Panafrican News Agency

Mauritanian women rise up against increased incidents of gender-based violence

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - Hundreds of women defenders of human rights for women and girls on Wednesday gathered at the Mauritanian Ministry of Interior to denounce the rape and murder of 27-year-old Moima mint Amar in the national capital's commune of Dar Naim.

Moima lost her life on September 4 as a  victim of gender-based violence, according to sympathisers.

The gathering attracted hundreds of members of the Collective of Women Defenders and Fight against Violence against Girls (CDFLVF).

All leading figures of the women's movement in Mauritania for several decades were present at the event. They included  like Ms Aminetou Mint Moctar, president of the Association of Women Heads of Family (AFCF); Ms Lala Aicha Diop Sy, president of the Committee of Solidarity with Victims of Human Rights Violations (CSVVDH); Sektou mint Mohamed of the Collective of Defenders of Women's Rights and the Fight against Violence against Girls; and Salamata Sy, president of the Association for the Promotion of Girls' Education.

The crown cried for "protection of our daughters", and called for legislation to eliminate violence against women, as they  denounced the widespread "violence against women in both urban and rural areas."

They said it affects indiscriminately all ages, all social classes, especially those in vulnerable situations.

The demonstrators deplored "the slowness in becoming aware of a phenomenon that is extremely dangerous to society, in the context of a legal and institutional system that is a victim of our prejudices, which hinders denunciation and tolerates without hindrance almost all forms of violence against women and girls, underestimating the extent of the phenomenon".

Furthermore, the ladies affirmed that since the beginning of the containment imposed by the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), "cases of rape followed by pregnancy and sometimes murder have multiplied throughout the country".

This crime is making headlines at a time when a bill to punish violence against women, jointly drafted by the ministries of Justice, Islamic Affairs and the Ministry of Social Affairs for Children and the Family (MASEF), has been stalled in front of Members of Parliament for several months.
-0- PANA SAS/BEH/MTA/AR 9Sept2020