Central University Women´s Studies Dept.

The director Magnelena Valivieso- never showed up, but another woman spoke.

What they address-
The precence of women in organization
The study of women in/ and poverty
The are always working with violence against women and domestic violence.
They work with women and also the violent men.
They give an award every year to a person for important work.
They have spent 5 years working on the Organic Law of Work for Women.

The law that they have been working on, which Magnelena began- The Law for a Life Without Violence for Women, has not been signed yet, but is in parliament.

The age of pregnancy among girls ages 8 to 18 is getting younger.
The average number of children per woman has reduced.

They think that young pregnancies are a determining factor in the cause of women in poverty.
The directors of the schools do not let pregnant girls go to school, although they are allowed to attend by law.
21-22% of pregnancies in the country are girls under 18.

The aggravating factor is that since the 80s poverty has increased.
The number of girls prostituting and living on the streets has increased.
On Sabana Grande children in prostitution has increased.

The problem is also that the amount of participation of women in government. Each party is lawfully supposed to run 30% women candidates.
The number of women in the parliament has increased, because parties have run the women as fillers, and many of them won.
Not all of the women in the government have gender consciousness, but the women who do work closely with the women’s movement.

Something that especially effects women is not knowing what their rights are.

The department is trying to bring gender consciousness to all the departments in the University.
Right now medicine does not have a focus on women, it mostly focuses on men’s bodies.

Venezuela has the highest rate of children per women in South America.

Right now there is not a methodology for gathering statistics on violence against women, girls, anyone.

60% of households are headed by women in poor areas.

The ministry of health was offering birth control pills through the ministry of health, but now they say they don’t have the funding.
This is a political problem.

Article 50- the right of children say that doctors have to attend to children without the accompaniment of their parent. Before this law was passes, a women under 18 had to have the accompaniment of a parent to receive health care.
Much of the new policy gets stuck in the ministries, which are always changing. The minister of education just changed, so they don’t know is all of the work they have been doing on sexual education and prevention of diseases will have to start all over again or not