The notion of masculine domination and the concept of women as men’s property is widespread and deeply rooted in our societies, and violence against women is commonly accepted. The idea that women can be punished when they fail to meet expectations regarding their gender identity persists in many sectors, and men feel justified in exercising control through the use of force and explicit violence. As a result and because women are seen as dependent upon some male superior – be he partner, spouse or boss – it seems only “natural” that they be punished for not fulfilling their expected female roles such as ironing a shirt poorly or refusing to have sex.

This social attitude, which is a form of aid and abetting the crime of violence against women, is so widespread that the recent ECLAC report ¡Ni una más! El derecho a vivir una vida libre de violencia en América Latina y el Caribe (Not One More! The Right to Live Free from Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean) explicitly recommended “the creation of a non-violent culture that questions norms and customs, language and diverse expressions of patriarchal culture based on the use of power, repression, terrorism, armed conflict and the extermination of people for reasons of gender, ethnicity or religion.”