CEG-INTEC: There are insurmountable barriers that restrict the development of Dominican women
SANTO DOMINGO. - Exist insurmountable barriers which restrict that cambios in the condition of the of in the Dominican Republic, he affirmed the Center for Gender Studies of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (CEG-INTEC), when presenting an analysis of the status of women in the country regarding the International Women's Day, this March 8.
In the document, which was announced through a press conference, the CEG-INTEC stated that there are at least five nodal factors as economic-political and social that can be considered causes of the condition of inequality that affects women. The document cites as a first factor the immutability of a macho culture that sustains and naturalizes the multiple forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, since the micro machismos everyday to extreme manifestations, such as feminicides and incest
In that sense, the document specifies that Dominican Republic is third country with the highest rate de feminicides for the region, in fact, during the last 10 years the average of femicides (intimate and not intimate) is between 150 y 200 by year. "Gender violence is the crime most reported in the justice system, "they said, while citing that in 2017 there was 59,391 allegations of gender violence; 5,808 de sex crimes y 17,148 protection orders. Only the 4% of the complaints consist of judicialized and only the 2% culminates criminal sanction.
El CEG-INTEC criticized that National Congress has not passed the bill that creates the Integral Support System for the Prevention, Attention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women, five years after being introduced for the first time.
They considered that a second cause of inequality is the ideological and political influence of church, Catholic and evangelical church domes, who considered limit that advances by promoting sexist attitudes, legitimizers of the male power the of. "The delay in the decriminalization of abortion by causal exemplifies how the religious ideologies and macho ideologies they empower each other in our society, where religious precepts validate y legitimize many of the cultural discourses of the current machismo", Indicated the specialists in the document.
The resistance generated by the attempts to eradicate patriarchal practices and the sexist contents of education is another of the causes indicated by the CEG-INTEC for the situation of inequality that affects women, and in that sense they considered that this is evidenced in the limitations to achieve the purpose of equality as a goal of the educational process, even if they establish the Constitution, the curriculum and the Educational Pact, and the opposition to comprehensive sexual education based on rights -and not on religious dogmas-.
In a fourth cause is the little importance that politicians, officials and decision makers in general give to women's issues and their rights, which they considered, is shown in the fact that the ministries run by women are not increasing in the country, nor are policies for the prevention of teen pregnancy, nor are unnecessary cesarean sections reduced, nor are doctors accused of maternal deaths sanctioned, since the State allocates only 0.04% of the General State Budget to gender equity.
Finally, the institutional weaknesses of the Dominican political system that impact women's rights, as they are the absence or non-application of established legal norms, as well as the lack of sanction to those who fail to comply with the responsibility of ensuring the application thereof. Regarding the absence of regulations, they cited the lack de regulation of the domestic work paid, the line of work that more women occupy in the country; or the fact that, after five years of being introduced for the first time, Congress still does not approve the bill that creates the Comprehensive System for the Prevention, Attention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women.
At a press conference, the CEG-INTEC spokespersons raised the implementation of gender equality policies in all areas: education, health, labor and care, social and political participation, and the creation of a mechanism from civil society for the monitoring and auditing of gender equality policies and their financing.
Click to read the document in its entirety "Historical socio-cultural and political-economic barriers hinder the integral development of women in the Dominican Republic".