Gender violence: its economic impact in Peru and the performance of programs around women

At different stages of their lives, from childhood to adulthood, women face a series of impediments or attacks on their integrity.

Depending on the area mentioned, in this sense constantly unfavorable figures are reported with regard to the female sector. Only in the economic field, it is estimated that the the pay gap between men and women will close in fifty yearsaccording to the Peruvian Institute of Economy (IPE).

“In the rural area in Peru, after a study in October and November 2022, it was highlighted that for 77.5 soles that a woman earns, the man earns 100. This shows an income gap of 22.5%”, commented Natalia Manso, gender specialist, in dialogue with GlobeLiveMedia Peru.

Contrary to what one might think, the gender violence -in its different variants- It does not only concern the victims, but each society where it manifests itself. under the International Women’s Day 2023this March 8, there is still a lot of work to do.

More numbers. This medium spoke with Natalia Mansoprofessor at the Pacífico Business School, on this problem and its economic impact on the country.

The specialist explained that it is only in the commercial emporium of gamarraafter a study with microentrepreneurs, it was shown that at least 45% of women say they have been victims of violence. Due to this situation, he added, it was calculated an average loss of 59 working daysaccording to San Martín de Porres University (USMP).

When it comes to businesses or businesses, Manso also points out that there’s no point in being more open to the female population if they don’t work in the working atmosphere. Rescue, however, of the various initiatives presented.

“Some companies, maybe because of fashion, decided they needed to include more women on the board or have more female managers, but they didn’t work with the organizational culture. If I’m force to have a 30% of women in management positionsbut I continue with a macho and discriminatory environment (…) so these women will finally leave,” he said.

On the other hand, in Villa El Salvador (VES) it has become known – through a study carried out by the United Nations – that each woman loses between S/1,100 and S/1,700 per year due to incidents of violenceeven those who do not receive their own income.

“In VES means a cumulative loss of S105 million/year, which are mainly associated with the costs of medical care, access to justice and personal protection, among others,” is stated in the document prepared in 2018.

The analysis, conducted on women between the ages of 18 and 65, also revealed that three out of four women in the district survive some form of violence.

Occasionally, in 2018, a cost of S/. 240.8 million for the municipalityan equivalent of $72.9 million. In this scenario, it was also pointed out that the 44.7% of these costs are borne by assaulted women11.1% their home and 44.2% the community.

“The last study on the monetization (at the national level) of the cost of violence dates from 2013. An absolute value of $6.7 billion, or was 3.7% of GDP from that moment. It is barbarism. Even the biggest mining project does not grant such a raise,” Natalia Manso said.

Elizabeth Zeateacher and human rights specialist, says GlobeLiveMedia that the execution of the expenditure of certain budgetary programs, oriented to the benefit of women, is not properly managed.

“Current expenditures continue to be spent on administrative matters, rental of premises, among others, and very little is invested in the violence prevention against the woman. The Peruvian state still does not bring it (prevention) to the demand for effective spending. For example, in matters of education, employment, working with the community as a whole, in the employment sector, both private and public, etc.”, he underlined.

In this context, on the cover of social programs in the country, Zea pointed out that a population “almost invisiblein this area, it is women who are “heads of the family”, a sector “very poorly mapped”.

“We have the Household targeting system (SISFOH), however, reengineering is required in this case. When focus is social programs in favor of mothers who are heads of households, we see that these They occur in a lower proportion than men.he detailed.

Furthermore, he argued that only 24% of households where there is a woman “Head of the family”, within the framework of the food program which allocates school canteens to households with minor children, obtains this advantage. On the other side he commented, men benefit from 28%.

“There needs to be a re-engineering regarding the issue of surveillance in the SISFOH. The cases where the problem is most obvious occur in common pots, from what I see There are women who take care of the dining room, the cooking pot, the children, and they also have an economic activity. Many of these houses are no longer accessible to programs social, and this is something the state still needs to work on,” he said.

The director of the USMP’s Institute for Human Rights and Development assured that if these systems “do not reflect this reality”, the public policies and possible strategies they can derive from a simple “flag salute”.