At the request of the Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado, the Government offers an apology to all women in the country for the errors in the “Guide of Good Practices of Security in Tourist Operations”, which had been approved by the National Commission of Tourist Security (CONSETUR) and published in June 2021, at the same time that said document was withdrawn from the platforms of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), as announced by the Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Alvarado, to the Council of Government.
Yesterday, the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, had instructed the ICT and the National Institute of Women (INAMU), that this document will be revised immediately because it contained statements totally out of place, since they put the responsibility on the victims and reproduced stereotypes of violence against women, absolutely unacceptable.
INAMU will advise on the new Guide
The Minister for the Status of Women and Executive President of INAMU, Marcela Guerrero Campos, said: “Our mission is and will be the defense of women’s human rights and the struggle for equality, we will never lower our guard in this institutional mandate. We recognize the omissions in documents that should ensure and protect the safety of women, and therefore we are assuming the responsibility that corresponds to us”.
The Minister of Tourism confirmed that a Commission will work on a new version of the Guide, in which new INAMU staff will be assist with, in order to count on their leadership and ensure the voice of an expert is heard on these topics.
The head of INAMU confirmed that concrete actions are being taken so that situations like those that happened on January 7, do not happen again. “Women’s autonomy can never be subordinated to any guidelines, regulations or anything similar,” Guerrero Campos stressed.
Guerrero emphasized the need to review the 72-hour protocol to address women victims of sexual aggression in a timely manner. This measure -he said- is being addressed as part of the actions proposed by the work team that was formed after the criminal sexual violence events that occurred this month in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.
