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Costa Rica: Measures to address violence against women, including enforcement of existing laws

The information that follows adds to that provided in CRI37424.E of 11 July 2001, CRI36656.E of 23 February 2001 and previous Responses on the subject, as well as Country Reports 2001 (under Section 1.e: Denial of Fair Public Trial, and Section 5: Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status--Women), available at Regional Documentation Centres.

In October 2001 the San Jose daily La Nación reported that the caseload of the Domestic Violence Court of San Jose, located in Goicochea, was growing at a rate of seven per cent each month, one year after the special court was created: from 309 cases in October 2000, to 616 cases in August 2001, for a total of 5,649 cases received (1 Oct. 2001). Another special court for domestic violence cases was established in January 2001 in Cartago, which had handled 1,302 cases by October (ibid.). The increased volume of cases and requests for protection is attributed in part to the publicity surrounding the work of these courts, which include among their staff judges, psychologists and social workers (ibid.). Similar "multi-disciplinary teams" operate in Alajuela and Heredia, albeit attached to family courts (juzgados de familia), which are the courts that handle domestic violence cases where there are no special domestic violence courts (ibid.).

In August 2001 Congress approved the creation of three new domestic violence courts: one in Alajuela, another in Heredia, and one in Cartago (La Nación 17 Aug. 2001). According to a report, domestic violence is increasing significantly (esta en franco crecimiento), and cases of domestic violence account for nearly 50 percent of the family courts' caseload (ibid.).

La Nación cites various experts as stating that family courts have improved in their handling of domestic violence cases, including the time they take to address a case, although it also cites sources as stating that "efforts are still needed" (aún faltan esfuerzos) to be more effective, adding that "there are weaknesses in the state protection system" (hay debilidades en el sistema de protección estatal) (ibid. 1 Oct. 2001). The article states that women abandon many cases brought before the courts; at the Goicochea court, for example, the report states that one third of cases do not proceed, although a majority of those that do proceed end in an issuing of "definitive protection" (protección definitiva) (ibid.). According to a lawyer, there is no system of accompaniment or escort (acompañamiento) nor of legal counselling for victims, and these cannot be expected to be provided by the courts due to their limited resources (ibid.).

According to two judges from the domestic violence courts, the Goicochea court only has resources to evaluate abidance to measures issued only in "delicate cases" (en casos delicados), and cannot provide legal counsel due to its impartial role; they also stated that the lack of support and counselling could be partly responsible for the high number of cases abandoned (ibid.). However, the judges indicated that other things to which abandonment of cases could be attributed include reconciliation of the couple, and initial provisional measures issued by the court which might prompt a "positive reaction in the abuser" (reacción positiva del agresor) (ibid.).

The Ombudsman of Costa Rica (Defensor de los Habitantes) reportedly opined that the courts have to pay greater attention to domestic violence, noting that of all the protection measures issued by the courts, only 28 were "definitive" (definitivas) (ibid.). The Minister on the Status of Women reportedly acknowledged the need to do more, but also pointed out that the country has 30 "women's offices" (oficinas de la mujer) and has trained more than 700 police officers (ibid.).

La Nación provides these additional statistics: in 2000 a total of 32,643 cases of domestic violence were reported in Costa Rica; the Domestic Violence Court in Goicochea issued 3,154 sentences from January to September 2001; in the same period, the court filed 1,077 cases as abandoned, while in 1,914 cases the court reaffirmed existing measures (mantuvieron las medidas), and in 163 cases existing measures were lifted by the court (ibid.).

In November 2001 a proposed law on criminalization of violence against women returned to Congress for modifications, after the Fourth Hall (Sala Cuarta) court declared the bill invalid (Terra-Costa Rica 13 Nov. 2001). The law, which took nearly 20 months to go through Congress (La Nación 17 Aug. 2001), would have provided jail terms and "alternative penalties" (penas alternativas) for physical and psychological violence and property damages against women over 15 years of age (ibid. 4 Oct. 2001). However, some deputies opposed the law, arguing that crimes of domestic violence were already included in the Penal Code, leading a group of congressmen to refer a constitutional consultation (consulta de constitucionalidad) to the Fourth Hall court (ibid.).

The National Institute of Women of Costa Rica lists the following as existing legislation relevant to gender violence (violencia de género) (INAMU 2001). Please note that these are unofficial translations:

– Law No. 5811 of 10 October 1975, Law Against All Forms of Advertising Using Images of Women;

– Law No. 7142 of 8 March 1990, Law to Promote the Social Equality of Women;

– Law No. 7499 of 22 June 1995, Approval of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence Against Women;

– Law No. 7446 of 3 February 1995, Law Against Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and in Teaching;

– Law No. 7586 of 10 April 1996, Law Against Domestic Violence;

– Executive Decree No. 254444-G-J and related reforms, Creation of the Station (Delegación) for Victimized Women;

– Executive Decree 25645-MP of 22 November 1996, Establishment of the National Day of No Violence Against Women;

– Executive Decree 25625 of 6 November 1996, Regulations to Prevent, Investigate and Punish Sexual Harassment in the Ministry of Public Education;

– Executive Decree 26664 of 19 November 1997, Creation of the National System for Attending to and Preventing Intra-Family Violence;

– Bulletin (Circular) No. 13-98 of the Plenary Court (Corte Plena) on 14 July 1998, Rules on the Constitution and Operation of Interdisciplinary Teams Proposed in the Penal Procedures Code and in the Childhood and Adolescence Code.

INAMU lists two shelters for women, one in Cartago and one in Limon, each able to lodge 12 or 14 women with their children (INAMU n.d.). INAMU's Station for Victimized Women is located in San Jose, and provides counselling by lawyers, psychologists and social workers (ibid.). The Institute runs a telephone assistance line manned by volunteers and trained telephone operators, for directing women to places where they can seek assistance, and provides accompaniment and legal counsel in judicial processes where women have been murdered (casos de femicidio) (ibid.). INAMU reports the existence of 17 local networks in Costa Rica which link government (national and municipal) and public (courts and universities) institutions with community organizations, to help implement public policies related to gender violence and develop means to address intra-family violence (ibid.). INAMU receives and analyzes statistics related to calls received by the telephone assistance line, and carries out public education campaigns (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres (INAMU), San Jose. 2001. "Legislación." <http:// www.inamu.go.cr/legislacion/leyes.shtml> [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

_____. n.d. "Violencia de Género." <http://www.inamu.go.cr/legislacion/leyes.shtml> [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

La Nación [San Jose]. 4 October 2001. Ismael Venegas C. "Castigarán con cárcel la agresión doméstica." <http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2001/octubre/04/pais2.html> [Accessed 3 December 2001]

_____. 1 October 2001. Montserrat Solano C. "Más solicitudes de protección por violencia." <http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2001/octubre/ 01/pais3.html> [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

_____. 17 August 2001. Ismael Venegas C. "Avalan a nuevos juzgados." <http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2001/agosto/17/pais2.html> [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

Terra-Costa Rica [San Jose]. 13 November 2001. "Ley de violencia contra mujeres a primer debate." <http://www.terra.co.cr/noticias/nacionales/portada.htm> (Google) [Accessed 3 Dec. 2001]

Topics: Violence against women, SGBV,