Women from diverse communities in the province are preparing for a major march to demand tougher action against gender-based violence. Social worker Lourdes Batista indicates that in rural communities, remote areas, and urban zones, the lack of access to counseling services, safe shelters, and psychological support further aggravates the situation. “There are women who live for years under abuse, in silence, because they are economically dependent on the aggressor or fear retaliation,” she noted. The Ministry of Women, the Public Ministry, and various civil organizations are developing prevention and care campaigns; however, gender-based violence continues to reproduce itself within the home, where control, jealousy, and macho behaviors disguise themselves as affection. In recent months, the courts of Veraguas have known several cases of extreme cruelty, where women lost their lives at the hands of their spouses or ex-partners, leaving orphaned children and shattered families. Violence against women is not a private problem, but a social crisis that demands education, empathy, and action. Every day, new cases of battered, mistreated, and humiliated women are reported, many times by the same people who should give them love and protection: their partners or close relatives. According to reports from local authorities and organizations working for women's rights, the number of complaints for physical, psychological, and sexual aggression remains alarmingly high. Although statistics show a slight decrease in femicide cases compared to previous years, intra-family violence continues to be one of the main reasons for attention in the health centers and primary care centers of the Public Ministry. Professor Fulvia Álvarez recounts that many women have been beaten and threatened, and that reflects a painful reality: fear continues to be a wall that prevents, on many occasions, the complaint. Panama - In the province of Veraguas, violence against women continues to be a persistent shadow that tarnishes the lives of many families. In the neighborhoods, in the schools, and in the homes, respect and equality must be reborn, because only then can the cycle of pain that so many Veraguense women continue to live in silence be broken. “Enough of being silent,” they repeat with firmness the voices of activists and mothers who, from different corners of the province, cry out for justice, support, and a true culture of peace. Each of those names adds to a list that society should not tolerate. Beyond the figures, each story represents an urgent call for collective reflection.
