Peru Gives Benefits to Kids Orphaned Through Femicide

Peru’s government has announced it will financially support kids who've lost their mothers to femicide. Their guardians, typically family members, will receive a stipend of $100 a month for basic necessities until those children reach 18 years of age. 

Those seeking higher education will receive financial aid until they graduate and disabled people who were being cared for by a victim of femicide will be given an allowance by the government.

Psychological counseling will also be made available to children who lost their mothers due to the violence, in an effort to help them deal with the trauma. This is all done in an effort to spread awareness on the crisis.

In 2019, 205 children lost their mothers to femicide. Since 2011, when law against femicide was introduced, 1,200 women died to the violence. According to the UN, Latin America and the Caribbean have some of the highest rates of femicide.

The Realist Woman’s take:

I think the government taking responsibility for these kids is amazing. They are the casualties of these horrific crimes. The fact that they’ve extended that care to those over the age of 18 and those disabled is commendable. 

While I am on board with their support of these kids, they are only taking care of the symptom. The root is this problem is a culture of male toxicity and violence against women. Not only do the laws against femicide need to be enforced but this awareness campaign on behalf of the government is crucial to helping end this violence and should be taught in schools to change behaviors. Awareness and changing the behaviors of men who perceive women as inferior and this violence as normal, will take some time. Until then, this government will continue to see children lose their mothers to femicide.