Expert warns that gun ownership increases the risk of women being murdered in cases of gender violence

SANTO DOMINGO. - The danger that a woman victim of gender violence will be murdered increases by more than 100% if her attacker owns a firearm, so there is no question of preventing gender violence if access to it is not controlled. firearms is impossible. This was stated by Orlidy Inoa, researcher and consultant on Criminal Justice and Human Rights, during her participation in the XII Gender Studies Conference of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC).

During the panel on “Gender-based violence against women,” the expert explained that Law 631-16, for the control and regulation of weapons, ammunition and related materials, does not prevent a person with a history of gender violence from obtaining a license. carrying or possession of weapons and that, in turn, studies reveal women's concern about experiencing situations of violence associated with the possession of firearms in the home.

The expert said that, in 2011, the Caribbean Institute for the Rule of Law conducted the first research to measure the impact of weapons on gender violence. In this cited source, the results showed that “34% of the victims interviewed had said that their partner had a firearm and that they had been repeatedly threatened,” and that “94% of these women said they felt in danger of death with his children.”

In her presentation, the researcher recalled that in 2022, 175 femicides and deaths of women were recorded in the country, and that 62 of them occurred with firearms, a percentage close to 40%. “You cannot talk about preventing violence if access to firearms is not controlled,” was one of Inoa's conclusions in her research.

The XII Conference on Gender Studies developed an academic debate on the reality of gender relations in the Dominican Republic, disseminating research, studies and social interventions that make visible the expressions of violence and discrimination based on gender in the country, including the of armed violence presented by researcher Inoa.

Judgment of the Constitutional Court

The expert explained that the Constitutional Court, in its ruling 10-12, establishes that the right to property has limits, since "in the case of a weapon, that right is limited and controlled when it is used within the framework." of a situation of gender violence, which is why the weapon can be seized in those cases.” However, she stated that this jurisprudential mandate is not always complied with, and that efforts are being made by the Attorney General's Office to ensure that this is the case.

“In the Dominican Republic, there is no constitutional right to carry or possess firearms, but the State grants a license that must be subject to a series of requirements contemplated in the law, including having the psychological aptitude to carry a weapon. of fire". Likewise, he considered that the gender approach in citizen security policies in the country has been non-existent: "There is no comprehensive citizen security policy in the country that contemplates the disarmament of the population."

Orlidy Inoa is, in turn, a member of the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights (CLADEM), and of the international organization Control Arms.