Women in times of Pandemic | @womenintimes
This Instagram page aims to tell stories about Latin American and Caribbean women during the pandemic period through illustration and animation. The project invites Latinas illustrators to collaborate, illustrating stories about those women and specific posts about transversal themes.
I joined the project in September 2020 and developed 16 illustrations seen below. Currently, I am collaborating with animation posts to celebrate specific dates. You can check these animations in my other project here at Behance.
I joined the project in September 2020 and developed 16 illustrations seen below. Currently, I am collaborating with animation posts to celebrate specific dates. You can check these animations in my other project here at Behance.
28/09: 28th September is a day to celebrate the campaign to decriminalize abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Latin America is the place in the world with the most restrictive laws on access to abortion.
These are unjust laws because it prevents women from deciding the present and the future of their bodies.
During the covid-19 pandemic, women and girls who need abortion as an act of care suffer from lack of protection in a health crisis that exacerbates inequality.
Today is to celebrate a struggle that continues until we all have the autonomy to inhabit our own body as a home. Until fair laws give us back what is ours.
#juntassomosmasfuertes #empoderamientofeminino #abortolegaleseguro #mulheresemluta #esurgente #abortolegal2020 #womenofillustration (please check the original posts here )
29/09, 30/09 and 01/10: Series about a girl in Brazil who suffered sexual assaults during her entire life and eventually got pregnant. The government prevented her access to the legal abortion procedure (rape followed by a pregnancy, with the aggravation of her age), but other Brazilian institutes and groups of support helped her to obtain the procedure guaranteed by law.
She was just a little girl.
She lived with her grandmother and grandfather in Espírito Santo, Brazil. For almost half her life, she suffered sexual violence. But the pandemic intensified her vulnerability: for weeks, no one realized the truth of the rape on her body.
As soon as she found out about the pregnancy, the grandmother sought support so that the ten-year-old girl could terminate the pregnancy.
She lived with her grandmother and grandfather in Espírito Santo, Brazil. For almost half her life, she suffered sexual violence. But the pandemic intensified her vulnerability: for weeks, no one realized the truth of the rape on her body.
As soon as she found out about the pregnancy, the grandmother sought support so that the ten-year-old girl could terminate the pregnancy.
According to the Brazilian Penal Code, in force since 1940, the girl had a right to legal abortion.
She was a victim of rape, and a pregnancy at age 10 could kill her. But a hospital in Espírito Santo
refused to abide by the law and denied her the required care. People broke into her home, screaming
that she was a murderer. Reports indicate that even a State Minister wanted to intervene to prevent the
abortion procedure. Many forces sought to undermine the protection she was entitled to. But there
were also those who wanted help protect her life, dignity and health as part of a just cause.
She was a victim of rape, and a pregnancy at age 10 could kill her. But a hospital in Espírito Santo
refused to abide by the law and denied her the required care. People broke into her home, screaming
that she was a murderer. Reports indicate that even a State Minister wanted to intervene to prevent the
abortion procedure. Many forces sought to undermine the protection she was entitled to. But there
were also those who wanted help protect her life, dignity and health as part of a just cause.
Individuals and institutions throughout Brazil mobilized to facilitate the procedure guaranteed by law.
The girl flew for the first time, to another state, where she could receive the health care she needed, both for her body and anguished mental state. Hate followed her all the way to the hospital doors. A refugee in her own country, the girl arrived at the hospital hidden in the trunk of a car.
The abortion was carried out and the law was respected. But the violence implied in disclosing a little girl’s personal information, and the illegal and unjust barriers to the exercise of her rights must not be forgotten and must not be repeated.
The girl flew for the first time, to another state, where she could receive the health care she needed, both for her body and anguished mental state. Hate followed her all the way to the hospital doors. A refugee in her own country, the girl arrived at the hospital hidden in the trunk of a car.
The abortion was carried out and the law was respected. But the violence implied in disclosing a little girl’s personal information, and the illegal and unjust barriers to the exercise of her rights must not be forgotten and must not be repeated.
#juntassomosmasfuertes #abortolegaleseguro #niñasnomadres #gravidezaos10mata #womenofillustration #mulheresemluta #micuerpomidecision #empoderamientofeminino (please check the original posts here, here and here)
02/10, 03/10 and 04/10: Series about Rosaura Almonte Hernández, known as "Esperancita", a 16 years old girl in the Dominican Republic who died after being prevented from a medical team to receive both medical treatments and the abortion procedure.
Rosaura Almonte Hernández, known as “Esperancita” was 16 years old.
It was 2012 when Esperancita was admitted to a hospital in the Dominican Republic. After being diagnosed with leukemia, with her mother, Rosa Hernández at her side, Esperancita requested chemotheraphy treatment.
Despite the medical indication that she should also have a therapeutic abortion, the medical team denied her the procedure. And they went even further: they refused to administer the chemotherapy that could save Esperancita’s life.
It was 2012 when Esperancita was admitted to a hospital in the Dominican Republic. After being diagnosed with leukemia, with her mother, Rosa Hernández at her side, Esperancita requested chemotheraphy treatment.
Despite the medical indication that she should also have a therapeutic abortion, the medical team denied her the procedure. And they went even further: they refused to administer the chemotherapy that could save Esperancita’s life.
The medical team that denied Esperancita medical care claimed that abortion was not allowed under the Penal Code and the Constitution of the Dominican Republic. During the three weeks she spent in the hospital, they refused to begin chemotherapy treatment to avoid putting the fetus at risk. The lack of timely and appropriate treatment killed the young girl, who was only 16. The death sentence was issued by the health service, which stripped Esperancita of her bodily autonomy.
Esperancita’s mother, Rosa, sought out support from lawyers to investigate the case and obtain justice for her daughter.
No investigation was conducted for four years after the death of the adolescent.
In 2020, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accepted Esperancita’s case.
The Court’s recognition once again reminds us that the health needs of women and girls must be a central concern of governments.
No investigation was conducted for four years after the death of the adolescent.
In 2020, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accepted Esperancita’s case.
The Court’s recognition once again reminds us that the health needs of women and girls must be a central concern of governments.
#micuerpomidecision #mulheresemluta #abortolegalyseguro #charcoal (please check the original posts here, here and here)
05/10: A post about the difference between "To decriminalize" and "To legalize" the abortion procedure.
Criminal laws should not regulate health needs. That is how women's movements in Latin America and the Caribbean speak.
To decriminalize abortion would be the first step, as it would remove the criminal right from the scene to regulate the experience of abortion. Abortion would then cease to be illicit behaviour.
Legalizing means going further: it is about calling on different spheres of public policy to regulate the procedure, strengthening it as a right.
To decriminalize abortion would be the first step, as it would remove the criminal right from the scene to regulate the experience of abortion. Abortion would then cease to be illicit behaviour.
Legalizing means going further: it is about calling on different spheres of public policy to regulate the procedure, strengthening it as a right.
#nepresanemmorta #quesealey #abortolegal2020 #mulheresemluta #abortolegalyseguro #womenofillustration (please check the original post here )
06/10 and 07/10: Series about "La ola verde".
The history of the green scarf started in Argentina, in the early 2000s, on the initiative of a National Campaign for the right to abortion.
The scarf was a symbol borrowed from another women's movement, victims of the dictatorship in Argentina, who marched for memory and truth, wearing a white scarf on their heads.
In 2018, the green scarf was worn by a giant wave of women who took Argentine streets. It was the “green wave” in defence of the right to legal, safe and free abortion.
In recent years, green pañuelos have also been seen in countries like Brazil, Mexico and Chile, during marches for abortion and demonstrations against the macho violence that punishes women and children.
Today, the green pañuelo is part of a growing regional movement and promises that women and children in Latin America and the Caribbean have autonomous bodies, protected by fair laws and public policies.
The scarf was a symbol borrowed from another women's movement, victims of the dictatorship in Argentina, who marched for memory and truth, wearing a white scarf on their heads.
In 2018, the green scarf was worn by a giant wave of women who took Argentine streets. It was the “green wave” in defence of the right to legal, safe and free abortion.
In recent years, green pañuelos have also been seen in countries like Brazil, Mexico and Chile, during marches for abortion and demonstrations against the macho violence that punishes women and children.
Today, the green pañuelo is part of a growing regional movement and promises that women and children in Latin America and the Caribbean have autonomous bodies, protected by fair laws and public policies.
#nepresanemmorta #mulheresemluta #abortolegalyseguro #mareaverde #womenofillustration #quesealey #abortolegal2020 (please check the original posts here and here)
08/10, 09/10, 10/10, 11/10 and 12/10: Series about forced pregnancy during childhood.
The 10-year-old girl's family only found out she had been abused by her stepfather when her belly grew.
The family doctor lied saying that terminating the pregnancy would be riskier than giving birth. The girl felt afraid and ended up thinking that childbirth was probably better than an IV stick. At the hospital, while preparing for the cesarean section, she spent time drawing and painting.
In her city in Argentina’s countryside, the girl never any sex education classes, but an evangelical church offered her a baby shower, decorated in blue. It must have been a strange party, not only because it was held in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, but because there was no reason to celebrate: girls should not be forced to be mothers.
The family doctor lied saying that terminating the pregnancy would be riskier than giving birth. The girl felt afraid and ended up thinking that childbirth was probably better than an IV stick. At the hospital, while preparing for the cesarean section, she spent time drawing and painting.
In her city in Argentina’s countryside, the girl never any sex education classes, but an evangelical church offered her a baby shower, decorated in blue. It must have been a strange party, not only because it was held in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, but because there was no reason to celebrate: girls should not be forced to be mothers.
According to the Pan American Health Organization, Latin America and the Caribbean is the only region in the world where the number of births by girls aged 10 to 14 has grown in recent years.
This trend is a result of the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health education and services, sexual violence, often committed by family members, and the criminalization of abortion. In 2019, the organizations Centro de Derechos Reproductivos, Planned Parenthood Global, Mujeres Transformando el Mundo Guatemala, Observatorio en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva Guatemala, Surkuna Ecuador, Fundación Desafío Ecuador y Debevoise & Plimpton LLP presented to the UN Human Rights Committee four emblematic cases of forced motherhood, which took place in Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, to seek justice for girls survivors of sexual violence who were forced to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth.
This trend is a result of the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health education and services, sexual violence, often committed by family members, and the criminalization of abortion. In 2019, the organizations Centro de Derechos Reproductivos, Planned Parenthood Global, Mujeres Transformando el Mundo Guatemala, Observatorio en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva Guatemala, Surkuna Ecuador, Fundación Desafío Ecuador y Debevoise & Plimpton LLP presented to the UN Human Rights Committee four emblematic cases of forced motherhood, which took place in Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, to seek justice for girls survivors of sexual violence who were forced to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth.
At the age of 13, Norma found herself pregnant after being raped by her own father. In Ecuador, abortion is legal when the woman’s health or life is at risk, but Norma's right was not guaranteed.
Fátima was 12 years old when she became pregnant after being raped by a powerful man who helped her family. In Guatemala, abortion is a crime except when a woman's life is at risk, but Fatima's life was not taken seriously.
Lucía was raped for more than a year by the priest who coordinated her church choir and became pregnant at the age of 14. Susana was raped by her grandfather from six to 13 years old, when she became pregnant. In Nicaragua, where Lucía and Susana live, abortion is prohibited in all cases.
Norma, Fátima and Lúcia wanted to die. Fátima and Lucía had to leave school. To this day, Susana has to hide away from her grandfather's threats. The four girls were forced to carry a pregnancy to term, give birth and raise babies, and their perpetrators were never held responsible. Today, they tell their stories to fight for the human rights of girls, which include playing, studying and building their life projects without violence. https://www.ninasnomadres.org/historias.php
Fátima was 12 years old when she became pregnant after being raped by a powerful man who helped her family. In Guatemala, abortion is a crime except when a woman's life is at risk, but Fatima's life was not taken seriously.
Lucía was raped for more than a year by the priest who coordinated her church choir and became pregnant at the age of 14. Susana was raped by her grandfather from six to 13 years old, when she became pregnant. In Nicaragua, where Lucía and Susana live, abortion is prohibited in all cases.
Norma, Fátima and Lúcia wanted to die. Fátima and Lucía had to leave school. To this day, Susana has to hide away from her grandfather's threats. The four girls were forced to carry a pregnancy to term, give birth and raise babies, and their perpetrators were never held responsible. Today, they tell their stories to fight for the human rights of girls, which include playing, studying and building their life projects without violence. https://www.ninasnomadres.org/historias.php
Today is the International Day of the Girl Child. In Latin America and the Caribbean, girls’ rights to be girls is under threat.
How can we protect the human rights of girls? If you know people and organizations that fight for girls' rights, share with us!
How can we protect the human rights of girls? If you know people and organizations that fight for girls' rights, share with us!
Research shows that girls under the age of 15 are up to four times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than adult women.
• In Mexico, every day, two girls between the ages of 10 and 11 give birth.
• In Colombia, every day, 15 girls under the age of 15 give birth.
• In Guatemala, the number is 14.
• In Ecuador, it’s 10.
Girls are not mothers. Girls must be free to play, study and grow without fear of violence, and to decide their own life path.
• In Mexico, every day, two girls between the ages of 10 and 11 give birth.
• In Colombia, every day, 15 girls under the age of 15 give birth.
• In Guatemala, the number is 14.
• In Ecuador, it’s 10.
Girls are not mothers. Girls must be free to play, study and grow without fear of violence, and to decide their own life path.
#girlsnotmothers #direitosdacriança #direitossexuaisereprodutivos #derechoshumanos #direitoshumanos #vivasyjugando #gravidezaos10mata #elvioladorerestu #alertafeminista #ativismo #advocacy #familia #womenofillustrarion #osarguatemala #DebevoiseandPlimptonLLP #MTMGuatemala #niñasnomadres #niunamenos #niunamas #violenciadomestica #feminismo #gravidez #womenrights #diainternacionaldelaniña (please check the original posts here, here, here, here and here)
13/10: Post about declaration signed by Trump and Bolsonaro against access to abortion.
The far-right populist governments of Brazil and the United States have a lot in common. Denying all scientific proof of Covid-19’s gravity and spreading misinformation, these two countries alone are responsible for more than a third of all deaths caused by the pandemic in the world.
Brazil and the United States are also united in their hatred of girls and women. While sexual violence against girls and women grows in the pandemic, access to legal abortion is hampered.
In a few days, the two countries will sign an international declaration that supports the restriction of the right to abortion, under the pretext of protecting life and family. Bolsonaro and Trump want freedom to violate human rights of Brazilian and American citizens. To protect their lives, women resist.
Brazil and the United States are also united in their hatred of girls and women. While sexual violence against girls and women grows in the pandemic, access to legal abortion is hampered.
In a few days, the two countries will sign an international declaration that supports the restriction of the right to abortion, under the pretext of protecting life and family. Bolsonaro and Trump want freedom to violate human rights of Brazilian and American citizens. To protect their lives, women resist.
#ondaverde #abortolegalseguroygratuito #abortolegal #alertafeminista #covid_19 #saudedamulher #womenrights #womenofillustration (please check the original post here)
