Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi announced an executive order on Sunday to declare an emergency for gender-based violence, as he advanced during his election campaign because of the situation facing women on the island.
The initiative responds to a social alarm caused by the increase in cases in a population such as Puerto Rico, of about 3.2 million people, where in 2020 more than 45 femicides were registered.
The social alarm was certainly triggered after that, in a period of four weeks, between September 15 and October 19 last year, 17 crimes of women were registered.
The decision announced today comes after her predecessor, Wanda Vázquez, announced a state of national alert for violence against women in September 2019.
“For too long, vulnerable victims have suffered the consequences of systematic machismo, lack of fairness, discrimination, lack of education, lack of guidance and, above all, lack of action,” he said.
OBLIGATION AND COMMITMENT AS GOVERNOR
“It is my duty and commitment as governor to set a STOP for gender-based violence, and for these purposes I have declared a state of emergency,” Pierluisi said.
Executive Order 2021-13 establishes specific mechanisms, such as the appointment of a compliance officer, who will be accountable to the governor to oversee, monitor and verify the implementation of the order.
In addition, it creates the Committee for the Prevention, Support, Rescue and Education of Gender-Based Violence (PARE Committee) with 17 members and increases the representation of organizations dedicated to the fight against gender-based violence to three.
This committee will be chaired by the secretary of the family, Carmen González.
Another provision of the order provides for the creation of a telephone application to help victims of gender violence to seek emergency help by hiding the message sent to protect the victim from their abuser.
In addition, each agency, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget (OGP), will have to identify resources to comply with the provisions of the executive order and, if necessary, request additional funding to deal with the declared emergency.
VICTIM TRACKING PROGRAM
In an effort to prevent deaths and provide more safety for victims, a follow-up program is set up so that anyone with a protection order for gender-based violence can be contacted by a public official to check their safety.
It also provides for the establishment of training mechanisms for all law enforcement agencies and staff of government agencies relevant to the efforts of the PARE Committee, as well as for the optimization of processes to compile reliable statistics on the incidence of gender-based violence.
The assessment is also ordered to make recommendations on the implementation of the Pink Alert Plan and is ordered to explore ways to improve the care of vulnerable victims through the specialized divisions of the Department of Justice.
Given that on several occasions in cases of gender-based violence there is an economic factor that does not allow the victim to have the necessary tools to escape the situation of violence, the executive order obliges the Department of Economic Development and Trade (DDEC) to create programs to encourage the integration of women into the workforce.
In order to raise awareness, educate and prevent gender violence, it is trained to design and disseminate media campaigns in alliance with private companies.
Finally, it is established that the PARE Committee must publish a first progress report within 45 days of the first meeting and every 30 days during the order, which will be until June 30, 2022, extendable by Governor at the request of the PARE Committee.