Feminists protest against possible approval of the Penal Code

With the Senate's approval of the Penal Code bill approaching, feminist groups protested against the bill this Thursday in front of the National Congress and accused the ruling party of using its legislative majority to push through a "retrograde" reform.

Criticizing several articles of the bill, such as the one that criminalizes any form of abortion , the protesters expressed that the initiative represents "a criminal code from the cavern " that, in their opinion, ignores the rights of women and girls.

"The PRM has a golden opportunity right now, and yet what they're doing is going backwards ," said Natalia Mármol, one of the activists at the protest, stating that politicians from the ruling party such as Alfredo Pacheco, president of the Chamber of Deputies , or President Luis Abinader, have already made public commitments in favor of the three causes that would decriminalize abortion.

In addition to rejecting the exclusion of the grounds —risk to the mother's life, rape or incest, and fetal nonviability—the protesters criticized other aspects of the bill , which already has a report.

Setback in rights

For Luz Eneida Mejía, a feminist activist, the content of the draft Penal Code is not only retrograde, but also a threat to fundamental rights .

"Authorizing fighting as a form of punishment for a minor, authorizing wife rape , all of that is from the cavemen. What the deputies are proposing is a return to the days of the cavemen," Mejía said.

He also denounced the bill as allowing military personnel accused of crimes to be tried in special courts , which he considered a throwback to the authoritarian and dictatorial eras in the Dominican Republic.

The spokespersons also criticized the Penal Code report for including statutes of limitations for crimes of gender-based and sexual violence , reducing penalties for assaults on children, and protecting military personnel, politicians, churches, and public officials.

"The code they want to approve guarantees impunity for the corrupt, for the military, and for the churches," Mármol denounced, after pointing out that this supposed impunity contradicts the narrative with which the PRM won the 2020 elections.

The activists recalled that the PRM was the first party that, through a resolution issued in 2017 , publicly committed to supporting the inclusion of the three causes in the Penal Code .

That commitment, as they reiterated, was supported by Abinader and Pacheco, but now, with an "overwhelming" majority in Congress, the ruling party has changed its approach and is seeking to approve a new Penal Code that would punish abortion in any form.

During the demonstration, several names were mentioned of women who have died in the Dominican Republic due to lack of access to legal abortion , even in extreme circumstances. Activists recalled cases such as those of Rosaura Almonte ("Esperancita"), Winifer, Adilca, and Damaris Mejía.

"We're not talking about ideology, we're talking about protecting lives ," Mármol said.

The new Penal Code

The draft of the new Penal Code is about to be approved by the National Congress . The initiative has already passed its first test and has a favorable report that was unanimously approved by the commission that studied it for months.

It must now go to a Senate session for approval in two discussions and then go through the same process in the Chamber of Deputies . If it passes without obstacles in both legislative chambers, the bill would go to the Executive Branch for promulgation.

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