Sabrina Espinal

FIQWS 10103

Professor Aisha Sidibe-­Leyva

September 26, 2018

Femicide in the Dominican Republic

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        The massive wave of femicide in the Dominican Republic keeps rising every single day, placing the country under a worldwide spotlight. For a better understanding of this problem, we should first define Femicide. The concept is understood as, the intentional killing of women by a male, where its principle lays down directly on her gender. Violence toward women has been recognized as an increasing problem in today’s society. Despite the progress that has been done to prevent gender-based violence, it is still very common in various countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and is a constant reality to women under the Dominican society. So what’s the real response and the reasons of why is this happening?

      Officials believe that most women are often killed by a male acquaintance such as a friend, family members, and ex-partner or their formal partner; with the influence of hate, pleasure and or disrespect. Indeed, it has also been proved that femicide in the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countriEs has been related to historical patterns such as “patriarchy” norms; the belief of woman being a property of men. In her essay “Victims of Femicide in Latin American,” Janice Joseph states how femicide can be linked to organized crimes. Moreover, she mentions how “during gang disputes, women are frequently targeted for revenge killings by rival gangs members.” Further showing the unequal power of men and a deeply rooted sexism.   

      In August 2017, a teenage girl named Emely Peguero disappears when she was only 16 years old and five months pregnant. No one had seen or heard from her since the last time Emely went out with her boyfriend, Marlon Martinez. Martinez is the son of a very powerful and well-connected woman in the Dominican Republic, his mother, Marlin Martinez. According to the authorities, his mom wanted to help her son out, since he was dating a minor and she was not happy with him becoming a father so young. The Dominican Police reported, finding “blood spatters on a mattress” and later caught on tape, Marlon carrying out a sack from his apartment; Buzzfeed News confirmed. Several days later, Peguero’s family received a call from a police precinct located an hour away from their province, finding a suitcase by the side of the road with Emelys’ decomposing body inside. Forensic reports about her death reported Marlon taking Emely to his mom’s apartment and forcing her taking a liquid which caused the abortion (illegal in the DR) and internal bleedings, later he killed her by hitting her on the head. Marlon and his mom are held in preventive detention till they face trial deliberations; if found culprits they can face up to 30 years in prison, for murdering and abortion charges  (Rossalyn Warren; May 21, 2018 Buzzfeed. News).

      According to UN Women, Latin American and the Caribbean have the highest rates of femicide in the world, and with the 3rd place, is the Dominican Republic. In a study by The Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 40% of women have been victims of violence at some point in their life. The World Health Organization stated that “perpetrators see femicide as a way to protect family reputation, to follow tradition or to adhere to wrongly interpreted religious demands.” They also share studies that reported, “honor murders being committed through stabbing, strangulation, firearms, forcing women to take poison or throwing them from a window.” Emely Peguero brutal murder case was the last drop that broke the glass. Several civic organizations like “The Center of Solidarity for Development of Women” and “The Institute of Investigation and Studies of Gender and Family of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo” are demanding the authorities and educational institutes to call out the Machista violence on the country.

       Robin Guittard, a Caribbean Campaigner at rights group Amnesty International, said that during recent years, there had been a “lack of appropriate response from the authorities,” addressing violence against women in the Dominican Republic. Has reported by the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the defence of women’s rights (CLADEM), “80% of those [women] killed had not previously filed a complaint with law enforcement,” actually showing a lack of trust authorities have on trusting women or even accepting that she might be right. To prevent gender discrimination and violence, in 1997 the Dominican Republic ratified laws that prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women. Nevertheless, women still haven’t seen any change. In 2010, 66 out of 476 offenders received judgment from being violent toward women. Deputy Attorney, General Roxana Reyes admitted that police and others in the criminal justice system are ignorant about the severity of domestic violence abuse, (Gizelle Lugo; theguardian.com).

        Citizens strongly believe that the Dominican government is not doing their best, nor are they taking the issue seriously. People claim that those agencies meant to provide help services to the victims of abuse are “either ill-equipped, strained or lacking properly trained staff”; making such institutions hardly prepared to provide any assistance. This is due to the little and lack of financial help the Dominican government provides. In the same way, The Foro Feminista reported as a “major step back” and a “unconstitutional denial of women’s fundamental rights” a bill proposed by the Chamber of Deputies of  the Dominican Republic. Such bill, will only consider domestic violence a grave offence when “it causes the death of the victim or the victims is disabled permanently or for more than 90 days” (September28.org).

       The UN recommended strengthening institutions and policies in the region to allocate resources to empower women; also the UN advised, that “patriarchal” cultural norms that keep gender inequalities needed to be addressed. In her essay, Yuribel Espinal communicates that the issue generally comes from “the Dominican women not knowing their rights and because of their life’s circumstances end up taking dangerous paths,” also clarifying that violence toward women “has also been defined by history, culture, tradition, and experience.” Women under the Dominican region argue that ending impunity is a critical step towards eradicating femicide in the country.

      All this femicide in the country and Latin America had raised thousands of people across the continent to join the protest demanding the end of this plague. The controversy in this case or even the ironic part in all of these, is that dominican women are trying to escape this cycle, trying to become less dependent on men by studying and working but they also get killed by doing their best to get their socio-economic independence. Social Movements such as the Hashtags #NiUnaMenos (#NoOneLess) and National Women Strike have also been a great help to bring light to this issue across the whole world.