Mediated Intimacies: State Intervention and Gender Violence in Nicaragua

This article analyzes legislative changes initiated by Law 779 in Nicaragua, the "Integral Law Against Violence Towards Women," passed in February 2012. I organize my discussion around the most controversial juridical figure in Law 779: that of mediation. I conclude that in the post-war cultural scene of Nicaragua, the reinstatement of mediation represents a regressive reaffirmation of patriarchal authority in the guise of community empowerment. The family centered rhetoric of the Regulation to Law 779 signifies capitulation to the most conservative, religious sectors of society and a dramatic reversal of feminist gains towards recognizing women as subjects with rights.