Re: wish you had better answers
There is no doubt that the Dominican Republic still is a very patriarchal society. However, we must be a bit careful about transporting American and Western European ideals of feminism to other countries. Latin and African women have complained about this for years. Having been born and raised in the DR, as well as having worked there, I can give you some of my observations, but instead I will suggest that you contact people directly in the DR. CIPAF (Centro de Investigacion para la Accion Femenina) is a research center that focuses on women's issues. Intec (Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo) has a center of gender studies. Some non-Dominican authors , like Helen Safa, have written about this issue beautifully, without the usual condescending tones that many others have adopted (I am better than you because I burned my bra kind of thing). Here is a short list of sources that might help you. Hope this helps.
Regards,
Natasha
Free Markets and the Marriage Market: Structural Adjustment, Gender Relations, and Working Conditions among Dominican Women Workers Author: Safa, H. I. Source: Environment and Planning A v31, n2 (February 1999): 291-304
Export Manufacturing, State Policy, and Women Workers in the Dominican Republic Author: Safa, Helen I. Source: Global production: The apparel industry in the Pacific Rim. (1994): 247-67 Publication: Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994
Women and the Economic Crisis in the Caribbean
Author: Safa, Helen I.; Antrobus, Peggy Source: Unequal burden: Economic crises, persistent poverty, and women's work. (1992): 49-82 Publication: Boulder and Oxford: Westview Press, 1992
In the shadows of the sun: Caribbean development alternatives and U.S. policy Author: Deere, Carmen Diana, et al. Publication: A PACCA Book Boulder and Oxford: Westview Press, 1990
Rural women and state policy: Feminist perspectives on Latin American agricultural development Author: Deere, Carmen Diana; Leon, Magdalena, eds. Publication: Series in Political Economy and Economic Development in Latin America. Boulder, Colo. and London: Westview Press, 1987
Women's Components in Integrated Rural Development Projects
Author: Chaney, Elsa M. Source: Rural women and state policy: Feminist perspectives on Latin American agricultural development (1987): 191-211 Publication: Series in Political Economy and Economic Development in Latin America Boulder, Colo. and London: Westview Press 1987
Agricultural Development, the Economic Crisis, and Rural Women in the Dominican Republic Author: Mones, Belkis; Grant, Lydia Source: Rural women and state policy: Feminist perspectives on Latin American agricultural development (1987): 35-50 Publication: Series in Political Economy and Economic Development in Latin America Boulder, Colo. and London: Westview Press 1987
Perfil de las microempresas en la Republica Dominicana y caracteristicas de las microempresas de Santiago, 1995-1996.
Author: Ortiz, Marina Publication: FondoMicro pa 1996 xxxii+213p
Harnessing women's work: restructuring agricultural and industrial labor forces in the Dominican Republic.
Author: Raynolds, Laura T. Source: Economic Geography 74:149-69 Ap 1998
La investigacion-accion feminista y el movimiento de mujeres en la Republica Dominicana. Author: Hernandez Medina, Esther Source: Caribbean Studies/Estudios del Caribe/Etudes des Caraiebes 28:128-46 Ja/Je 1995
Indicadores de las microempresas en la Republica Dominicana, 1994-1995. Author: Moya Pons, Frank; Ortiz, Marina Publication: FondoMicro pa 1995 xxx+201p
Indicadores sobre mujeres y familias urbanas en Republica Dominicana: encuesta nacional de hogares y mujeres urbanas, 1989. Author: Quiterio B., Gisela Corp Author: Centro de Investigacion para la Accion Femenina (CIPAF). Publication: Taller (21x28 cm) pa Ag 1993 129p
Mujer trabajadora: genero y proteccion. Author: Paulino, Altagracia Publication: Confederacion Trabajadores Unitaria 1994 34p
Mujeres latinoamericanas en cifras: Republica Dominicana.
Author: Quiterio Benitez, Gisela, ed.; Ferreras Blanco, Elizabeth, ed. Corp Author: Instituto de la Mujer. Publication: Inst Mujer (ISBN 956-205-071-8) pa 1993 115p
Microempresas y pequenas empresas de mujeres en la Republica Dominicana: resultados de una encuesta nacional.
Author: Cely, Patricia Publication: FondoMicro, Av. Abraham Lincoln esq. Av. John F. Kennedy, Edificio Nissan, 2do. piso, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; EPS no. A-201, P.O. Box 02-5256, Miami, FL 33102-5256 pa Je 1993 xx+120p
La mujer rural dominicana.
Publication: Centro de Investigacion para la Accion Femenina (CIPAF), Luis F. Thomen 358, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic pa Ap 1987 242p
The new women workers: does money equal power?
Author: Safa, Helen I. Source: Report on the Americas. 27:24-9 Jl/Ag 1993