Abuse
and
Insult
Of Women
Now A
Criminal
Act in
Costa
Rica
After
suffering
a
setback
following
a
Constitutional
Court
challenge,
the Ley
de
Penalización
de la
Violencia
Contra
Las
Mujeres,
was
approved
again on
Monday
by
legislators
in a
vote of
41 in
favour
and six
against.
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The law
calls
for
punishment
of from
three
months
to a
year for
the
mistreating
of a
woman
while
maintaining
a
relationship,
marriage
or
common
law
union.
If
physical
injury
results
the
prison
term is
from six
months
to one
year.
If the
physical
injury
is major
-
meaning
the
person
is
medically
incapacitated
for 5
days or
more,
the
prison
term is
from 8
months
to a
year.
And if
the
injury
results
in the
incapacity
of more
than a
month
then the
full
weight
of the
criminal
law will
be
applied
that
could be
up to
six
years in
prison.
For its
part,
the
Partido
Unidad
Social
Cristiana
(PUSC)
lawmaker,
Gloria
Bejarano
said she
feels
pleased,
but is
beholden
to other
sectors
of the
population
who
suffer
from
violence.
Bejarano
added
that any
relationship
that
turns
hurt and
cry,
becomes
unhealthy
and
abusive,
so it
was
important
to adopt
this
reform.
On the
other
side of
the
debate,
PUSC
lawmaker,
Jose
Roberto
Rodríguez,
who
voted
against
said
from a
legal
point of
view,
the law
is
unfair.
Most
lawmakers
agreed
agreed
on the
contribution
provided
by the
approval
of the
reforms
to
combat
gender
violence
and the
rights
of
women.
The law
approved
on
Monday
in
second
and
final
reading
restores
two
articles
annulled
by the
Constitutional
Court
and
considered
of vital
importance
for
criminalizing
abuse
and
insults.
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