Political and Legal Context of Gender-Based Violence in Venezuela, with an Emphasis on Political Violence Against Women in Politics
Venus Marina Faddoul Barrios, Esq., 100% Estrógeno NGO
Abstract: This talk starts from the premise that Venezuela’s patriarchal structure has historically conditioned women into feminized roles of caregiving and servitude—a system that persists despite legal and political advances and has even worsened as a result of the Complex Humanitarian Emergency that the nation has experienced for the past ten years. Through a chronological examination of the evolution of women’s rights within the Venezuelan legal system—from the Civil Code of 1873 through the 1982 reform—and of successive penal codes concerning adultery, abortion, and uxoricide, while contrasting the “legal truth” with the “real truth” of their effective implementation, including the international treaties ratified by the country, we will develop a clearer understanding of the historical and cultural inequality between men and women in Venezuela. Finally, the presentation will address the increase in women’s political participation from the Punto Fijo Pact (1961) to the present day, alongside the normalization and expansion of political violence against women, with an analysis of practical cases.
Bio: Venus Marina Faddoul Barrios is a lawyer and communications professional with a master’s degree in political science and more than sixteen years of experience dedicated to defending, promoting, and raising awareness of women’s human rights. Her work in the legal, political, and communications fields led to her forced exile in Spain in 2022. Her professional work includes founding 100% Estrógeno, a non-profit organization that defends women’s rights in Venezuela; representing and leading numerous cases involving Gender-Based Violence (GBV), including matters related to sexual and reproductive rights, the fight for the decriminalization of abortion in Venezuela, sexual violence, vicarious violence, and other forms of gender-based violence; promoting women’s political participation through the communications campaign La Segunda en La Política; bringing the defense of women’s rights to major international forums, participating in spaces associated with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and the Latin American Studies Association (LASA); and participating in numerous academic and activist spaces with Amnesty International, the Foundation for Lawyers at Risk, Carlos III University of Madrid, the University of Castilla-La Mancha, and others.