It is urgent to approve laws for the protection of women's rights
SANTO DOMINGO. The alarming numbers of femicides, 59 as of August 2014, according to official figures, together with the high rates of maternal mortality, adolescent pregnancies and the spread of HIV, show the need for urgent changes in the country's public policies and in the legal frameworks in which they are based.
Faced with this deplorable scenario, the Center for Gender Studies of INTEC (CEG-INTEC) asks the National Congress to approve in the present legislature the draft law on sexual health and reproductive health and the one that creates a comprehensive care system for violence against women, as well as the draft amendment to the Dominican Penal Code.
"That the knowledge of these legislative pieces, submitted since 2011, be no longer postponed, because they constitute the legal basis for ministries such as Education and Health, with responsibilities in the system of prevention and attention to violence, to be compromised in the execution of programs and action to eradicate this evil ”, says Lourdes Contreras, general coordinator of the CEG-INTEC, who also highlighted the role of prosecution and punishment that corresponds to the Public Ministry and the Judicial Power.
The CEG-INTEC highlights the need for the Criminal Code Project to be definitively approved, which has been in the National Congress for 14 years. This piece includes the figure of femicide as a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of 30 to 40 years. When it was approved by the Chamber of Deputies, it contemplated the termination of pregnancy due to necessity.
That amendment stated, before being approved by the Senate: “The interruption of pregnancy will not be punishable when it is practiced by specialized medical personnel, in health centers or establishments, public or private, as long as it occurs as a consequence of a state of necessity ”.
A reality that must change
In the period January-August 2014, femicides were 40.4% higher than those of the same period last year, according to figures from the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic. In 2013, 42 cases were registered for those months, compared to 50 this year.
In addition, the CEG questions the way in which the deaths of women are calculated, by classifying as femicides exclusively those crimes committed by partners or ex-partners. The data on homicides of women, including femicides, indicate that between January and August of this year there were 127, against 98 in that period last year, which means an increase of 29.5%.
With regard to maternal mortality, 106 deaths are officially registered for every 100 children born alive, data that places the Dominican Republic above the average of the countries in the region, which is around 80 deaths.
By assuming the Millennium Development Goals in 1990, the country committed to reducing the maternal mortality rate by 75% by 2015, which implies a mortality rate of 47 per 100 live births.
22.1% of young women in the Dominican Republic between the ages of 15 and 19 have at least one child, indicates the report "Analysis of the situation of childhood and adolescence in the Dominican Republic 2012", from the United Nations Children's Fund. (UNICEF)
Another aspect that reveals the emptiness of a legislation that protects sexual and reproductive rights is evidenced in the difficulties that the population faces to access contraceptive methods, especially sectors in vulnerable situations. This has a direct impact on teen pregnancy and the spread of the HIV epidemic.
By July 2013, there were 43,945 people living with HIV and AIDS in the country, according to data from the National Council for HIV and AIDS (CONAVIHSIDA). It was reported that of the cases, 25,230 are women and 18,715 men, a trend that warns about the feminization of the epidemic.
Status of the projects
The Criminal Code is currently under study by the Chamber of Deputies, after being returned by the Senate. The Law on prevention, attention, punishment and eradication of violence against women is in the commissions of the Public Ministry and Gender of the Chamber of Deputies. It is also being studied by the Senate Family and Gender Commission.
Likewise, the bill on sexual health and reproductive health was reintroduced last month by its proponents Cristian Paredes and Hugo Núñez. This week he was sent for study by the Health Commission, chaired by Deputy Mario Hidalgo.
Contreras spoke in the framework of a gathering with representatives of the media. This meeting with journalists is part of the actions of the Voices for Women's Rights project run by Profamilia and the Center for Gender Studies, with funding from the European Union. Its purpose is to strengthen the Dominican legal framework for the recognition and protection of women's human rights, in particular for sexual and reproductive rights and the right to a life free of violence.