La Paz and scuffled with journalists filming them.
Others demanded the government do more to curb violence against women and investigate the massacres of Senkata, Sacaba and Ovejuyo.
In Venezuela, human rights activists called for the release of 17 women they consider political prisoners.
In a demonstration outside the U.N. Development Program's Caracas office, activists said some of the 17 women were being held in order to blackmail wanted relatives into surrendering or confessing.
Rights groups say that President Nicolas Maduro's government is detaining at least 328 Venezuelans, including civilians and members of the military, for political reasons. Maduro's government denies holding "political prisoners," calling the detainees "politicians in jail" for crimes including terrorism.
Neither Venezuela's information ministry nor the Chief Prosecutor's office immediately responded to requests for comment.
Demonstrators also denounced a lack of punishment for perpetrators of violence against women in the crime-stricken OPEC nation, while local human rights groups have reported 18 violent deaths of women so far this year. In 2020, the Cofavic NGO reported 382 violent deaths of women and girls.
In Brazil, women marched with crosses as police and prosecutors, along with women's groups, have reported rising domestic violence during coronavirus-related lockdowns.
Brazil recorded 649 femicides during the first half of 2020, according to figures from the Brazilian Forum for Public Safety, up 2% from the same period in 2019. But other crimes against women such as assault and rape, which usually require victims to file a police report, fell during that period, the Forum noted.
(Production: Santiago Limachi, Sergio Limachi, Monica Machicao, Johnny Carvajal, Efrain Otero, Leonardo Benassatto, Arlene Eiras) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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