Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has announced her administration’s latest initiative to take on the problem of gender violence: visiting every home in the nation’s capital to inform women of the institutions available to victims in need of support.

The S.O.S. Mujeres (S.O.S. Women) program will be added to 11 other initiatives launched by the city government in November of last year, when Mayor Sheinbaum activated the gender violence alert.

“ [S.O.S. Mujeres] … focuses on what we’ve been doing to locate and work with cases of femicide that have occurred in Mexico City,” Sheinbaum told a press conference on Thursday.

“These cases stem from a circle of violence linked fundamentally to the home and the people closest to the victims,” she added.

She said that many victims feel they have nowhere to turn and are unaware of the various institutions and support programs available to them.

The S.O.S. Mujeres program aims to send representatives to people’s doors to inform them of government programs.

“They’re going to go house by house. They have been trained and informed to tell each family, and in particular each woman, that if you’re a victim of violence, these are the institutions that can help and protect you,” said Sheinbaum.

Head of the city’s Ministry of Women Ingrid Gómez Saracíba said that the most reported crime against women is family violence. Of the 22,000 current open cases of gender violence, 98% of the women reported experiencing it in their homes.

The majority of the violence reported — 57% — is psychological and emotional, while the second most reported type is physical.

“There are many women who for various reasons are not coming [to report violence] and we’re going to come to them, give information, accompany them, protect them,” said Sheinbaum.

The recent murders of Ingrid Escamilla and a 7-year-old girl named Fátima sparked outrage among those calling for gender justice and equality.

Women across the country have planned a national strike for Monday, March 9, to call attention to the problem and demand the government take action.

Federal Interior Minister Olga Sánchez Cordero admitted in February that the federal government had “arrived late” in its actions to combat gender violence, but said that it was now committed to dealing with the problem directly.

Source: 24 Horas (sp)