Today saw the launch of the 16 Days of Activism campaign. Every year, these 16 days are spent bringing awareness to gender based violence and how survivors can get the help they need. The launch began with a ceremony, followed by a march through Belize City streets. Courtney Menzies was there and has this story.
Orange is the color for the next two weeks as Belize observes 16 Days of Activism to End Gender Based Violence. And today the Civic Center was bursting with that bright orange as the launch of the campaign commenced.
And with 2025 seeing an uptick in femicides - mostly by the hands of a current or former partner - the Minister for Gender Affairs says that the solution to this problem will take a community effort.
Thea Garcia Ramirez, Minister of Gender Affairs
"I think that for everyone, you have to look at what part you play in it and you have to really recognize that we all have a responsibility as community members and as a leader myself, I think I have a duty to ensure that I do everything within my possibility to help prevent this whether it's by stricter laws that close loopholes, ensuring that we are unable to protect more, to ensure that we are able to advocate for stricter penalties again gender based violence. We each have a part to do, even as media houses, you guys have a terrific platform to advocate and to educate and so everybody has a part to play."
And she added that her Ministry has been working on new legislation to help protect women who need urgent assistance.
Thea Garcia Ramirez, Minister of Gender Affairs
"I think that our response as legislators has been very quick already, there are two bills up at the House and hopefully we can get those through at the next sitting. We're seeking to amend the JP act and the DV act to ensure that senior justices of the peace, a select group, who would have had training would be able to at a police station, issue an interim protection order valid for 72 hours and we don't want to take the authority away from the courts, away from the magistracy, so it's only for 72 hours but that would cover you on a long weekend up until you can go to a magistrate court, to a family court, to seek a protection order and being that it would be given at a police station, the police would know about it and would be able to enforce it immediately."
But ultimately, she explained that even with the right resources, it boils down to how society treats gender based violence:
Thea Garcia Ramirez, Minister of Gender Affairs
"When we say the system is broken, we are all the system, the community is the system, the society is the system and so yes we desperately need a reset, we need a reboot, and we need to ensure that we are all sensitized, we are all engaged, that we all do the right thing."
Following that ceremony, the Belize City streets leading to the House of Culture were filled with students, marching bands, police officers, parliamentarians, and more as they marched for the survivors and victims of GBV.
