SANTIAGO – Today Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and First Lady, Cecilia Morel, commemorated the International Women’s Day with a massive ceremony at La Moneda, in which 23 exemplary women were honored for their great contribution to the world and integral development of the South American country.
The ceremony began with the entrance to the presidential palace of the 23 women, each chosen by a ministry, who inspire and who have marked and left their mark , accompanied by the First Lady and the Minister of Women and Gender Equality, Isabel Plá.
En el marco de la conmemoración al #DíaInternacionaldelaMujer en el Palacio de La Moneda, la Primera Dama @ceciliamorel y la ministra @isabelpla , ingresaron a la Casa de Gobierno junto a 23 mujeres, inspiradoras de cada ministerio #MujeresqueInspiran pic.twitter.com/O4i3mDxXqF
— Ministerio de la Mujer y la EG. (@MinMujeryEG) March 8, 2019
During the ceremony, each of the women was accompanied by the minister of the portfolio who chose her and, at the end of the ceremony, they took the stage to be recognized by their example.
“We have a firm conviction and a firm commitment to do whatever is necessary to move forward with speed and force towards a Chile where men and women have the same rights, duties and dignity, and also a Chile with a culture of zero tolerance against type of violence, abuse, mistreatment or harassment against women,” said the President, who in the middle of the ceremony asked for a minute of silence for the victims of femicide.
For her part, the First Lady said that “with more strength than ever I want to invite you to, once again, be the unity among us, what brings us together and mobilizes, since it has been that unity that has given us the strength to achieve all our conquests.”
#8M2019 es un día para conmemorar, pero también para no olvidar. Hoy todas somos Carolina Muñoz, Nabila Rifo, Katherine Medel y Carolina Zamora mujeres víctimas de brutales y cobardes ataques. Como sociedad debemos decir BASTA. pic.twitter.com/7ivg5SJYeO
— Cecilia Morel Montes (@ceciliamorel) March 8, 2019
At the ceremony, which was attended by ministers, undersecretaries, authorities and representatives of civil society, the President also signed the bill that creates the figure of cyber-bullying and establishes penalties for those who commit it. The initiative seeks to punish all forms of harassment through electronic means.
Piñera also made announcements such as the creation of a Monitoring Unit for Precautionary Measures and Protection Measures, to guarantee the protection of victims of violence who denounce their aggressors, the creation of the Gender Equality Report at Work, as an instrument to make visible and transparent the working conditions of women and the creation of a Public Registry of Women for Directories.
Since its announcement on May 23, the Women’s Agenda has become one of the priorities for the Government, in order to promote reforms and State policies , to consolidate in Chile full equality of rights, duties, opportunities and, Above all, the recognition of equal dignity for women and men.
In this way, the Head of the State stressed some of the advances, such as the enactment of the law that establishes the Maternal Jurisdiction for the Armed Forces, Of Order and Public Security and the law for the Free Exercise of Breastfeeding, soon to be enacted.
Hoy firmamos proy #LeyCiberAcoso q castigará todo delito de acoso cibernético. Estamos 100% comprometidos con igualdad de derechos, deberes y dignidad entre hombres y mujeres y con tolerancia 0 contra toda violencia o abuso a mujeres. ¡#FelizDíaDeLaMujer! https://t.co/E4lFMkjzBd pic.twitter.com/bqYitUZRw0
— Sebastian Piñera (@sebastianpinera) March 8, 2019
In addition, the discussion that establishes the right to Sala Cuna for the children of all the workers has been urgently advanced to the second step in the Congress The Integral Law against Violence, the Constitutional Reform that establishes the duty of the State to guarantee the equal rights; and the reform that puts an end to the impediment for women to remarry.
“The day we have full equality of rights, duties and dignity, the day we all have zero tolerance against violence, not only women will be better, the whole society will be better, because it is a cause – and I want to say it very clearly – that it is not only for women, it is also for men, or at least for all men who have listened attentively to that voice and that noble and just cause, “concluded the President.
