Local Networks for a Life Without Violence present achievements

SANTO DOMINGO. On the occasion of the commemoration of the International Day of Nonviolence against women, seven Local Networks for a life without violence presented the work experiences that they have developed in the face of violence.

These networks have managed to form collective attention between providers and claimants of care services for the prevention of violence. The social actors that coordinate the processes to ensure due and timely attention, including prevention, are concentrated in the areas of education, health and justice, and instances of protection for women and children, along with municipal councils and social organizations. and of women.

The work methodology consists of each local actor, together with the community organizations, describing their achievements and challenges to promote collective solutions of prevention and attention to cases, with significance in the search for social responses to violence. In addition to the problems that have their roots in the unequal power relations, in which ties of couple and families are sustained.

Reports from the Attorney General's Office indicate that in the last 10 years there have been some 200 femicides per year. Between 2007 and the 2013 near 1,400 women were killed, 52% of these at the hands of their partners. According to data from the Center for Social and Demographic Studies (CESDEM), expressed in the ENDESA 2013, one of each 10 women was a victim of sexual violence at some point in their lives. In global terms, 35% of women had been victims of some type of physical, emotional or sexual violence caused by their partner.

In the 2013 one out of every five women of 15-19 had already had children or had been pregnant as a result of the beginning of an early sexual life and lack of comprehensive sexuality education. According to ENDESA 2013 itself, an 48% of women from 25 to 49 years had had their first relationship before reaching the 18 years. An 20 percent of women in 15-19 had dropped out of school because they were pregnant.

The seven Local Networks belong to the municipalities of Santo Domingo Norte, Santo Domingo Este, Santo Domingo Oeste, the Maria Auxiliadora district of the National District, the municipalities of Guerra, San Pedro de Macorís and Azua. They show their work experiences as an expression of the efforts developed by these localities, with the support of the Center for Gender Studies of INTEC and the sponsorships of the Philip Morris Dominicana company and the ADEMI Bank Foundation.

The meeting was attended by Rebeca Ramón, in charge of Communication and Contribution of Philip Morris Dominicana, who recalled that one of the institution's ideals is to work on the prevention and education of gender violence. Also, Lourdes Contreras from the Center for Gender Studies of INTEC, who thanked the support of companies such as Philip Morris Dominicana and the Banco ADEMI Foundation that facilitate the Center and work against gender violence, especially against women. Local and municipal authorities from the different locations of the Networks were present.

For more than six years, the Center for Gender Studies of INTEC and Philip Morris Dominicana have jointly carried out several projects focused on gender equality and which have been through strategic alliances as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility program developed by the multinational.