Amnesty International: Against Sexual Violence

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, sexual violence has become an increasingly present threat. Especially in the Dominican Republic, sex workers are brutally raped and violated by state officials and the police—people whose duty it is to support them.

These individuals suffer from a slowly increasing stigma against sex workers, which promotes the idea that being a sex worker constitutes you to have less rights over your body simply due to your job description. In many communities, sex workers are described as less decent, in need of counseling and a public nuisance. In the Dominican Republic, police officers and officials even use their power to torment and abuse sex workers.

Unfortunately, incidents like these occur frequently in the Dominican Republic. In 2018 alone, the Prosecutor General’s Office received over 71,000 reports of gender-based and intra-family violence, as well as more than 6,300 reports of sexual offenses which included 1,290 reports of rape. These numbers increase consistently. In addition to that, sex workers who identify as transgender are even being killed or forced to endure extreme punishment for no reason other than their identity and their job. Transgender women reported being called “f**” and “devils” by police, and many believed that they were viewed as “aliens” or “animals.” Multiple workers also reported that police had burned their wigs or forced them to clean prison cells covered in excrement in order to punish them. As a result, transgender sex workers have to constantly struggle against a greater risk of punishment and a higher risk of being excluded from their community. 

Nevertheless, whenever complaints are filed for rape, abuse and unjust retaliation from police, there is nothing done. Many officials and members of the police continue to disregard sex workers as well as their right to do whatever they want with their bodies. When sex workers go to file a complaint, they are often treated like “whores.” They are blatantly ignored, and the crimes committed against them remain still to be punished.

However, we can make a change in this growing and widespread issue. By signing this Amnesty petition, we can raise our voices against the abuse of a marginalized group. By educating ourselves on sexual and gender-based violence worldwide on Amnesty International (a non-governmental organization focused on human rights), we can help make the rights of all women a priority in the Dominican Republic, which would set a precedent for other countries as well when it comes to women’s rights.

Gender-based Violence in the Dominican Republic Link to Petition: