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 Editorials | Issues | May 2008 
Ethics - The Best Weapon Against Domestic Violence
 Helda Martínez - Inter Press Service
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Bogotá - Domestic violence, which is widespread in Latin America as in the rest of the world, makes it imperative to recover ethics as the core value for practices and efforts aimed at creating more equitable and just societies.
This was one of the conclusions of the regional conference on interfaith dialogue to overcome domestic violence, held Monday to Wednesday in Bogotá and attended by delegates from 16 countries and 13 religious denominations, and from institutions that work with children in Latin America.
"What is alarming is that the family, which should be a safe refuge for children, frequently becomes a place of danger," Argentine Catholic priest José Antonio Díaz, executive secretary of the family and life department of the Latin American Bishops’ Conference (CELAM), told IPS.
Domestic violence has been catapulted into international headlines this week by the case of Josef Fritzl in Austria, who kept his daughter imprisoned in a cellar for 24 years, fathering six children by her, three of whom were also held in the windowless secret basement.
The conference was organised by the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) and had the support of CELAM, the Christian relief agency World Vision International and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
"We care about all people, but especially about the physical, psychological and spiritual health of children, the most precious gift that God gives to families and societies, which must be treasured because humanity is forged in the family, and raising and educating children is mainly the responsibility of the family," said Díaz.
The conference was held "in a climate of dialogue, openness and listening to ‘the other’ - elements that are essential building blocks for future efforts," Mercedes Román, a Catholic activist from Ecuador who is the coordinator of the GNRC for Latin America and the Caribbean, commented to IPS.
"Great progress has been made in this inter-religious effort in recent years, especially in Latin America," said Díaz.
"I am very hopeful that these inter-religious dialogues will take on greater cohesion in order for people in our countries to see that we care about the most essential issues and are working together with a focus on children, the most vulnerable of all," he said.
Román noted that in the last few years, the number of countries and religions brought together by the GNRC, which was created in 2000, has expanded in the region.
"This is especially important if we take into account the fact that Latin America is above all Christian, and especially Roman Catholic," she added. "But persistent efforts have brought about an expansion of the dialogue, and I feel that we have overcome resistance, something that is favourable for the growth of work focused on ethics."
The results of years of efforts, strengthened by an earlier conference held in Bogotá in 2005, with the participation of the Andean region countries, are being compiled in a manual to be presented at a May 24-26 international forum on children in Hiroshima, Japan.
"The central focus of the manual, which has already been sent to the printer’s, is ethical education in which fundamental principles like respect, empathy, reconciliation and responsibility come together," said Román.
The GNRC’s proposal is to mesh these basic values with others, depending on the context. "In slum neighbourhoods, for example, it is important to work on questions of identity and self-esteem, to be able to foment self-respect and respect for others," said Román.
The content of the manual is used in workshops held at the regional, subregional and national levels. "We train children and adults, developing a methodology for intergenerational dialogue that stresses the importance of listening to the voices of both young and old," she explained.
With respect to the workshops, Román specifically pointed to the ones organised along the border between Colombia and Ecuador, with the participation of indigenous people and poor rural villagers displaced by Colombia’s four-decade civil war.
"Prior to the (diplomatic) crisis (that broke out between the two countries in March), we held workshops, the importance of which was underlined by the touchy situation along the border," she said.
In March, Bogotá staged a bombing raid on a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia camp across the border in Ecuador, which prompted Quito to break off diplomatic ties. |
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