Vol. 1 No. 3 (2021): Blockchain and the challenge of technological resources to support education, management, accounting and public service

The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm to a woman, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of freedom, whether they occur in public or private life.

Intimate partner violence refers to behaviors by a partner or ex-partner that cause physical, sexual, or psychological harm, including physical assault, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and controlling behaviors.

Sexual violence is “any sexual act, attempted sexual act, or other act directed against a person's sexuality through coercion by another person, regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting.

In Peru, the Ministry of Health (MINSA) through the National Center for Epidemiology, Prevention and Disease Control (CDC Peru) reported more than 17,000 cases of violence against women during 2022. The entity reported that, in January As of October 2022, cases of violence against women within the group of family violence represented 86% of the total notifications at the national level.

Thus, this is a daily and highly prevalent problem in our society, as well as a serious and urgent problem to be resolved. Official reports indicate that 7 out of 10 adult Peruvians have been the victim of psychological, physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives and, after the confinement motivated by COVID-19, this situation has worsened.

For this reason, it is transcendental to study this problem in more depth and in this issue, in this regard, resilience in violated women is explored. Also about adolescent pregnancy, our country being the place where 13 out of every 100 female adolescents are already mothers or are pregnant. This indicator – which is alarming – is even more so when we focus on the Amazon regions, where we can find up to 40 out of 100 adolescents who are already mothers or are pregnant.

Even worse, the adolescent and young population of the country and the region face development challenges, aggravated and deepened by the effects of COVID-19. These effects have exacerbated gender violence, gaps in access to health, and the burden and job opportunities, especially for women. Faced with this, two of the main situations that limit the freedom of decision of girls and young people are: pregnancy and adolescent maternity. Both are cause and consequence of the violation of their rights, constituting barriers to their present and future development, and that of their families.

This problem does not remain in the theory or in the social, but also transcends the educational. It is worth emphasizing, then, the urgency of taking action in the Government to incorporate and improve the contents of comprehensive sexual education in Peruvian schools. It was previously reported that the Executive Branch was determined to implement information in schools that promotes equality, appreciation and respect for one's own body and that of others, self-esteem and a critical sense so that boys and girls can respond to the various situations they face and which are typical of their age.

Maria Gabriela Garcia