Speaking yesterday at the Regional Conference of Women taking place in Santo Domingo through 18 October, President Danilo Medina highlighted his government’s plans to help women get ahead. He stressed that his position is one of zero tolerance to gender violence and sexual abuse.
He mentioned programs such as “Vive Mujer” that offers integral protection to victims of family violence. He mentioned government programs to support entrepreneurship and credit for small business. He said that 70% of the loans made by the governmental Banca Solidaria program have been going to women in business. He said that women have also been benefiting from the National Literacy Plan. Of the first graduates of the read and write program, 60% have been women. He also said that women will benefit from the extended school hours program because they will have more time to dedicate to their remunerated work.
News reports yesterday covered the interruption of his speech at the conference by protestors. Participating women protested the recent Constitutional Court judgment to grant residency papers and not nationality to offspring of foreigners that do not have legal status in the country.
The conference is sponsored by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Ministry of Women.