Focus on men
“Anti-machismo number”: New hotline in Colombia combats violence against women
Thousands demonstrate in Bogotá on International Women’s Day for more equality and against sexual violence
© Fernando Vergara / DPA
Colombia has a growing problem with violence against women. Often behind this is the widespread understanding that men have to be dominant. A new phone number wants to change that.
“I hit my wife. I’ve lost my temper. I’m jealous and don’t know what to do.” The callers to the new hotline in Colombia, which aims to combat violence against women, are young and old, poor and rich. But they all have one thing in common: They are male.
Instead of focusing on women, the new hotline is focusing on men. In conversation, they should talk about their frustration and anger in order to get a better grip on their temperament. The aim behind the so-called “calming hotline” (span. “Línea Calma) is not only to prevent violence, but also to combat one of its basic causes: machismo, which the Duden defines as an” excessive feeling of male superiority and vitality ” In Latin America, the belief that men must be dominant is often still firmly anchored in society.
By using their own problems to get men to understand how machismo is hurting their lives and those of their fellow human beings, the program seeks to initiate profound cultural change, said Nicolás Montero, head of the cultural department in Bogotá.New York Times“. His office introduced the hotline at the beginning of September after a pilot project.
Around a dozen callers a day
The “calming hotline” was set up by the government headed by Claudia López, who last year became the first woman and the first openly lesbian woman to be mayor of Bogotá. López has declared war on machismo, the hotline is only the first step. But critics doubt whether the target group will accept the offer. Many Colombian men say they know machismo exists, but very few see the problem in themselves. Taxi driver Pedro Torres, 58, said the “NY Times“that the number was a” good idea “, but he doubts that men would call -” out of embarrassment “.
After all, around a dozen men call the hotline every day. At the end of the line, around ten psychologists sit in a small office. They all convey the idea that machismo not only harms women but also men themselves by putting them in the category “Men must be strong, must not fail and not cry”. This in turn makes them vulnerable to isolation and violence.
“I want you to know that this hotline does not make any judgment about any kind of sexual orientation,” said 26-year-old Daniel Galeano, reassuring a caller who is having a hard time talking about the separation from a man. Another psychologist, Juan Francisco Valencia, 28, speaks to another caller about a woman’s rejection: “The first thing I have to tell you is that you can’t control this. In the end, that was your choice.”
Fight against machismo
The fight against machismo began long ago in Latin America. For a few years now, more and more women from Mexico to Argentina have taken to the streets to protest for more equality and against the patriarchal system. They demonstrate against the increasing number of femicides (feminicide), for the legalization of abortions and loudly promote the #MeToo movement. “It wasn’t my fault or where I was or how I dressed. You are the rapist,” said tens of thousands of women in 2019 Protests against sexual violence across Latin America.
In Colombia, where according to government information a woman is sexually abused every 34 minutes, there are now “anti-machismo” workshops and courses against microaggressions at universities. In Mexico, Costa Rica and Brazil, nonprofits offer Therapies for healthy masculinity apart from the image of the strong man. More and more Latin American governments are not only supporting the education of abusers, but recently also paternity courses.
Mauro A. Vargas Urías, the founder of Gendes, a Mexican organization that deals with masculinity, believes that machismo is an “oppressive” and “hegemonic” system that can be changed. “Since it is a system that we have learned, we can unlearn it in order to learn it again,” he told the “NY Times“. The head of the cultural authority in Bogotá, Nicolás Montero, is also optimistic.” Imagine this headline in 20 years: Machismo has been exterminated. “
It remains to be seen whether 20 years will be enough to overthrow a centuries-old system. But the “reassurance hotline” could be another important step.
Sources: “NY Times“,”Guardian“,”Sisma mujer“,”Deutschlandfunk“