Dominican woman faces gaps for the enjoyment of her rights

SANTO DOMINGO.- In the Dominican Republic, gender gaps persist in the exercise of human rights that limit women's access to equal participation in decision-making, fair income and the full exercise of their sexual rights. and reproductive. 

Such limitations have an impact on the country's sustainable and social economic development, and on the consolidation of representative and participatory democracy, warns the Center for Gender Studies of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (CEG-INTEC) in a document presented at a press conference, about the commemoration of International Women's Day.

The analysis, entitled "Gender gaps: between the saying and the fact of the autonomy of women in the DR", reviews the main problems that result from inequalities between men and women, with updated statistics. It groups the advances and setbacks of the autonomy of women in three areas: economic, physical (health and violence) and in decision-making. 

The presentation of the document was in charge of Lourdes Contreras and Desirée del Rosario, general coordinator and academic coordinator of CEG-INTEC, respectively; José Feliz Marrero, Academic Vice Chancellor and Elsa Alcántara, Dean of the Area of ​​Social Sciences and Humanities of the academy.

During the meeting, Contreras specified that public policy in the country must take into account the care tasks culturally assigned to women, and that they demand a high percentage of their daily time from them; an unpaid job.

"It is necessary that the time dedicated to care and care within households be quantified as work that generates wealth, that is part of the national accounts and therefore part of the country's GDP," said Contreras. 

In view of this situation, the CEG-INTEC proposed that the National Information System -SISDOM- make it a priority to carry out a national survey on the use of people's time, in order to obtain information on paid and unpaid work time according to the gender condition This will make it possible to provide accurate data, guidance for making economic and social policy decisions and in particular for the Social Security System, in reference to its different regimes.

The CEG-INTEC emphasizes that having this type of statistical information can contribute decisively to make effective the constitutional mandate established in its Art. 55 numeral 11 on the recognition of “work at home as an economic activity that creates added value and produces wealth. and social welfare, so it will be incorporated into the formulation and execution of public and social policies ”.

Economy, body and political decisions

Regarding economic autonomy and poverty, the document indicates that, despite the downward trend in the proportion of Dominican women without their own income, 31 out of 100 women are still economically dependent on other people for their subsistence. Similarly, ECLAC estimates indicate that the average income of Dominican women represents 71.1% of the average income of men nationwide.

Regarding physical autonomy, it indicates that maternal mortality was projected in 2015 at a rate of 107.7, that is, 30 percentage points above the regional average. The main cause of maternal deaths is attributed to direct obstetric reasons (71%) followed by toxemia (22.5%), hemorrhages (15%) and abortions (13%), which is related to the criminalization of abortion in all its causes.

Violence is also an obstacle to the development of women for a full and equal life. Despite the fact that there has been a considerable increase in the number of complaints of domestic violence, gender violence and sexual crimes (67,187 cases to 2015), the low number of protection orders issued (15,093), and especially limited results of these orders that in most cases are not effective, and alert the aggressors to evade justice.  

With regard to autonomy in decision-making, the center warns that - despite the fact that progress has been made in the creation of a national legal framework in favor of equality and equity (Article 39 of the Constitution, adhesion of the Dominican State to the World Conferences on Women, and regional conferences on women of ECLAC, the conventions on human rights, the Millennium Development Goals, among others) - there is a wide gap in the participation of women in decision-making positions in the different powers of the State in relation to men.

The document refers to the strengthening of the social subject WOMEN as a conscious movement that demands the exercise of rights and is positioned in front of the instances with responsibility for guaranteeing and respecting them, and to two basic challenges of the Dominican State in the face of gender inequalities and inequalities : 1) the achievement of the gender indicators of the National Development Strategy -END-, as the responsibility of all the central government sectors and 2) the adaptation of the legal framework of gender policies, in order to improve the quality from care to free and safe motherhood, healthy and pleasant sexuality, and a life free of violence, all of which are on the unfinished agenda in the National Congress.