The UN denounced this Friday serious deficiencies in the sexual and reproductive healthto of women after the earthquakes in Venezuela and asked for 10 million more dollars to be able to assist on the ground.
This was explained, according to the EFE news agency, by Paula Narváez, regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the organization’s agency for sexual and reproductive health, at the press conference of the secretary general’s spokesperson whenor one month has passed since the devastating earthquakes.
A few days after returning from Venezuela, Narváez explained that the earthquakes They damaged 41 health centers and three were completely inoperative, which is pushing “already limited” resources to the limit.
“Women don’t stop giving to light during an emergency. However, vulnerable women and adolescent girls are more likely to be isolated from the vital services they need,” she stated.
Among other things, he presented the testimony of Camilia, a 19-year-old girl, who is waiting for a cesarean section in the middle of the “disaster and displacement.”
He also urged the holding of informative workshops, to help recognize gender violence, given the increased risk of cases being recorded in shelters.
“One thing is clear: gender violence increases in all crises. Therefore, protection, including protection against sexual abuse and exploitation, “It must be a key element of any humanitarian response,” he asserted.
Although he did not provide definitive data on the number of cases of gender violence, Narváez announced that they are working on the figures and regretted that the cases that known are just “the tip of the iceberg” and that many minors who suffer from it “do not report it for fear of reprisals.”
Narváez highlighted that although it is an issue largely forgotten in the emergency responsesthere is a lot of international cooperation on the ground, above all, of doctors and gynecologists from the Dominican Republic providing these services.
