From the recent DR1 article on child marriage:
“The issue of child marriage became a trending topic after People’s Force (FP) deputy, Omar Leonel Fernandez, reported that a group of five deputies members of the Judicial Committee of the Chamber of Deputies that is studying the bill had proposed including exceptions to allow the marriage of girls 16 and 17 years old with men up to eight years older.”
I doubt they’d vote much different on topics addressing femicide. These guys just want to eat their cake like they always have.
I'm not so sure, but you may be right. There's been no shortage of politicos who have been caught messing around with minors.
Here's the latest from today from El Caribe:
Elimination of child marriage, about to become reality
Darielys quezada
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November 13, 2020
The Justice Commission of the Chamber of Deputies approved to render a favorable report so that child marriage is eliminated.
Deputies study piece to eradicate it and will render favorable report; Abinader says he will promote measures to punish offenders
Child marriage is beginning to get on track towards its elimination since the National Congress advances in that sense and the different sectors of national life have come together to raise their clamor for unions with minors to be prohibited and punished.
The Executive Power yesterday joined the voices that reject child marriage and that ask that this practice be punished in order to prevent minors from suffering from violence, inequality, and poverty.
Through a publication on the social network Twitter, President Luis Abinader established his position against marriage between minors, also adding to the position that the first lady, Raquel Arbaje, had already adopted.
In his publication, the Head of State announced that next Monday the country will be informed of the actions that the Government is promoting so that this "abnormality" can be penalized by law.
“We reiterate the position of this Government against child marriage. It is also the official position of @PRM_Oficial. Next Monday we will inform the country of the actions we are organizing to definitively penalize this abnormality by law, ”the president tweeted.
The commission will render a favorable report
Meanwhile, in the National Congress, the Permanent Commission of Justice of the Chamber of Deputies approved yesterday to render a favorable report to the bill that modifies article 144 of the Civil Code of the Dominican Republic, which prohibits the marriage of minors under 18-year-old.
The decision was taken after a meeting held in one of the rooms of the Chamber of Deputies in which the president of that body, Alfredo Pacheco, was present, who symbolically voted for the approval of the initiative.
While the president of the Justice Commission, Deputy Alexis Jiménez explained that the decision was made by the members of the commission after developing a broad debate.
The piece by deputy José Horacio Rodríguez in one of his recitals establishes that it is a fundamental requirement to ensure that girls and adolescents can complete their education, reduce teenage pregnancies, reduce the rate of maternal and infant mortality, as well as reduce the levels of gender violence in the Dominican Republic.
Another of the recitals establishes that there is a relationship between the poverty index and marriage or union of minors, evidenced by the fact that 59% of the girls with the highest levels of poverty in the country are united or married before the age of 18 years and 23% do so before the age of 15 and that, in this sense, the conclusions of a 2017 study by the World Bank and UNICEF, based on data from 2015, establish that the country's general poverty would have been reduced by 30% to 27%, if the marriage of minors in the country were eliminated.
In the Commission, no one supports the practice
The president of the commission clarified that no member of the Justice Commission favors child marriage in the country, after ensuring that child marriage does not exist in the Dominican Republic.
“What I do want to make clear is that in this committee it is the positions that we have expressed, that I want to be clear and that I have expressed personally and that none of the deputies according to the impression that we have, no deputy agrees with the marriage childish. There is no child marriage in the Dominican Republic, ”said Alexis Jiménez.
The commission received a document from the National Council for Children and Adolescents, where the body sets its position on the initiative.
The institution points out that girls and adolescents cannot be allowed to continue to suffer the abuse, violence, unwanted pregnancies, and rapes that are perpetrated against minors.
"16 years to get married is outrageous"
Before the commission's decision was reported, the president of Conani, Paula Disla, and Rosa Elcarte, UNICEF representative in the country, described it as "outrageous" to propose marriage waivers from the age of 16.
Both were resounding in their judgments to ban child marriage, claiming that the proposal that is known in Congress puts Dominican girls in danger.
Disla visited the National Congress at the invitation of the Justice Commission and there he assured that in the meeting held with the deputies, he would advocate so that “the decisions made by the legislators are the correct ones so as not to affect the physical, psychological and emotional development of children ”.
In that sense, he considered unions at an early age and abuse and stated that the permission established by the Law to contract marriage has a difference of five years between couples when it should be eight years.
He stated that minors under 18 are still under the protection of the State and said "they do not have the capacity to marry, buy alcoholic beverages or cigarettes."
For his part, Elcarte reiterated that "it is outrageous that once again, after so many debates, we return to Congress with this issue" and said that the topic and the positions "are clear" to deny child marriage in the country.
The UNICEF representative in the country explained that the Juvenile Code and the Convention on the Rights of the Child establish that minority is limited to 18 years of age. These clarifications are opposed to those of deputy Jiménez, who assured that, according to number two of the Juvenile Code, differences are established between children, infants, and adolescents.
Elcarte continued to deplore the initiative that is known in the legislative body and stated that "a 16-year-old girl who marries someone older is an incorrect act" because, according to her arguments, "they do not have the physical or psychological capacity to make decisions ”.
“An adult who marries a minor is killing, abusing, and raping her. Let her decide when she is an adult ”, emphasized Elcarte.
The representative in favor of children referred in her speech to the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, saying that the first president has shown himself against the initiative that is known in Congress and stated that "many social groups" also deplore the proposal.
The issue of child marriage has gained much more force in recent weeks after the Justice Commission resumed the study of the piece that aims to eradicate it.
Current officials and those of the past administration have given their opinion on this matter. Such was the case of the former Administrative Minister of the Presidency, José Ramón Peralta, who in a post on Twitter called on legislators to reflect so that the Dominican Republic fully guarantees the rights of girls. "16 years is not the age to get married," emphasized the former official in the posted message.
Finjus considers it a threat to development
The Institutionality and Justice Foundation (Finjus) also joined the request of a large part of society that has proposed to the National Congress the elimination of the law of child marriage, considering that this practice represents a threat to the human development of Dominican girls and adolescents, with serious social consequences. “As recent studies and research show, the Dominican Republic, unfortunately, occupies one of the first places in Latin America in the number of child marriages and early unions, leading to severe negative effects, both on the girl who marries and on her children. . It has been identified that this situation signifies a serious deterioration in the conditions of existence of large social sectors, which at the same time affects national development ”
