Venezuelan security forces use sexual violence and gender stereotypes to humiliate their victims, UN Mission denounces

The Independent international UN mission for Venezuela documented 11 cases involving 19 victims of sexual and gender-based violence (one man, 19 women – including an elderly woman – and five girls) during the period following the presidential elections, details a reportreleased in full this Tuesday, October 15, where “detailed conclusions are presented on the serious human rights violations and crimes committed in Venezuela against opposition people or perceived as such during the period between September 1, 2023 and September 31 August 2024.”

The cases and situations documented by the mission in this period indicate that officials of the GNB, the PNB and the Dgcim perpetrated the majority of acts of sexual and gender violence against women and girls who were detained and estimated. as guarimberas: “These events generally took place in preventive detention centers, such as the Dgcim of Boleíta and different GNB zone commands in different states, and at the PNB headquarters of Maripérez, in Caracas.”

“Generally, the events occurred during the period before the presentation to court and before the people were transferred to other detention centers,” he warns.

The UN Mission points out that security forces used gender stereotypes to exercise control, punishment and humiliation against women, men and even boys and girls: “Insults of ‘bitch’ or ‘whore’ are intended to reduce women to their sexuality, which is seen as something inherently negative and dangerous if not controlled.”

“Likewise, men were attacked for their sexual orientation with homophobic insults that equated homosexuality with weakness, and questioning their masculinity as a form of humiliation,” he details.

Relatives of people detained during the latest protests wait for news in front of the Detention Center of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) known as Zone 7, in Caracas on August 1, 2024. Photo: Raúl ARBOLEDA / AFP

What does the mission report say about the use of sexual violence and gender stereotypes?

The acts of sexual and gender-based violence that were investigated by the UN Mission included: threats of rape and acts of sexual violence; sexual violence, including fondling of breasts, buttocks and genitals; forced nudity in front of guards and other detainees of the opposite sex, sometimes with the obligation to perform physical exercises; invasive searches; sexual exploitation and coercive transactional sex; sexist insults; and denial of sexual and reproductive rights.

There was difficulty documenting the cases. Access to victims, witnesses and relatives was considerably restricted. Many of the victims were afraid to report and talk to outside actors. Other survivors of sexual violence prefer not to make public the violation of their rights. Furthermore, some victims came to normalize certain violations of their integrity, such as invasive searches and acts of forced nudity when visiting places of detention.

Since most of the detainees are men, “mothers and wives, especially, have suffered a disproportionate impact due to the gender roles traditionally assigned to women.”

Members of the anti-riot squad of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) arrest a man during a demonstration called by the opposition in Chacao, greater Caracas, on July 30, 2024. Photo: Juan Calero/AFP

Dehumanization and humiliation of detainees, what security forces seek according to the UN Mission

Until August 24, Foro Penal reported 226 women and girls detained, the UN Mission reported. “On many occasions, the arrests were accompanied by gender violence, especially against women and girls, with a particular focus on the dehumanization and humiliation of the detainees,” he asserts.

In one of the documented cases, two girls reported that they were detained by a GNB commando “and that the officials insulted them and touched them between their legs, over their clothes, while they beat them.”

In another case, the Mission noted that a mother and a daughter under 18 years of age, who were detained on August 3 by Dgcim agents: “During their transfer to the Dgcim headquarters, the officials touched the girl’s genitals. ”.

Two other girls, aged 16 and 17, were arrested by the GNB in ​​a northeastern state: “The arrest occurred while they were walking along the street where there was a demonstration. The girls were handed over to PNB officials, who subjected them to threats, groping – including on the genitals – and deprivation of food in an intimidating context.”

“The Mission investigated the case of a girl who suffered ill-treatment in detention even though she had stated that she was pregnant. The victim was forced to do physical exercises such as jumping and jogging, while they threatened to have her abort for being a ‘fucking bitch,'” the report details.