Dominican are third in Central America and the Caribbean with the highest rate of femicide

Santo Domingo - The Dominican Republic is the third largest country in Central America and the Caribbean with the highest rate of femicide, behind Honduras and Guatemala, according to a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA, in English).

The representative of the UN institution in the country, Sonia Vasquez, said today that since the beginning of the year until last October had recorded the deaths of 112 women by their partners or former partners in the country.

The expert revealed this information while participating in the presentation of the "Strategy 2016-2020 to strengthen the response of the NHS to violence, with emphasis on gender-based violence against children, adolescents , women and older adults, "organized by the Ministry of Public Health through the Office of Gender Equality and Development.The third place of Dominican Republic on a list that includes 14 countries shows that the country has not achieved the expected level of development in this area, Vasquez, who also considered alarming high rate of maternal deaths said, like a " very low "development of comprehensive sex education in schools.

Also noted the concern of the high rates of teenage pregnancies, an area in which there has been little progress in the country, staying in the worst places in the region.The UN representative said that among the factors contributing to the reduction of homicide rates in rich and middle-income countries are reducing the size of families, increased access to education, improvements in social welfare, the slowdown in the development or enhancement of institutional security policies.

For his part, Minister of Health, Altagracia Guzman, reported that 30% of women who are victims of violence in the family does not recognize the real causes of their injuries when they come to hospitals for medical treatment.

Still, he noted the progress made on the issue of gender violence to be addressed as a public health problem.

He alluded to the importance of designing policies, strategies and programs for comprehensive and effective response to this problem from the health sector as the strategic document presented today.

The strategy is part of the activities of the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women", which is commemorated every 25 November.