As part of the No Más: Prevención y Respuesta a la Violencia Contra las Mujeres en Cuba project (No More: Prevention and Response to Violence Against Women in Cuba), a capacity-building process has been launched in the community of San José, Las Tunas, to support diverse women in creating support networks for those who are victims of violence.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Liliana Gómez Ramos, coordinator of No More in this eastern part of the country, said that the training workshops also aim to identify the critical steps to take in case of assault, which authorities to contact, where to file a complaint, and who to talk to—questions that often stand between victims and their desire to find help.
“The aim is to create a niche to strengthen solidarity and enable specific actions to be developed, based on the potential of the community, to help prevent violence and support other women in breaking the cycle of violence,” said Gómez Ramos.
“The group is made up of around 20 participants of different ages and professions, including artisans, housewives, university professors, retirees... who came together to share and build knowledge, as well as to unlearn myths and stereotypes that are anchored in old patriarchal roots.”
The master's degree and gender specialist emphasized that the ultimate goal is to build an action plan that strengthens support networks in this community, an experience that can then be replicated in other parts of Las Tunas.
San José was chosen for this purpose because it has a long tradition of community work and a large and diverse female population that will accompany the entire process and is sensitive to and interested in the issue.
“The training workshops will have several editions and to date have been fertile ground for assimilating knowledge,” said the coordinator. “They have recognized themselves through the different types of knowledge they possess; they have managed to identify the different types of violence, the most visible and the least recognized.”
The women in this community were already brought together through the Raíces de San José sociocultural project and are now joining forces to dismantle gender violence, take action to prevent it, and spread knowledge rooted in human rights issues.
