Women's Rights In The Dominican Republic: Article Analysis

In the article “Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equality’’ i read about how Women’s rights are the fundamental human rights that were enshrined by the United Nations for every human being on the planet nearly 70 years ago. These rights include to live free from violence, slavery, and discrimination; to be educated ; to vote and to earn a fair and equal wage. A famous saying goes “Women’s rights are human rights” meaning, women all around the world are entitled to all of these rights, but yet there are women and girls who are still denied these rights, often simply because of their gender. Winning these rights for women isn’t all, it’s also about changing how countries and communities works and their perspectives on gender equality. Global Fund for Women exists to support the tireless and courageous efforts of women’s groups who work every day to win rights for women and girls. These groups are working to ensure women can own property, vote, run for office, get paid fair wages, and live free from violence – including domestic violence, sexual assault. The Global Fund for Women also stand for other rights that are vital for women’s equality. They stand for a woman’s right to decide if and when she has children, and to have high-quality health

Although the issue of women’s rights has attracted international recognition and support, women still face many inequalities and barriers. Gender-based violence and economic discrimination are problems in many parts of the world.

Women. This word creates an image- an image of a mother, a sister, a daughter. Women are of the basics part of life, they are essential not only to society, but to the human species. Therefore, women should be treated with equal importance and given the same rights regardless of gender. Society has come a long way since 1920 and giving women the right to vote. However, there a parts of the world where women are treated unequally in respect of men and are fighting for that equality- a basic human right. Women especially in the developing world struggle with unjust inequalities. Common abuses that claim women are sex trafficking and forced prostitution; gender-based violence, including honor killings and mass rape; and maternal mortality. Reportage and storytelling of these horrible abuses are combined in the nonfiction book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, where Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn argue that the oppression of women is the worst current global issue that calls for change.

In a letter to her husband, Abigail Adams wrote that "patriotism in the female sex is the most disinterested of all virtues" (35). Essentially, she points out that female patriotism meant investment in causes that either didn’t affect or placed limitations on a woman’s life. In her book Women of the Republic, author Linda Kerber presents a history of women who did involve themselves in shaping early America, despite Adams’ assertion. Kerber, a feminist historian currently teaching at the University of Iowa, has published several books concerning the intellectual history of American women. Women of the Republic specifically concerns the rise of republican motherhood as a means of finding agency within nascent America. As Kerber defines her,

Former president and religious leader Jimmy Carter, among many other actions he’s taken to try and better this world, has, in an attempt to expose some of the atrocities committed against women from practically the beginning of time to today’s day and age, through advocacy and his book A Call to Action, brought to the attention of the masses the deplorable issues of inequality this world sees constantly. From barbaric practices done in underdeveloped countries such as FGC (female genital cutting) and , to discriminatory, violent acts seen in today’s modern, civilized society such sexual assault and abuse toward women, Mr. Carter addresses the issues many are ignorant to. He not only addresses the issues of inequality, but makes strides to diminish violence entirely

The history of the Dominican Republic formation is first dated back to The Taino’s, which split up the island into five territories and chiefdoms. A major event of the country’s formation was in 1492 when in his first voyage Christopher Columbus’s discovered and claimed it. Columbus’s exploration triggered Spanish takeover of the American mainland and the Caribbean. Due to the French taking control of the western third of the island, that part of the island became known as Haiti in 1804. The Dominican Republic tried to gain its own independence in 1821 but failed for 22 years due to the Haitians taking the island over until 1844 when it gained its own independence. But they willingly returned to the Spanish Empire in 1861. Due to voluntarily

In both the Dominican Republic and America, the girl’s sexuality is oppressed by men who trick them into thinking they care. While on the Island, Sofia meets a guy who she loves more than anything. When the other sisters arrive, they realize that he is controlling her every action and thought. He tells her what to do and will not let her think for herself. Carla was exposed to a perverted man in a green car. This causes her to think that sexuality is a threat to society and a dangerous thing overall. She can’t figure out who she is because this man stripped her of her identity.

In Bob Herbert’s, “Punished For Being Female” he starts by illustrating the atrocities done to women done in the last month alone. These acts are horrendous in nature and happen quite frequently due to the normalization of violence towards women. This is no sudden outbreak of violence as the news has covered instances such as these but have not been taken seriously. A big part in why this continues is believed to be because the consequences for such crimes are unlikely. Herbert goes on to list incidents in Pakistan and India in which women are treated as lesser than human without any true repercussions of their actions. This is believed to be occurring due to women simply being women

“Without doubt, the last century has witnessed an unprecedented expansion of women’s rights, in one of the most profound social revolutions the world has ever seen. One hundred years ago, only two countries allowed women to vote. Today, that right is virtually universal. Millions of men and women around the world today advocate to end violence against women, and a record two-thirds of countries have passed laws against it.” – Michelle Bachelet, UN Women Executive Director

In every country in Latin America and the Caribbean, women suffer acute discrimination. Often, the discrimination women face is related to social prejudices regarding appropriate patterns of conduct for men and women. This entrenched sex inequality provides the backdrop for the pervasive and widespread human rights violations women face in the region, with little chance of justice. The most pernicious types of women's human rights abuses in the Americas occur in the areas of women's reproductive and sexual health and rights, discrimination and violence against women in the workplace, and violence against women in the home. After decades of dictatorships in some countries, democracy has not meant an end to impunity for violations of women

Sadly, many countries and/or communities still have that macho way of thinking, believing that a woman only has two jobs in life, serve her family and bear children. Unfortunately, in many cases, these women are being mistreated, beaten and/or shut down. We can see examples of these situations in some countries of the Middle East.

This shows that women and children are not treated equally, and the men will always have power over them. According to the article, “Violence against Women and Girls in the Caribbean: An Intervention and Lessons Learned from Jamaica”, the author stated “ In 1998 alone, 3,844

Speaking of gender equality, there have been significant achievements for female population in Dominican Republic in recent years, as greater access to education and paid labor market, but there is a burden in the struggle for women's rights due to a high rate on violence against women at this country. Dominican Republic is ranked as one of the countries most affected by domestic violence. According to statistics from 2015 there were 144 women deaths due to violence in Dominican Republic. This data was taken from Report on the feminicides in the Dominican Republic, generated by the Attorney General of the

Violence takes many forms: it can be physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and even within families, or combinations of one or more of these. In most cases, the violence has been “acceptable” because of the cultural traditions that are largely respected. However, with the increasing emergence of the women’s movement internationally and even within Mexico itself, many Mexican males regard their roles as belittled. There has been a subtle and sometimes obvious backlash against the women’s movement, especially if women have independent living or income possibilities. In a culture in which violence is the norm, beatings, rape, torture, mutilation, and even murder are frequently overlooked. This has been painfully evident in the cases of mass murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez.

All around the world women are crying out, claiming "that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate form human rights," (Hillary Clinton -- Tumulty, 1997). The abuses females endure are found everywhere in places like Senegal, Bangladesh, and Berjing, China. Abortion, denial of political rights, and suppression of speech (Tumulty) are forces upon women daily. But feminism has taken a strong hold of the women around the world, giving them hope for equal rights in the future. "Our community could see we were a society of strong willed women," prides Faustima Nunez, a resident of Chica, "and we are no