Santo Domingo.- According to Profamilia, in recent years, alarms have been raised regarding the number of sexual abuses of minors, even more serious when it involves minors with disabilities.
“These situations that come to light are just a sample and a clear indication of the lack of social protection to which children and adolescents are exposed, a group of the population that we are called to protect in a special way from the family environment and the State” indicated the institution in a statement.
“1,146 reports of seduction of minors and 293 cases of incest during the first six months of the year, according to data published by the Attorney General’s Office, are a clear indication of the urgent need for comprehensive sexuality education in schools and greater attention and protection of the child and adolescent population from sexual offenders,” Profamilia said in a press release.
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The entity considered that sexually abusing a minor is one of the most heartbreaking situations, with an impact on their physical and emotional health, including a possible forced pregnancy that puts their life at risk, aggravated if the person is disabled.
“We believe that it is urgent to strengthen the reporting system that protects children and adolescents, as provided for in Law 136-03, and to provide psychosocial support, protection and punishment in detected cases, as well as to ensure access to comprehensive, timely sexuality education, based on scientific evidence and appropriate for age, within and outside the Dominican educational system, which includes protection measures and information on the possible risks existing in their environment,” she said.
During the first half of this year 2024, at least six daily complaints of seduction of minors were filed with the Specialized Units for Gender Violence, Domestic Violence and Sexual Crimes (UVGS) of the country, according to a recent report issued by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
The document from the PGR’s Statistics and Analysis Directorate shows an increase in this type of aggression compared to the same period last year, 2023.