Recent government of Puerto Rico Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia
Pedro Rafael Pierluisi: Puerto Rico votes in favor of the vote of Puerto Rican voters of the state of the United States in the democratic head of Sunshine State Puerto Rico: the party “can not support” the state bill AOC / Velazquez MORE declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico in response to the killings against transgender women and people in recent years.
Pierluisi signed an executive order declaring the emergency for sexist violence on Sunday. It is scheduled to run until June 30, 2022.
For years, activists have pushed for government action to combat the killings and violence, which they say have worsened after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the island, CNN reported.
Puerto Rican police report it at least 5,517 women were victims of domestic violence in 2020 i Gender Equality Observatory at least 60 direct and indirect femicides, six transfemicides, and 26 cases still under investigation or lacking in information were documented.
“Gender-based violence is a social evil, based on ignorance and attitudes that cannot have space or tolerance in Puerto Rico to which we aspire,” Pierluisi said in a statement translated by CNN. “For too long vulnerable victims have suffered the consequences of systematic masculinity, inequality, discrimination, lack of education, lack of guidance and above all lack of action.”
The governor’s order establishes several programs to address violence, including the establishment of a committee focused on education, support and rescue.
The 17-member committee, which will include three representatives from organizations focusing on gender-based violence, will provide an initial progress report 45 days after it has begun and then every 30 days until the end of the statement.
Pierluisi also called for the creation of a mobile app to allow victims to report violence without drawing attention.
Defense organizations celebrated the governor’s order as progress.
“Today our rage brings some hope,” the Feminist Collective in Construction organization posted on Facebook. “Today, as always, our hope is radical. We will not take a step back.”