Violence against women has been a widely discussed topic among traditional leaders in order to contribute to the confrontation of all forms of abuse. In view of this, on May 23, the 1st Seminar on Combating Violence Against Indigenous Women and Youth was held at the Tesu Center in Gavião, lower Cotingo region, with the theme: "We are Life and Resistance, not Violence."
About 60 people were present, including leaders, women, men and young people from the five communities that are part of the Tesu do Gavião Center. The seminar was attended by the Secretary of the Indigenous Women's Movement Maria Betânia, Iterniza Pereira, indigenous psychologist, and Júnior Nicácio, legal advisor to the CIR.
Nelia Lima Batista, from the Macuxi people, is the local coordinator of women. She participated in the workshop and highlighted the importance of dealing with the issue with the communities.
"The objective of the seminar was achieved, by the young people who are present, we wanted to bring this awareness on the subject, with the support of the CIR, because we need to understand the legal part, and of course the psychological one as well. The violence that has been occurring within the community often does not have the knowledge of what the types are, and everyone is taking this knowledge wherever they go."
During the seminar, psychologist Iterniza in a lecture addressed the types of violence that exist, highlighting that in addition to the physical, there is the psychological one that affects both women and young people, and also clarified doubts about moral and sexual violence.
She also carried out an activity with those present in which she asked them to choose a phrase with which they identified and highlighted:
"The goal here is to pass on information to combat violence against women, talk about the myths and thus give everyone the courage to denounce it."
"We are here with the CIR team, to answer questions. This moment is for this purpose, always seeking dialogue with our traditional leaders", said Maria Betânia Macuxi.
In conversation with those present, Betânia also highlighted the importance of local women's coordinators who enable activities like this within the communities because they understand that their regions need this informative agenda. The activity was carried out with all the precautions, using masks and 70% alcohol gel.
