To save women's lives it is necessary to transcend the rhetoric

SANTO DOMINGO. The general coordinator of the INTEC Center for Gender Studies (CEG-INTEC), Lourdes Contreras, affirmed that violence does not diminish or eradicate with statements but demands the concert of political wills, structured in a system of integral attention.

At the commemoration of this November 25, the International Day of Non-Violence against Women, the CEG-INTEC issued a message in which it alerts again to the Dominican society about the characteristics and dimensions of this social problem. The document criticizes the fact that in the Dominican Republic there continues to be no formal structure of a comprehensive care system, capable of concentrating efforts on prevention and early detection, and that the fragmentation of the national response to cases be maintained.

In this sense, it indicates that the care system and its legal framework are defined in the Bill for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women, which for three years, awaits the knowledge and approval of the Congress of the Republic.

"Regarding the date, 55 anniversary of the murder of the Mirabal sisters, we share our concern that 18 years after violence against women and intrafamily was declared a crime, through the 24-97 law, and that a proposal for an inter-institutional and intersectoral model of care be formulated, even the country does not implement a coherent policy for the attention to this social problem that affects 1 of each 5 homes, a problem that in the last 10 years has claimed the lives of 2085 women, keeping the alarming figure of about 200 cases per year, "Contreras states in the document. 

He argues that "although important processes such as the strategy for strengthening the response in the National Health System are materialized, there is still a strong lag in the face of prevention and early detection in the education system; the aggressors, and the number of integral units of the Prosecutor's Offices in provinces and municipalities is maintained in 16. " 

For this year, until mid-November, the press has counted 149 cases of femicides, -between intimate and non-intimate- "These shameful statistics place us, according to the Regional Observatory of ECLAC, as the third country in the region with the highest number of femicides during the past year, which together with the lack of access to justice for the thousands of complaints that accumulate, makes it possible to point out that gender violence constitutes another of the patterns of impunity that characterize Dominican justice, ”he says.

According to Contreras, the data are evidence that in the country this problem has not been assumed as a matter of interest for the Dominican government and questions what is necessary to happen in the Dominican Republic for this problem to be declared as a priority? 

Then the full message.

To save women's lives it is necessary to transcend the rhetoric

At the commemoration of this November 25, the International Day of Non-Violence against Women, the Gender Studies Center of INTEC alerts Dominican society once again to the characteristics and dimensions of this social problem and the fact that it remains unstructured. formally the integral care system, capable of concentrating efforts in prevention and early detection, and the fragmentation of the national response is maintained.

Regarding the date, the 55th anniversary of the murder of the Mirabal Sisters, we share our concern that 18 years after violence against women and domestic violence was declared a crime, through Law 24-97, and that A proposal for an inter-institutional and inter-sector care model will be formulated, yet the country has not implemented a coherent policy for the attention to this social problem that affects 1 in 5 households, a problem that in the last 10 years has claimed the lives of about 2085 women, maintaining the alarming figure of about 200 cases per year.

Although important processes such as the Strategy to strengthen the response in the National Health System are materialized, the strong delay in prevention and early detection in the educational system remains, the work of attention to male aggressors is still very limited , and the number of Integral Units of the Prosecutor's Offices in provinces and municipalities remains at 16. 

For this year, until mid-November, the press media have already counted 149 cases of femicides, -between intimate and non-intimate-. According to the ECLAC Regional Observatory, these shameful statistics place us as the third country in the region with the highest number of femicides during the past year, which together with the lack of access to justice for the thousands of complaints that accumulate, allows point out that gender violence constitutes another of the patterns of impunity that characterize Dominican justice.

All the above is evidence that in the country this problem has not been assumed as a matter of interest for the Dominican government. Hence, we ask ourselves, what is necessary to happen in the Dominican Republic so that this problem is declared as a priority? 

Hence, the demand for comprehensive policies to address the violence expressed by thousands of women in the country is assumed by this CEG-INTEC with the conviction that violence is not diminished or eradicated with statements but rather demands the concert of political wills, structured in a care system that must have the legal framework that supports it, defined in the bill that creates the integrated system, and that, for three years, has been waiting for the approval of the Congress of the Republic.

Lourdes Contreras, General Coordinator of CEG-INTEC 

Santo Domingo, November 22, 2015