"For women's lives, not one more death". (News and Meetings).

For the second consecutive year, the Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe contra la Violencia Domestica y Sexual (Latin American and Caribbean Women's Network against Sexual and Domestic Violence) invited national networks and women's organizations to participate in the Campaign "For Women's Lives, Not One More Death" in commemoration of November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women.

This initiative emerged from the "Proposals for Action" Workshop held June 8, 2002 by Isis Internacional during the 2001 Symposium "Gender Violence, Health and Rights in the Americas" in Cancun, Mexico. The network has made it clear that the murder of women for reasons of gender will not be tolerated.

By uniting efforts that channel the actions of the anti-violence movement, this problem can be placed on the public agenda of every country in the region.

The murder of hundreds of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico has come to be seen as one of the most emblematic cases of gender violence in the region. From 1993 to mid-2002, at least 269 women have been killed for reasons that remain unclear to officials of the justice system. The organization Casa Amiga de Ciudad Juarez reports that more women have been killed in this border zone than during the Gulf War, where 248 soldiers gave their lives. However, despite international outrage in response to this situation, the number of women victims continues to increase.

And there are other examples. Since 1998, a total of 270 women from the Dominican Republic have been murdered by their partners. From January to August 2002 alone, 49 women have been killed, according to data collected by feminist lawyer Susi Pola for the newspaper El Nacional. And in Uruguay, multiple murders of women have led the members of the Montevidean group Zona 9 to launch the Campaign "We Stand for Life: Not One More Death Due to Domestic Violence" for the second consecutive year.

The Campaign "For Women's Lives, Not One More Death" represents a tremendous challenge for the activists of LACWHN and the women's movement due to the lack of verifiable records, limited understanding of femicide, minimal existing data and the few cases denounced which are actually tried and punished.

Therefore, all activists in the region were encouraged to contribute to this campaign by compiling information about femicide, documenting cases in their respective countries, sharing information and increasing awareness about gender-based violence, taking part in public activities of protest, and challenging those government agencies that have the power to implement the necessary measures to react to this terrible reality.

The specific changes proposed through this campaign were:

* To sensitize the population to violeence against women as a public health concern and a violation of human rights;

* To denounce the murder of women and discover those responsible;

* To create a nationwide record of the homicides that occur as a result of gender violence;

* To proclaim the right to live free from violence; and

* To encourage respect for the physical integrity of women and children throughout our region.

For more information, visit the website of Isis Internacional at www.isis.cl