Hundreds Support Violence against Women March

Hundreds Support Violence against Women March
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 11/26/2011

Participants of the march included Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, who said she supports marriage and family equality and is outspoken about it because everyone understands that women are a basic element in family life.

“Men need to understand that we are not sex symbols, we are not symbols of appropriation, we are not property. We are human beings, equal to men, and it is becoming more and more obvious that women are successfully and skillfully filling different roles and positions which are incumbent upon us,” she said.

The First Lady participated in the march in which hundreds of government authorities and representatives from the private sector were unified in their call for “Zero Tolerance of Violence against Women.”

Surrounded by reporters, Cedeño de Fernández said the public as well as the private sector are making important efforts to reduce violence against women because they know this is a situation that can no longer be tolerated and therefore needs to be dealt with.

“Men need to understand that we are not sex symbols, we are not symbols of appropriation, we are not property. We are human beings, equal to men, and it is becoming more and more obvious that women are successfully and skillfully filling different roles and positions which are incumbent upon us,” she said.

She said the work being done by the Prosecutor´s Office through different courts being set up and the Women’s Attorney General with Rosanna Reyes as its chief officer, organizations such as the Office of the First Lady signed an agreement stating that families involved in the Progresando program have agreed to promote a new culture of non-discrimination, anti-machismo and acceptance of men and women as equals.

“We have to understand, caution and be ever aware that crimes against women not only result in their loss of life but seriously harm the children, leaving them orphaned or suddenly having their father incarcerated. What happens to these children then? Where do these children end up?” asked the First Lady.

The anti-violence march stepped off from kilometer zero of Mirador Sur Park and ended in the Prosecutor General of the Republic´s Office building where authorities spoke out in agreement with the call for an end of violence against women, adding that it should be prevented before it happens.