Founded in 1961, International Amnesty is a global movement of more than 10 million human rights defenders – people who take injustice personally and campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.
We have become the leading force advocating for people’s rights, changing lives, reforming public policy, and holding governments to account. We defend a wide spectrum of rights, from the abolition of the death penalty to the protection of the rights of women and children, the fight against discrimination, the protection of the environment, the fight against institutional violence and the defense of the rights of refugees and migrants, among others. It is because of that Amnesty has been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.
We have spent almost 60 years denouncing rights violations around the world, with strong work defending and promoting the rights of women and children. Through individual stories, we make visible and raise awareness about patterns of abuse against victims of violence.
It is in this context that the case of Thelma Fardin. In recent years, the vindication of women’s rights, hand in hand with #NiUnaMenos, #ChegadeFiuFiu, #PrimeiroAssédio, #MeToo, #SheDecides, #MiráComoNosPonemos, among others, have been transcendental in the fight to eradicate violence against gender.
In case of Thelma marked a turning point in the struggle of the women’s movement in Argentina: the night she made her complaint public, calls to the hotline against child sexual abuse increased by 1,200% and calls to the hotline for victims of gender violence increased by 123%.
This paradigmatic case managed to break the silence in the face of sexual violence. However, the old, sexist, white, elitist Justice continues to be the last bastion of transformation to prevent these cases from going unpunished.
It is characteristic that the crimes of child sexual abuse occur hidden from third parties and that the victims are encouraged to denounce them many years later, when they manage to put the horror they experienced into words. However, their testimonies are often disbelieved, they are accused of fabricators or fabricators, they are subjected to psychological expertise, and they face long processes with re-victimizing stages.
In case of Thelma achieved unprecedented progress in the fight against sexual violence thanks to the international cooperation of three Public Prosecutor’s Offices, from three different countries –Argentina, Nicaragua and Brazil– who considered that there was sufficient evidence to bring the perpetrator to trial.
That is why we stress the importance of justice being done in cases such as that of Thelma to prevent crimes against the sexual integrity of boys and girls from going unpunished, especially if we take into account that, globally, one in five girls and one in thirteen boys suffer sexual violence in childhood, according to data from the World Health Organization.
We fight for a Justice that is reparative for the victims of child sexual abuse, that recognizes and values the voice of those who dare to break the silence and that with this a message is sent to the girls, boys and women of Argentina and Latin America of that they can trust the justice administration system. It is essential that States, in all their powers, echo the search for justice.
*By Mariela Belski, Executive Director of Amnesty International Argentina.
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by Mariela Belski*
