Cuba to Host International Symposium on Gender Violence

The event, to be held at Havana’s La Pradera International Health Center, will be attended by academics, researchers and social activists from Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Germany, Canada and South Africa

 

With the aim of promoting scientific debate and facilitating alliances between national and global institutions, the 2nd International Symposium on Gender Violence, Prostitution, Sex Tourism and Trafficking in Persons “Berta Cáceres in memoriam” will be held in Havana from June 23 – 25.

Mariela Castro Espín, director of the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), speaking at a press conference held January 10, noted that the event will be held at La Pradera International Health Center, and will allow for the exchange of good practices and encourage the creation of inclusive public policies.

Among the topics to be addressed she mentioned gaps in gender equality, mechanisms of control and domination and prostitution, a social phenomenon also known as the “sex market” making human beings subject to the law of supply and demand.

She emphasized the importance of promoting just societies, deepening the methodological concepts surrounding these issues, training specialists and protecting victims.

Referring to trafficking in persons, Castro Espín recalled the criminal Cuban Adjustment Act, U.S. legislation that encourages irregular migration to that nation from the island and through third countries, exposing migrants to fraud, violence and other crimes.

The event is also dedicated to Honduran indigenous leader, the late Berta Cáceres, assassinated in March 2016, in recognition of her active work in defense of the peoples and protection of the environment.

Manuel Vázquez, head of CENESEX’s Legal Advisory Team, and one of the coordinators of the Symposium, noted that the event will be attended by academics, researchers and social activists from Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Germany, Canada and South Africa.