Estudiante

Rosmarin Belliard
Professor Majic
October 22, 2012
Topic: Domestic Violence against Women in the Dominican Republic
Question: How has the changing role of women affected the rate of domestic violence aginst women in the Santiago, Dominican republic in the last two decades (1992-2012)?

Laws have been established but not implemented.
Machismo. Change in economy. Causes contradiction ofvalue. Forces women to head household and be put down.

----Evovling role of women- More independent more

There have been various works written about domestic violence against women in the Dominican Republic. Scholars have successfully found correlation between the presence of domestic violence with legislation that lack implementation, and cultural values of male superiority or machismo thatsee woman as inferior. In my research, I hope to find which factors seem to have the most correlation with domestic violence. I also hope to add on to the existing findings by scholars by shed light on the evolving role of women in the past two decades and determine how influential the role has been in the increase of domestic violence against women. Legislation against domestic violenceIt is important to understand the legal history behind the domestic violence against women in the Dominican Republic. Domestic violence has been unsurprisingly present in the Caribbean island of Dominican Republic. Prior 1980’s the issue was often neglected and left in a obscure corner in the field of academic research and legislation. Its presence was very much in society and domestic violencewas reported in 1 in 6 Dominican homes (CITE). In spite of this lack of concern, an organized feminist group began pressured insisted on change and support for the female population. With their efforts, The very first decision to protect the rights of women by the government, was made on the international level, in the ratification of CEDAW “Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”and the “Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of violence against women (“ Convention of Belem do patti)(Perez 2005). These laws………and served as a starting point for womens rights but the first domestic policy in support of womens rights was made almost 17 years later. In 1997, the National Congress finally introduced LAW 24-97 Against Domestic Violence andthe country officially criminalized violent and discriminatory acts against women, giving them the title of equal beneficiaries of the law(Perez, 2005 p.4). This llaw……. In an analyisi of the Law 24-97, Perez found that although this law laid the framework to the protection of women, it was not being fully realized, even after a decade since its implemation was passed. Parada (2007) argues thatalthough legal infrature exists to protect the rights of women, concrete intervention practices have not been well developed which has resulted in many women are not benefiting from the policies in place. In particular based, on gender studies at the Institito Technolo Gico(CITEEE), the qualification and training of social workers who work with these women seemed to be disorganized. They lack…………….. With such an important role social workers have in the issue, the procesdures the follow should be structured.What we see then is that although laws have been created, the lack of implemementation is a factor could have an affect on the rate of domestic violence. Cultural Values Domestic Violence has for a long time been perceived as a private matter of the family, and is in fact a normaldynamic of family life. Dominican sayings such as “Esas son cosas entre marido y mujer”, which means those are things between a man and his wife, reveal that society has seen domestic violence as taboo and prefer to “stay out of it.( Perez 2005). Values of machismo, patriarchy, and subjugation of women that have permeated Dominican society (Perez, 2005). It is important to note these...