Buenos Aires, Argentina—The Cycle Ambassadors held a workshop on violence prevention on November 24, 2016 in honor of the U.N. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The event began with María Teresa Herrera, pastor of the international ministry, Rescate al Mundo, and a member of UPF-Argentina’s Peace Council, reading the U.N. Secretary General’s message for this year’s Day.
The presenters were José Gómez, a social work student at the National University of Lanús (Universidad Nacional de Lanús, UNLA), and Juan Varga, a social psychologist, an ontological coach and founder of the Training for Peace course.
Mr. Gómez began his presentation by speaking about the current calls for and the mobilization of social movements that are demanding equality between genders and an end to violence against women. Generally, this happens indoors, where security forces cannot act except when they have a court order. There has to be another way to address these issues; it is through education, he said. Then, he asked his wife to come to the front of the room with him to speak about their differences and share the similar ambitions men and women have. He praised women: “They are the first marvel created by God.” “It took the Creator a long time to create life.” He said that our current culture destroys sensitivity: women. He also emphasized the importance of overcoming negative feelings and promoting dialogue.
Mr. Varga spoke about achieving peace through violence prevention and considers it essential to know the causes of both. He asked each person to define “violence” and “peace.” He showed different figures with ambiguous meanings to demonstrate the importance of perception: “We generally see what others don’t, and vice versa.” He said that many topics and behaviors have been naturalized and it is important to make an effort and perceive what others see. He talked about cultural violence and said that the “win or lose” paradigm should be forgotten and the “win or win” paradigm achieved through cooperation should be considered. His presentation was very practical, and the different exercises he carried out were well received by the participants.
At the end of the event, everyone enjoyed refreshments.
This was the last workshop of the Cycle Ambassadors program in 2016, which, this year, included as its speakers, Ambassadors for Peace Bernardo del Guercio, who spoke on “The Art of Healing;” the writer Martha Candioti, who talked about “Independence, An Idea Sustained Since 1580;” and Professor Aníbal Gotelli, who conducted a workshop on “Ceremonial and Leadership as Tools for Peace.”