Havana, December 14 (RHC) -- The National Secretariat of the Federation of Cuban Women has issued a Declaration stating that there is not and there will not be tolerance to gender violence and other behaviors associated with it in Cuba. 

The various legal instruments in force in the country allow facing these phenomena.

The statement from the Cuban women's organizations occurs in the aftermath of the publication of life stories by several women narrating they were sexually abused. Although years have passed, the scars are still open.

The FMC described those as harrowing stories, which show the hairy face of machismo and confirm it.

The statement, published on the Granma newspaper website, stressed that It is up to them and the Cuban justice system to prosecute the legal process with sufficient evidence to find the truth of such unfortunate events.

"Like a lethal virus, discrimination and gender-based violence are spreading throughout the world with its different manifestations: economic, physical, psychological, sexual... Cuba does not escape this phenomenon, despite all the legal, educational and social efforts to eradicate it definitively".

There is not for these cases in Cuba, and there will not be tolerance. The various legal instruments in force in the country make it possible to confront gender violence and other associated behaviors.

"The Federation of Cuban Women and its network of women's and family counseling centers condemn all types of violence and, in the face of these criminal manifestations, provide victims with support, accompaniment, and guidance. The FMC does not judge or punish: it educates and works for a more just society, said the Declaration.

The FMC stated that several people, from institutions and civil society, have spoken out against such events, which shows that awareness against such acts is growing in Cuban society. 

While the corresponding bodies fulfill their function to clarify this and other facts, the Federation of Cuban Women stressed that it keeps its doors open to all those who, being victims of gender violence, need to be heard and accompanied in this process.