Despite efforts, gender inequality persists in the DR
The Center for Gender Studies, with the support of Fos Feminista, holds meetings in different provinces of the country to analyze the political and civic situation of women
SANTO DOMINGO. – Although the Dominican Republic has maintained a democratic system for the last 45 years, there are still persistent challenges and fluctuations in its democratic development that have slowed progress towards women's participation and leadership, as determined in the Atenea National Diagnosis. , in which the country was ranked 84 out of 146 evaluated in terms of gender inequality.
During the Regional Legislative Roundtables held by the Center for Gender Studies of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (CEG-INTEC), in the provinces of Samaná and San Pedro de Macorís, Rocío Peralta, Project Coordinator of the Research Center for Women's Action (CIPAF) presented the study “Women in politics: challenges to move towards a parity democracy in the Dominican Republic”, with the Diagnostic data, in which the Political Parity Index (PPI) is calculated.
The Regional Legislative Tables are part of the project “The rise of the green wave: decriminalization of abortion and expansion of access to self-care in Latin America and the Caribbean”, developed by INTEC with the support of the Fos Feminista organization.
Desiree del Rosario, coordinator of the CEG, explained that the objective of the project is to foster critical debates in academia about the political and civic situation of women, highlighting historical debts and the lack of guarantees in sexual and reproductive rights as part of the State. “Our goal is to influence social changes through political and citizen participation to achieve a more equitable society,” she said.
Teachers, political leaders and candidates for elective positions from both Samaná and San Pedro de Macorís participated in the meetings, who with Del Rosario as the common thread, spoke about politics, democracy, citizenship, citizen participation, rights, intersectionality and equality.
Prior to the tables in those two provinces, others were held in La Vega and Jarabacoa. Another will also be held in Mao, Valverde.
Results of the Political Parity Index in the DR
Peralta pointed out that, according to IPP calculations, there is still work to do to achieve parity in political and government positions. He highlighted that, regarding the parity quota, which measures the existence and design of quota or gender parity mechanisms in the Executive and Legislative branches, as well as at the municipal level, the value obtained by the country was 50.1 out of 100 .
This result shows that, although Dominican legislation establishes a balance in the candidates for deputies of no less than 40% nor more than 60% of men and women, and there is a sanction in case of not complying with this provision. “The fact that there are no quotas for candidates for the Senate Chamber or for mayors constitutes an important weakness. Gender alternation is not contemplated in the order of placement of the lists and nor has a gender quota been regulated for the Executive branch.”
She maintained that there is an important gap in terms of the participation of women in the Ministerial Cabinet: 2 ministers from 23 ministries, and women occupy less than 30% of the vice ministries. Likewise, he explained that the gender quota is met with the minimum percentage for women. “They only achieved 25% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and they chair only 10% of the commissions and no party benches.”
teen pregnancy
He argued that the Dominican Republic has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the region, which may be a consequence of the absence of Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) in the educational curriculum and the lack of access to family planning methods.
He highlighted that, after the Atenea uprising, the country has the second highest rate in the region in femicides per capita: 1 feminicide every 4 days from January 2019 to May 2023. In that same vein, he specified that Dominican society has a high degree of normalization of violence against women. "From 2019 to May 2023, more than 89,000 complaints of gender violence and 29,907 of sexual crimes were registered, including 2,030 incest."
Likewise, the Maternal Mortality Rate is calculated above the average for the region: 107 x every 100,000 live births. This figure is evident when even the interruption of pregnancy in any circumstance is criminalized.
Another of the data that Peralta shared was related to the feminization of poverty, which is established at a ratio of 135.6 women x 100 men. The open unemployment rate for women is double that of men, 49.3% vs. 23.2%. Likewise, the wage gap is 82.1% of monthly income received by men. “Dominican women dedicate three times as many hours as men to unpaid work: 31.2 vs. 9.6 hours per week,” she pointed out.