What would you say to me if I told you that in our country a mother They have forced her to separate from her baby of only 15 months, violating the rights of both, but especially the little one who still needs his mother's arms and milk? What would you say to me if I continue to count and clarify that Nerea (the mother) has entered prison? I am talking about a person who was once a victim of gender violence, but is now serving two sentences for assaulting his ex-partner and violating a restraining order.
Before continuing, I will tell you that I have read some of the comments that this news has motivated and I have been perplexed: "if he is in jail, he must have done something wrong", "the baby will have someone to take care of him, right? ”. Unfortunately our society has configured a perception towards injustices in a way that affects us if they are very far away or if someone in our environment is suffering; That is why we become hypocritical and insensitive (not to mention tolerance towards corruption crimes and the opposite in case of minor crimes). But if you analyze Nerea's case, you realize that It is true that Justice is blind, assuming that there is.
I do not want to miss the opportunity to show my support for this mother: Nerea has a 15-month-old son, the result of her relationship with her current partner, she also has a 13-year-old boy: if you read me and you have teens at homeYou know perfectly well that early adolescence is the time when boys and girls need their parents very much again, but I will leave this here. But now he can't see his family, except when granted a vis a vis.
Nerea: condemned to separate from her baby
If you are a woman victim of gender violence, you are in the newspapers: well because you have been beaten up (or even worse), good because you don't feel like resigning yourself, and stand up to adversity, Nerea belongs to the second group. Five years ago a restraining order was imposed (on her and her partner): it was a toxic relationship punctuated with mistreatment. Our protagonist was wrong, but the fact is that there are not too subtle nuances that cannot be ignored: a fortuitous and violent discussion when the two met on the street ended in conviction, the first of the two that he fulfills.
Curiously, the violence that she suffered in the past was not legally considered “gender”, but family
During the time that passed, Nerea had to resort to psychological therapy because there are relationships that, although they cause damage, cause a certain dependency, she also did community work. Over time formed a new family supported by the security that your current partner has been able to offer you.
And here it is not about inspiring pity, it is about Justice (with capital letters) and that the measures that would have allowed mother and son to remain together are not being articulated for the duration of the sentence. Because those 17 months of deprivation of liberty that Nerea will fulfill, for such a young child are an eternity, and furthermore, there is no way for him to understand the reason or way to rationalize the situation. With what we know today about child development, and the consequences of separation from the mother, the need for them to stay together is more than justified.
Nerea González entered the Villanubla prison, and you will ask yourself “but can't children under 3 years of age be with their imprisoned mothers?”; Indeed: the Penitentiary Regulation establishes such a right, what happens is that the prison where he is serving a sentence does not have an enabled module. That is to say that we are attending (and I have to say that with certain impassivity, except for the groups and expressions of support in RRSS and blogosphere) to a transgression not only of individual rights, but of the norm itself.
A baby without rights
In the public petition filed by Mónica F. on Avaaz, it is reported that in the present case, this mother and this baby they are not benefiting from rights that the public authorities should ensure to "guarantee the psycho-affective development of the minor", without counting on the 'condemnation' of the separation itself, and that breastfeeding has been interrupted. Breastfeeding, which in itself is a recognized right of infants, who (ideally) should receive at least up to 24 months, combined with complementary feeding; but it also provides other benefits beyond food, such as maintaining the bond, or meeting certain emotional needs.
When there are alternatives, you have to look for them
Or do we settle for what the system establishes for us? What if public institutions are wrong in their decisions? That is why a pardon had been requested but it has been denied, and that is why now the Board of Penitentiary Treatment has been requested the Third Degree (of semi-freedom); This is because neither the prison in which she is serving her sentence, nor the closest one (this one because it was closed due to cuts), have a maternity module.
This third degree would make it possible for Nerea to serve all of her sentence in a Social Integration Center, and would not imply the separation of the baby, in addition to the fact that rehabilitation would make sense, because social work is allowed. And for the record that at the time I have written the last sentence I have thought that after five years after the events narrated at the beginning, and with a new family, it can be considered that Nerea is rehabilitated, and reinserted; but in any case, If serving the sentence can be reconciled with caring for the baby, why not do it?
I do not want to settle for the application of the law to be so unequal in different cases, and I do not want to look from afar at the injustice that Nerea and her baby suffer; Y I do not want to do it because I put myself in their shoes and suffer, because I have also had children at 15 months and I know exactly how much they need their mother. I do not want to seek explanations or justifications, because I am on the side of a woman who needs alternatives (and an application of the law based on a special situation); and because I believe that her current family is already damaged enough by the separation to make it even worse.
If you are interested, you can follow the evolution of this case in the hashtag #YoSoyNerea, or through the profile at Facebook Support Platform.
Via - Study on the uterus
Image - EPEN