The main functions of the Mainstreaming Committee are to certify compliance and the correct implementation of the standards and requirements of the Seal in the institution, identify drivers of gender equality within the institution and promote the empowerment of women in the work of the institution, among other mandates that promote good practices for gender equality in institutional management.
The Judicial Branch began the process for the implementation of the Equal DR Seal in the Public Sector, which seeks to generate changes in the management of institutions to increase competitiveness, productivity and the promotion of actions aimed at eliminating gender gaps and increasing participation and equal employment opportunities between women and men.
The Equalizing DR Seal is an initiative for gender mainstreaming in the organizational structure, with the objective of accelerating the achievement of equality in the State, transforming the institutional framework in its internal and external dimensions. This program aims to develop the Sustainable Development Goals as part of the 2030 agenda in which the Judicial Branch is part of.
For this implementation, the institution created the Gender Mainstreaming Committee of the Judiciary, which is coordinated by the judge of the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), magistrate Nancy Salcedo and integrated by judges of the Judicial Council, Magistrate Blas Fernández, magistrate Bionni Zayas, magistrate Octavia Fernández Curi, as well as the judges members of the Executive Commission of Persons in Condition of Vulnerability and Departmental Coordinators magistrates Juan Aníbal Rodríguez and Joselin Moreta and judicial servants.
As part of the development of the program, the Technical Committee for Equality was also created, composed of transversal management areas; this committee is the body that executes the measures required by the seal and supports the Transversalization Committee.
Since June 11 of this year, the Technical Committee for Equality has held several meetings with representatives of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Women, whose entities have taken the initiative to promote the Equal DR Seal.
However, the Judiciary has always implemented practices and initiatives to eliminate the gender gap. Judiciary has always implemented practices and initiatives to eliminate the gender gap.
Gender Policies
For the Judicial Branch, gender equality has been part of its institutional vision rooted in the creation of a Gender Equality Policy in 2007 and modified in 2021 to incorporate a judge representing the Justice of the Peace Courts, which established the Gender Equality Commission and subsequently expanded the participation of this commission, through the subcommissions created through the Protocol for the implementation of the Gender Equality Policy of the Judicial Branch, approved by Resolution No. 18/2016, dated October 12, 2016. These subcommittees are composed of male and female judges of the judicial departments, generating greater participation of women and men in this body.
The Commission for Gender Equality has directed its efforts to carry out actions aimed at the participation of women in decision-making processes and their preparation to face their role as judges and judicial servants in the scope of their roles within the Judiciary. In addition, it has established institutional alliances with international organizations, in view of the commitments that the institution has assumed in this area.
The Justice and Gender Observatory of the Dominican Judicial Branch has been in place since August 19, 2010. The Justice and Gender Observatory, the first in Ibero-America, is responsible for monitoring the sentences and other judicial decisions issued in this area, in order to propose guidelines for action within this branch of government, and at the same time, suggest those legislative changes deemed necessary to achieve greater effectiveness and forcefulness in the judicial response.
Documents related to women have been printed, among which the following are worth mentioning: Family Law in the 21st Century: Assisted Human Fertilization and Assisted Filiation, compilation of National and International Instruments that favor women, Mujeres de Siempre, La Historia con Ojos de Mujer, Guía de Buenas Prácticas para el Manejo de los casos de Violencia de Intrafamiliar, Alfabetización en Derechos - Género, among others.
