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Domestic Violence Bill Rejected
By Constitutional Court
It's been more than five years
and it has been before
legislators five times with the
last round that saw it pass
first reading and then didn't
make it to the Legislature floor
for second reading. This last
round saw the "domestic
violence" bill sent to the
Constitutional Court, which
yesterday declared the bill
"unconstitutional".
The Constitutional Court or Sala
IV as it is often referred to,
said the that the document
presented before it includes a
number of sanctions against
domestic aggressors that were
not included in the original
text.
So, like the last four times
around, the bill that would
effectively jail a man for
domestic violence against women
will be shelved, for an
indefinite period. With that
also shelved will be the
sanctions contained in the bill
that would have sent a man to
jail for physical, psychological
and sexual violence against
women.
The Court said in its decision
when an initiative is changed
after being approved in the
Legislative Assembly, (as it is
the case with this bill), the
document becomes corrupted and
fundamentally unconstitutional.
One of the points made by the
court, for example, is a
sanction against a man who
obligates a woman to
sadomasochism.
The bill passed first reading on
March 20 by a vote of 32 in
favour to 17 against.
The force behind the bill is
legislative depute, Gloria
Valerín, who did not agree with
the Sala IV decision, saying
that the main objective of the
bill is to "protect women
against domestic violence" and
the changes made to the document
does not change that objective.
Valerín said that the rejection
by the Sala IV will not impede
her fight for the bill. "It is
actually a strength. I don't
know of any other bill that has
been approved five times, this
reflects commitment", said
Valerín.
On the other side of the
argument, legislative deputy,
Miguel Huezo, sustained that the
Sala IV decision is a victory
for those who opposed the
initiative.
"It is a sexist law promoted by
a group of women who are only
pushing women's rights without
thinking of the effects it will
have on the family, because they
hate men", said Huezo.
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