Love, Family Values and Reconciliation for All, but What about Rights, Justice and Citizenship for Women? TheFSLN, the Women's Movement, and Violence against Women inNicaragua

Abstract

This article explores the apparent contradictions of the FSLN's commitment to both 'restoring' women's rights regarding violence against women and promoting Christian family values and reconciliation. It proposes an explanation based on the state's use of moral regulation to make a personified patriarchal social order seem normal by encouraging consent and, when necessary, applying coercion. Improved formal recognition of rights is belied by the continued inappropriate use of mediation and other practices that blame women, naturalise violence, and contribute to aggressors' impunity. Furthermore, the government has sanctioned aggressive tactics against feminists and women's organisations, who counter this social order with active citizenship.

“We Are Prisoners in Our Own Homes”: Connecting the Environment, Gender-Based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights to Sport for Development and Peace in Nicaragua

“…critics of the government's human rights record have increasingly become the targets of death threats, intimidation, online defamation campaigns, harassment, surveillance, assault, and judicial persecution" [101]. Women's and girls' sexual and reproductive health rights, and women's rights more broadly, continue to be challenged in this context, with the FSLN supporting the criminalization of abortion [102]. This is subject to imprisonment for up to two years, regardless of the circumstances (e.g., rape or incest), forcing "women and girls facing unwanted pregnancies to have clandestine abortions, at great risk to their health and lives," [101].…”

“…Through this stance, the current government also has failed to demonstrate any tangible commitments to Law 779, which came into effect in June 2012. Law 779 criminalizes violence against women, rejects deeply rooted patriarchal values and directly conflates machismo-or the aggressive paternalism and sense of male entitlement institutionalizes across Nicaragua-while also strongly denouncing violence against women in both public and private spheres [61,102]. Overall, the political, environmental, social and economic experiences of Nicaraguan women outlined here underline some of the challenges involved in locating safe spaces through which to participate in SGD programming, particularly in remote, rural communities mostly predominantly impacted by climate change.…”

The Making and Unmaking of Feminicidio/Femicidio Laws in Mexico and Nicaragua

“…Domestically, the most important alliance shaping Nicaragua's gender regime is the one Ortega has established with conservative religious groups (Neumann, forthcoming). To maintain their support, Ortega has publicly opposed abortion (illegal since 2006), employed family‐centric rhetoric (Jubb ), and used public resources to support religious groups (Lara ). Ortega's 2011 presidential campaign slogan was “Christian, Socialist, Solidarity” and both Ortega and Murillo often reference the government's goal of “strengthening the unity of the Nicaraguan family” ( El 19 Digital ).…”

Transnational Governance, Local Politics, and Gender Violence Law in Nicaragua

“…To appeal to the former, he continued to utilize a "reconciliation" and "family values" message (Jubb 2014), including opposition to abortion, which has been outlawed in Nicaragua since 2006 (Kampwirth 2008). To appease the latter, he attempted to maintain a stable business climate and encouraged foreign investment in high-profile projects such as a controversial interoceanic canal whose outcome is still uncertain (Fendt 2015).…”