Since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in 1995, Loar said a number of countries in Latin America adopted new laws to combat violence against women, violence within the home, and sexual violence. We think that it is a very positive step that these new laws are on the books. In the United States, she said, it wasn't until the administration of President Clinton that the government launched this country's first federal response to the issue through the 1995 creation of The Violence Against Women Office at the U.S. Department of Justice. That office, she said, was created to implement passage of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act and to lead the national effort to stop domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking of women. Those who have studied the issue say one of the most frequently occurring forms of violence against women is domestic violence, which is violence that occurs between people who share or have shared kinship or blood ties, or have a formal marital or consensual relationship.
Domestic violence is said to take place most often in the home.
But much more needs to be done, she said, because gender violence often is still not recognized beyond women's rights groups as a serious human rights problem in the Western Hemisphere and worldwide. In addition, children who witness their mothers being abused perform poorly in school, limiting both their future labor market possibilities and their ability to contribute to the region's socioeconomic development. Meanwhile, in Jamaica, a theater group dramatized domestic violence issues to help men and women deal with the problem. In addition, the San Jose-based Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime conducts training in gender violence for judges and other jurists. The organization was established in 1975 as a result of the joint efforts of the United Nations and the Costa Rican government.