On May 31 (four months ago), lawyer Patricia Muñoz’s term as Children’s Defender ended. She applies for this position through a public competition and it is the Commission on Human Rights, Nationality and Citizenship of the Senate that receives the applications. Those who meet the requirements are heard by said Commission and after that a name is proposed to the Senate, who must ratify the proposed person.
For the second time, the Senate voted on the Commission’s proposal and it did not reach the vote in favor of 2/3 of the sitting senators. The appointment was extremely politicized and the Senate has once again given a sad signal that “girls and boys first” is a phrase of spectacle politics.
The Children’s Ombudsman is a young institution created by law No. 21,067 that was promulgated in January 2018. Its importance lies not only in the fact that this population has rights, but it is the duty of the State to defend them with greater attention because they are a vulnerable group due to their age and dependence on adults.
Both for girls and boys and for society in general, the right to live in peace and free of violence is the main right to defend and promote, and therefore a strong institution is needed. Having an interim leadership for such a long period of time weakens it to the detriment of the group it must protect.
In recent months, organized crime gangs have gained relevance and the State has become aware that one of the conditions to face this new reality is inter-institutional coordination. It is therefore essential that the Children’s Ombudsman actively collaborate in this strategy because girls, boys and young people are recruited or kidnapped by these gangs to feed their networks of drug trafficking, prostitution and other crimes of social connotation.
Girls, boys and young people are exposed to increasing degrees of violence in a society that advances in the violent resolution of conflicts and regresses in the capacity for dialogue and participation. A girl or boy who grows up receiving and living in contexts of violence in her family, in her neighborhood, at school and in the media, including social networks, is a person who will resolve her conflicts and frustrations through violence. .
The deterioration of coexistence is a concern that must be addressed by the educational system and, also in this area, the Ombudsman for Children must play an active role supporting the Ministry of Education in the formulation and implementation of public policies.
We are facing a short-term political environment, in which each sector seeks to obtain small advantages over its adversaries. Since girls, boys and young people under 18 years of age do not vote, they are not a public policy priority. Unfortunately the expression “girls and boys first” continues to be a phrase of spectacle politics.
Marcelo Trivelli
Seed Foundation
