Argentina announces new gender violence plan

A protest against gender violence in June in Buenos Aires drew thousands of people.

The Argentine President, Mauricio Macri, has announced a national plan to fight violence against women.

Mr Macri said every 37 hours a woman was attacked in Argentina and that education was the key to ending deeply rooted cultural patterns of violence.

The plan, due to start next year, includes creating a network of women's refuges, and money for the electronic tagging of violent men.

Last year 235 women were killed in gender violence incidents in Argentina.

The government's National Plan for the Eradication of Violence against Women is putting into force a 2009 law.

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Presenting the plan President Macri said: "We all need to commit ourselves. This is not only the job of government it is for society too."

Maria Fabiana Tunez, the president of the National Council of Women, a government agency, said the plan would last three years and include introducing gender violence awareness into the school curriculum. Staffing at a telephone helpline for women will also be increased.

The national plan comes after a series of rallies and demonstrations in several cities last year.

The initial demonstration last year followed the murder of a 14-year-old pregnant schoolgirl, Chiara Paez, who was found buried in her boyfriend's garden three days after being reported missing in the town of Rufino in central Santa Fe province.

In the past year there have been protests elsewhere in Latin America against gender violence, in countries including Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia and Brazil.