Responding to a campaign initiated by Plan InternacionalRD against child marriage in the Dominican Republic, the Commission of Justice of the Chamber of Deputies recommended eliminating Art. 146 and others from the 3,000-article Civil Code that is being revised in Congress. The article had allowed marriages of boys and girls under 18 years with the consent of the parents or a judge. The bill will be revised in the Tuesday, 30 May 2017 session.
The Plan InternationalRD study indicated that one of five teenagers (ages 15 to 19) is married or living with a man 10 years older. 39% of men surveyed said they would prefer to marry or live with a child or a teenager. The men stated the teenagers or children were “more obedient.”
Plan Internacional, the non-governmental organization, is lobbying for the elimination of child marriage after carrying out the study that revealed the impact the child marriages had on perpetuating poverty in the country.
The director of Plan Internacional-RD, Aracelis de los Santos, has requested that the opposition PRM legislators become the spokespersons for the elimination of child marriages from the Civil Code of the Dominican Republic. The Civil Code allows child marriages with the consent of the minor’s parents. Plan InternacionalRd had stressed the violation of basic human rights and the perpetuating of poverty caused by the child unions.
Deputy Ginette Bournigal (PRM-Puerto Plata) called for the Roman Catholic and evangelical churches to raise their voices against child marriages. “I have not heard my Catholic church or the evangelical church speak out in defense of the girls. Where is the voice of our churches defending our girls? she stated.
The president of the Chamber of Deputies Lucia Medina has said she is against the practice of marriages of minors in the country.
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Listin Diario
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Diario Libre
26 May 2017
