Santo Domingo;- He Center for Education and Development (CEDUCA), called on citizens, and especially human rights organizations to commit to the defense of an inclusive Penal Code that guarantees social justice, including women and girls.
In a press release, the entity expressed its deep concern that the bill studied by the Special Commission in the Chamber of Deputies represents a threat to human rights and completely fails to protect girls and women, by excluding the three causes for the interruption of pregnancy, and failing to protect children from possible abuse by their own guardians and other provisions that would mark a significant setback and a threat to the principles of equity and justice.
We are an organization that for more than a decade has been developing support programs for girls, adolescents and women who live in extreme poverty, victims of violations of fundamental rights such as access to comprehensive health care, access to sexual and reproductive health services, and contraceptive methods; we support girls at risk of becoming pregnant and marrying at an early age due to a lack of opportunities, women who are victims of gender and domestic violence and families in social vulnerability, residents of bateyes and neighborhoods in Santo Domingo Norte, Este, La Victoria and Yamasa.
“Based on CEDUCA’s history of defending human rights and comprehensive health, including sexual and reproductive health and gender equality, we reaffirm our commitment to the fight for a Penal Code that respects and protects the rights of all people, especially the most vulnerable sectors,” they said.
In this regard, we emphasize that the right of women to terminate a pregnancy in three cases, which are established when the life of the girl or woman is in danger, when the pregnancy is not viable and has no chance of giving full life outside the uterus, and when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, must be recognized and respected; for this reason we insist on defending the right to life and human dignity; and with this we seek to preserve the right of women to be able to make the decision to save themselves in such calamitous situations.
Likewise, we understand that the Dominican State must respect and guarantee the right to a full and safe life for women and girls, especially in the face of the numerous cases of rape, incest and other forms of violence that they suffer.
CEDUCA also demanded that the congressmen of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic, assume their obligation to legislate free of prejudice and dogma, and preserving the right of women to decide about their bodies, as proclaimed by the Constitution and various international agreements of which the Dominican Republic is a signatory.
The community-based entity recalled that once again the legislative apparatus is called upon to overcome its conservative vision and prejudices regarding women’s rights, and that, on the contrary, it must assume a commitment to democracy that cannot be supported on the basis of violating the human rights of women, or of any vulnerable sector.
