HISTORY
OF
CIM
Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication
of Violence Against Women- 1994
Violence
against women, in all its forms, is a central concern of contemporary
women's movements in the Americas. Recognition of the problem, after its
being concealed for so many years, has made the subject a priority of CIM.
In
1990, CIM convoked the Inter-American Consultation on Women and Violence,
a special meeting dedicated specifically to addressing violence that
affects women, which defined the problem:
In
its broadest sense, violence is understood to include physical, sexual,
and psychological aggression against women. It respects no strata of
society and- while the prevalence of this problem may appear to be either
a recent phenomenon, or greater nowadays . . . this apparent increase in
violence against women is a result of it no longer being a hidden or
forbidden topic.
Two
sessions of the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts to consider the draft
Inter-American Convention on Women and Violence were held in 1993. Their
task was accomplished with such thoroughness and dispatch that in April,
1994, a Special Assembly of CIM delegates was able to approve a draft text
of the Convention for submission to the OAS General Assembly. Adopted by
the Twenty-fourth Regular General Assembly of the OAS, which was held in
Belém do Pará, Brazil, in June 1994, the Convention was immediately
signed by several OAS member governments. The
Inter-American
Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence
Against Women, "Convention of Belem do Pará"
not only
recognizes that violence against women constitutes a violation of human
rights, but it defines violence in both the public and private spheres. To
date, thirty-two member States of the OAS
have adopted and/or ratified this Inter-American
Convention. Once again, CIM is the international body that has taken the first
vital steps, placing before international political bodies a question that
is of crucial concern both for women and for the better health of
democratic societies.
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| Chilean Josefina Bilbao, Minister/ Director of the National Service for
women (SERNAM), signed the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women in the presence of
Secretary General Cesar Gaviria on October 17, 1994 Violence Against Women in the presence of
Secretary General Cesar Gaviria on October 17, 1994
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