Benedicto XVI cree que el matrimonio homosexual amenaza el futuro de la humanidad

El Papa insiste en que las políticas que suponen un ataque a la familia "amenazan la dignidad humana y el porvenir mismo de la humanidad".

El Papa Benedicto XVI dijo este lunes que el matrimonio homosexual es una amenaza contra la familia tradicional y que por tanto pone en riesgo el futuro de la humanidad, durante una audiencia con miembros del cuerpo diplomático acreditado ante la Santa Sede. En este sentido, ha destacado el papel de la familia "fundada sobre el matrimonio entre un hombre y una mujer" para la educación y, por tanto, ha insistido en que las políticas que suponen un ataque a la familia "amenazan la dignidad humana y el porvenir mismo de la humanidad".

Así, ha remarcado que ha recibido "con satisfacción" la reciente sentencia del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea que prohíbe patentar los procedimientos que utilicencélulas madre embrionarias humanas, así como la resolución de la Asamblea Parlamentaria del Consejo de Europa que condena la selección prenatal del sexo.

El Papa ha alentado al mundo a mirar la crisis económica internacional como "un acicate para reflexionar sobre la existencia humana y la importancia de su dimensión ética, antes que sobre los mecanismos que gobiernan la vida económica" y ha propuesto que se den"nuevas reglas" que aseguren a todas las personas una vida digna y el desarrollo de sus capacidades.

Así, ha recordado que el mundo se ve afectado por las "graves y preocupantes" consecuencias de la crisis económica y financiera internacional que, según ha apuntado, "no sólo ha golpeado a las familias y empresas de los países más avanzados, en los que ha tenido su origen, sino que ha marcado también profundamente la vida de los países en vías de desarrollo".

"El momento actual está marcado lamentablemente por un profundo malestar y por diversas crisis: económicas, políticas y sociales, que son su expresión dramática", ha subrayado.

Ante esta situación, ha apuntado que la educación es "crucial" y ha recordado que lasleyes occidentales que "tantas veces no solo permiten sino que favorecen el aborto, ya sea por motivos de conveniencia o por razones médicas discutibles", se oponen a la educación de los jóvenes y al futuro de la humanidad.

Violence Against Women in Latinamerica

An Argentinean man is accused of soaking his 24-year-old former lover with alcohol then setting her on fire. She died of severe burns days later, and an autopsy revealed she was pregnant. 

The woman, Fatima Catan, became the latest victim of deadly violence against women --femicide-- in a country and region that has long struggled to rally against such violence. Catan was one of 260 women killed in Argentina last year – an alarmingly high number of them were burned to death and a larger number of them, or about 64 percent, were killed by ex-lovers.

Her death, and a sudden rise of femicide cases in Argentina as well as other parts of Central and South America, underscores the ongoing issues of domestic violence and other forms of violence against women in Latin America.

According to a 2010 report by Amnesty International, there were increased reports of domestic violence, rape and murders against women in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras the past few years.

Guatemala, where on average two women are killed each day, has long been talked about as being the worst example of crimes against women in the hemisphere. The laws are so weak that U.S. immigration lawyers have successfully blocked deportation orders to Guatemala simply because their client was a woman – and would be returning to a country with no safety net for women.

In the past decade, close to 4,000 women have been killed in Guatemala, which has a population of less than 15 million. About 800 women were killed in 2009 and 685 were killed last year, many of them women afraid to leave their abusive lovers. Some had sought help but were rebuffed by local authorities. Less than 4 percent of the cases were solved, according to Amnesty International.

Pressured by international groups like Amnesty International, the United Nations and Human Rights First, the country began passing laws that outlawed violence against women.

Yet, violence against women continues to be a major problem in Guatemala. In 2009, the first year the law was enacted, only three men were convicted and sentenced under the law, even though the first two weeks of that year 26 women were killed.

"Women in Guatemala are dying as a consequence of the State's failure to protect them," said Sebastian Elgueta, Guatemala researcher at Amnesty International. "High levels of violence and a lack of political will along with a track record of impunity, mean authorities are both unable to pursue perpetrators, or just don't care. Perpetrators know they will not be punished."

In Argentina, domestic violence hotlines are manned 24 hours a day and a slew of psychological, social and legal services are offered for battered women in need.

The country's Supreme Court reports that domestic violence cases rose 75 percent the past two years. In January of 2009, there were 375 cases and in January of this year there were 657 cases, according to María Pinto, the Supreme Court's business secretary.

The number of cases of women getting burned rose from six in 2009 to 11 in 2010. And the number of women getting killed increased by 30 percent the past three years, with 260 femicide cases in 2010.

"(Many women) learn to coexist with domestic violence because their mothers and their grandmothers lived the same situation," said Rico, of La Casa del Encuentro in Argentina.

But Rico said women are beginning to understand that they should report abuse, and they will get help if they seek it.

"It's important for them to know where to ask for (help)," Rico said. "Because they cannot escape alone from that hell."

As elsewhere in the world, women in the hemisphere are sometimes still afraid to report domestic violence incidents, some governments are still indifferent about it, and police departments are sometimes unconcerned when it comes to women's rights.

Yet, much has changed for the better as well in the past three decades.

"Years ago in Latin America, crimes against women was a private matter. That's the way marriage was, that's the way life was. Women's organizations strongly put the agenda in the public sphere," said Nadine Gasman, senior manager of the UN Secretary General's UNiTE Campaign to end violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Since the 1970s, all countries in Latin America have imposed or strengthened laws to make violence against women a felony, thanks to women's rights groups, NGOs and international advocacy groups that successfully pushed for reform. Because of worldwide pressure, even countries like Honduras and Guatemala – long known for having some of the weakest laws protecting women – are starting to go after and penalize men who beat women.

"There is, possibly, more awareness in Latin America, and more women willing to report it. And the media is covering it much more than it used to," said Emilio Viano, a victim's rights expert and professor at the School of Public Affair at American University in Washington, D.C. "On the other hand, there's no question domestic violence is still common."

The does not mean the governments in Latin American, which have a growing number of women in political offices, have not tried to change the mindset.

Working with public health organizations like the United Nations, the World Health Organizations and the Pan American Health Organizations – as well as a growing number of women's rights groups – countries began providing social services for battered women.

Places like Brazil and Nicaragua began forming specialized police units, some of them with an all-women force, so victims could report the crime without fear of reprisal or disrespect. In Argentina and Mexico, battered women can get legal advice, financial assistance and medical and psychological help if they seek help and report abuse.

But, Gasman added, "although laws have changed, they still need to be implemented. And some places still have a long way to go."

ADVERTISING & GENDER

It is evident that advertising is a huge and pervasive industry.  Advertising has a powerful effect that goes well beyond the purpose of selling products to customers, it affects our culture and our views therefore it is extremely persuasive.  

                             

Media researchers explain that stereotyping involves presenting a group of people in an unvarying pattern that lacks individuality and often reflects misperceptions.  Courtney and Whipple (1983) produced a comprehensive list of female gender stereotypes in advertising which include the following:

             @   women in isolation

  @ women being depicted as obsessed with their physical attractiveness

    @ women in underwear and lingerie more than professional clothing

It is clear that sexist and stereotypical advert portrayals have severe negative impact and effect on women. Studies continue to reveal our cultures obsession with thinness as reflected in advertising.  Women are receiving many times more messages about thinness and body shape than men in prominent magazines and on television.  This behaviour of advertisers creates a widening gap between the weight of an average woman and the ideal.  The pressure to be thin is not as great for men as for women, which is evidenced by the higher number of average – weight and overweight male models in adverts in comparison with females.

Just as there are female stereotypes in advertising, male gender stereotyping also appears.  According to Ivy and Backlund (2004), male depictions in ads include:

• professional, knowledgeable

• Jock, who can perform in all sports

• handy man who can fix anything

It is evident that men seem to fit any role and can sell anything but women are more favourable for hygiene, beauty products and underwear.  It is worryingly clear that women today are still not taken seriously within society.

Advertisers overwhelmingly select positive, approved typifications so their product will be associated with a good image, [therefore] what we see are idealised characters using ideal facilities to realise ideal ends (Goffman, 1976).

Adverts are aimed at reflecting life as individuals wish to live it, including looking beautiful and achieving wealth and success.  This is an implicit promise that certain desirable benefits will accrue if one uses the right scent for example.  An advertiser not only can create product identification but can impel purchase if the vision hits its mark of personal desire.

Manca and Manca (1994) state that when advertisers target women they use complex, appearance related emotional appeals such as using science to ‘prove’ the benefits of a certain facelift cream.  This pattern characterises women as externally or “other” oriented and concerned primarily with men.  Conversely, when advertisers target men, they use simple, ego gratification emotional appeals.  These appeals stereotype men as internally or “self” oriented, concerned primarily with themselves.

Gendered differences are apparent, accordingly, gendered advertising beliefs, attitudes, values and consumer behaviour exist, therefore advertisers recognise them, understand them, and use them to design gender specific advertisements.  Advertising always involves a promise and is expected to fulfil its promise.  Consumer advertising most commonly associates products with symbols that exemplify values, group feeling, prestige, status, power, achievement or just plain hedonistic pleasure. 

This is why most organisations concerned with persuasion look for prestigious spokespersons to endorse their position and thus endow it with something for their own prestige.  People seek social approval from all others, but it is more valued when it comes from those higher up the social scale since it is less likely to be self-serving and considered more perceptive. 

36 CASOS DE TRAFICO DE PERSONAS, SIN SENTENCIA EN IMBABURA

Imbabura está considerada como parte la ruta del tráfico ilegal de personas. Así lo revela un estudio de la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Flacso), elaborado en Ibarra, Otavalo y Cotacachi. La investigación señala que en estos dos últimos cantones se detectaron casos de explotación laboral. Mientras que en Ibarra hay explotación sexual. Pero lo que más preocupa, comenta María Isabel Moncayo, investigadora de la Flacso, es el alto nivel de impunidad que existe. En marzo del 2011, por ejemplo, 60 mujeres fueron rescatadas de cuatro clubes nocturnos de Ibarra. Una extranjera denunció ante las autoridades que permanecía retenida y era obligada a ejercer la prostitución. El operativo, en el que participaron 200 policías y fiscales, fue organizado en Quito. Según Moncayo, eso fue necesario porque cuando se planifica en Imbabura se filtra la información y se esconden a las víctimas. 

“Hay corrupción entre los funcionarios”. Además, ninguna de las siete denuncias presentadas, entre el 2008 y el 2011, por explotación sexual recibió sentencia, dice la investigadora. Ahí se incluye el caso de los clubes nocturnos de Ibarra, en donde se detuvo a dos presuntos involucrados en el tráfico de personas. Según denuncias, estos movilizaban desde Colombia a mujeres bajo la oferta de un trabajo digno y bien remunerado. Un agente fiscal, que pidió omitir su nombre, aseguró que la mayoría de denuncias es desestimada por falta de colaboración de las afectadas.

 En el último caso, la víctima de 20 años desapareció, por lo que este caso fue archivado, debido a la falta de acusación. Esa incursión policial fue parte de una investigación, que se inició dos años antes para ubicar una red internacional, que recluta, transporta y acoge a mujeres extranjeras para explotarlas”. Según Rogelio Bernal, director de la Organización Internacional para las Migraciones (OIM), entidad que apoyó la investigación, Ibarra es un lugar de tránsito y destino de víctimas de explotación sexual. “Este delito afecta a mujeres adolescentes y adultas de Colombia y Ecuador”. Bernal asegura que en el caso colombiano, a las afectadas se les contacta en ciudades como Armenia, Cali y Medellín.

 Desde esas urbes son trasladadas a las ciudades de Pasto o Ipiales para cruzar la frontera. Una vez en Ecuador, los tratantes instalan a las mujeres en centro nocturnos de Tulcán e Ibarra. Luego son movilizadas a otras urbes. La modalidad de trata que afecta a los cantones Otavalo y Cotacachi está vinculada a la explotación laboral en el exterior. Entre 2008 y 2011 se presentaron 22 denuncias sobre este delito. Para Soledad Coloma, investigadora de la Flacso, los afectados por este tema en su mayoría son niños y adolescentes indígenas. “Provienen generalmente de hogares con padres separados y de comunidades pobres y alejadas”.

Se presume que los menores salen de comunidades como La Compañía, Huiacopungo, Tocagón, vecinas del lago San Pablo. En Cotacachi, en cambio, salen de las comunas El Cercado, La Calera y del valle de Íntag. Los reclutadores son familiares o personas cercanas a las víctimas, explica Coloma. “En muchos casos, los padres entregan la autorización de salida del país”. Entre los destinos están Bogotá y Cali (Colombia), Sao Paulo (Brasil) y Chile. Pero hay casos de niños que han sido trasladados a Bélgica, España y Suiza (ver infografía). Allá trabajan elaborando o vendiendo artesanías, en labores domésticas o cuidando niños. Según Coloma, hay casos que son llevados con engaños o amenazas. Pero la investigación y sanción de la trata tiene dificultades en los dos cantones. “El delito en las poblaciones afectadas está naturalizado, por lo que no se denuncia. Eso solo sucede si los padres no recibe el pago acordado”.