The gender violence scandal involving former Peronist president Alberto Fernández has renewed talk about abuse in national politics and wider society.
La Cámpora, the Kirchnerite political youth organisation is no exception, and the Peronist movement’s leaders are attempting to highlight a new protocol designed to protect women and oust those facing allegations.
In recent years, scandals have come to light. One of its most conspicuous cases of abuse within the movement was that of Jorge ‘El Loco’ Romero.
Allegations against Romero were first reported by a fellow La Cámpora member in 2018 and he has since confessed to “sexist practices” that he subjected women to.
“I’m a male raised in a patriarchal society, I’ve had sexist practices which, at the time, seemed natural. Given all that, I’ve decided to set aside my political responsibilities to submit to the proceedings determined by the application of my organisation’s protocol,” he recently testified.
Romero was a friend of La Cámpora leaders Máximo Kirchner (son of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner) and Andrés ‘Cuervo’ Larroque and was a lawmaker in Buenos Aires Province, the movement’s heartland.
La Cámpora member Stephanie Calo accused Romero of sexual assault. She said he locked her in a bathroom and abused her.
“He shoved me into the bathroom, locked the door and then wanted to force me to suck… to give him oral sex," Calo told the press.
It’s not the only harassment case to have rocked La Cámpora.
Romero was one of the first to be ousted from the organisation after the application of a new protocol, introduced in the wake of an increase in internal denunciations of sexual harassment and abuse.
La Cámpora sources say 30 people have been suspended since its introduction.
“It’s true that La Cámpora’s authorities were forced to create the protocol, given the number of cases of gender-based violence that started emerging against members of the organisation. This type of situation has always happened, but before women, in general [those who are] very young, did not dare come forward,” an activist from the movement’s Greater Buenos Aires branch told the Clarín newspaper in an interview this year
“We’ve all had to learn about the importance of recognising women’s rights,” said the activist, a former leader of La Cámpora in the region.
Since the cultural watershed of the Ni Una Menos anti-gender violence march in 2015, every political space has had to assess itself on women’s rights and issues. At the same time, females across society have acquired the tools to put abuse into words and report allegations.
Political organisations face the same problems as society and the difference lies in generating safe spaces where these issues can be reported, dealt with and sanctioned.
Within La Cámpora there are those who downplay abuse or gender-based violence, with some citing the militaristic codes of activism in the early 1970s. However, in those days armed organisations reproduced patriarchal conducts, maintained military hierarchies and in most cases, had male leaders. Many organisations from those times also condemned homosexuality.
In recent months, the names of other members of La Cámpora who have faced allegations of wrongdoing have also emerged in the media, including Julián Eyzaguirre and Nicolás Roó, accused of abuse of women activists. Several other leaders in the Greater Buenos Aires region have also been expelled from the group, such as Gustavo Matías (Vicente López), Pablo Gallardo (Claypole) or Pablo Ramos (Escobar).
– TIMES/PERFIL
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