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Costa Rica: Women's centres and organizations dealing with violence against women, including their names; whether their services are expanding and their usage increasing; whether complaints of gender-related and/or domestic violence are increasing; and whether these organizations can offer free legal or counselling services for the victims (1997 to November 1999)

The following list of organizations dealing with the advancement of women and  gender equity in Costa Rica was taken from the Website of the Directory of National Organizations in charge of Policies and Programs for women in Latin America and the Caribbean (Directorio de organismos nacionales a cargo de las políticas y programas para las mujeres de América Latina y Caribe). The list is comprised of organizations active in the promotion of women's rights in 1998.

Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres (National Women's Institute)

The Institute is an autonomous governmental entity. It was formerly called the National Centre for the Development of Women and the Family (Centro Nacional para el Desarrollo de la Mujer y la Familia, CMF).

To define and promote national policy for gender equality and equity;

To defend the rights of women;

To promote equality of the sexes;

To act as coordinator and to ensure that government bodies establish and implement a national policy for gender equality and equity;

To promote the full participation of women in social, political, cultural and economic life.

Main activities:

The Institute is engaged in strategic planning involving the definition of a national system for gender policy, on the basis of which its own organizational structure will be determined. This process was initiated at the Consultative Meeting for the Design of the National System for Gender Policy (August 1998), attended by approximately 300 women, representing 17 population groups (such as indigenous women, trade unionists, entrepreneurs, women with disabilities), who identified the main needs and/or problems of women, solutions and priorities to be considered in defining gender policy; Subsequently, the inputs of the Consultative Meeting were systematized, and, at the same time, the current situation of women in Costa Rica was analysed with reference to various strategic areas identified in the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995); The systematized information and analyses referred to above were presented at 11 consultative workshops attended by representatives of different segments of the population and specialists in the field, with a view to enhancing the content of documents. A second session of expert consultancy workshops was recently held to contribute to the formulation and implementation of gender policy; On the basis of these meetings and work of systematization, the strategic guidelines, plans and programmes of the Institute should soon be available.

Programa de Coordinación de las Oficinas Ministeriales y Sectoriales de la Mujer (OMM/OSM) (Coordination Program of the Ministerial and Sectorial Offices for Women)

It is accountable to the National Women's Institute.

Objectives and functions:

To ensure that Government institutions effectively use and apply gender criteria in their activities, and to give effect to the policies on women issued from the National Centre for the Development of Women and the Family.

Delegación de la Mujer Agredida (Women's Delegation)

It is accountable to the Ministry of Government in coordination with the National Women's Institute.

Objectives and functions:

Free help for women who have suffered physical, psychological and sexual violence, reception and processing of complaints, official protection, legal, psychological and medical assistance and referral to hostels.

Defensoría de la Mujer (Office of Women's Affairs)

It is accountable to the Office of Public Defence (Defensoría de los Habitantes) and the Ministry of Justice and Pardon (Ministerio de Justicia y Gracia)

Objectives and functions:

To protect, extend and promote the rights and interests of women against violations, restrictions and discrimination arising from the actions or omissions of the public authorities;

To help eliminate discrimination against women by protecting and extending their rights.

To open files in response to complaints, mainly in cases of: harassment and molestation at work; sexual harassment; violation of employment rights due to pregnancy, lactation, motherhood;discrimination in the workplace in respect of promotion and competitions for positions; and official corruption (26 Nov. 1998)

In addition to the main activities mentioned above for the National Women's Institute, The Tico Times reports that the Institute's National Plan for the Attention and Prevention of Domestic Violence (PLANOVI) operates two shelters for abused women in  Cartago and San José (6 Aug. 1999). In one of its reports, La Nación provided a list of resources in Costa Rica that offer services to victims of sexual violence (6 June 1999). They include the phone number of an emergency help line, which is 800-300-3000; the Women's Delegation (Delegación de la Mujer), which can be reached at 222-7372 or 222-7533; offices for women's affairs in the municipalities of Alajuela, Goicoechea, Moravia, San Carlos Puntarenas and Paquera (there are 32 such offices in the country, however, not all of them are specialized in domestic violence training); social work offices in hospitals and clinics of the Costa Rican Social Security Office (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social); and the Family Court (Juzgado de Familia) or Mixed Court (Juzgado Mixto) to which the victim should file a complaint (ibid.).

Another La Nación report adds that the emergency help line called "Breaking the Silence" (Rompamos el Silencio) provides relevant information to the person calling, including legal orientation and emotion support, while maintaining anonymity (3 Jan. 1999). This emergency help line is staffed by 30 female volunteers and is coordinated by the "Mujer no estás sola" ("Woman Is Not Alone") program of the non-governmental organization Feminist Centre of Information and Action (Centro Feminista de Información y Acción, Cefemina) (ibid. 1 Oct. 1999). The Women's Delegation, in addition to the activities mentioned above, also provides follow-up with women's complaints related to sexual violence and will accompany them through the judicial process (ibid.).

Another initiative responding to violence against women in Costa Rica is a project financially supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) that would facilitate the universities of Toronto and Western Ontario in providing assistance for the University of Costa Rica "to develop human resources in domestic violence prevention and intervention" (Canadian NewsWire 25 Feb. 1999). The resources allocated to this project, which will run for five years, will help the University of Costa Rica " train, for example, teachers, students, court personnel, and journalists, in how to respond to the problem of domestic violence" (ibid.).

The following information on the services and activities of the Office of Women's Affairs within the Ombudsman's Office (Defensoría de los habitantes) is additional to that mentioned above and is provided in the Office's 1997-1998 annual report.

With regards to domestic violence, the Office carried out training sessions on the contents and application of the Law Against Domestic Violence within the public sector, as well as educated public servants in overcoming the myths and stereotypes that serve as obstacles to the application of this law. Furthermore, while this law mandated the Office to monitor the actions and irregularities of state officials or institutions (sujetos públicos), the Office had treated every case of domestic violence brought before it and had provided women with assistance in the preparation of making a request for protection measures through the appropriate channels (vía jurisdiccional).

The Office continued to develop training initiatives for groups of women with emphasis on the issues that contribute to the cycle of violence, the importance of self-esteem and the legal channels available to victims of violence.

With regards to sexual harassment, the Office wanted to organize conferences and workshops with persons, who, because of their position in the workplace, would be able to promote and disseminate the Law Against Sexual Harassment in Employment and Teaching (Ley contra el Hostigamiento Sexual en el Empleo y la Docencia). To that end, the Office established an informal agreement with the Public Education Ministry to facilitate the training of civil servants who were in charge of managing the application of this law and its internal regulation in the various educational institutions in the country.

In terms of domestic violence statistics, La Nación states that the Women's Delegation (Delegación de la Mujer) received 12,231 complaints from January 1998 to 22 December 1998, 46 more than in the previous year. Furthermore, according to the Women's Delegation, the number of domestic violence cases reported and phone calls made to the emergency help line tended to increase during the Christmas holiday season (La Nación 3 Jan. 1999). One of the help line operators stated that the increase in complaints made by women could be attributed to a greater consumption of alcohol by men (ibid.).

In 1999, according to the National Women's Institute, there has been an increase in the number of cases of violence against women reported, as well as an increase in the number of women calling the emergency help line (La Nación 10 Nov. 1999). As of 31 October 1999, the help line had received 8,729 calls, an increase from the total of 8,640 received in 1998 (ibid.). Of the 4,210 cases of violence against women processed by the Women's Delegation between January and October 1999, 2,188 were new ones (ibid.). The numbers are expected to increase in the months of November and December because potential aggressors are likely to spend more time in the home and consume more alcohol (ibid.). The National Women's Institute reports that 20 women had died as a result of aggression against them in 1999, 16 of whom were killed by their spouse or partner (ibid.). At least 8 of the 20 women were on a list of passionate or conjugal homicides (homicidos pasionales o conyugales) being investigated by the Judicial Investigations Body (Organismo de Investigación Judicial, OIJ) (ibid.).

Statistics on sexual harassment are provided in Section C of the 1997-1998 annual report of the Ombudsman's Office, which covers the period between May 1997 and April 1998.

The Ombudsman's Office received 105 complaints of sexual harassment during the period of this annual report. This number represented an increase of 100 per cent from the previous year. Within the Office's jurisdiction, sexual harassment occurred primarily against female public servants and female students at the primary, college and university levels. According to the Office, the increase in complaints was attributed to a training campaign to sensitize victims of sexual harassment. Furthermore, the Office had trained those who were in charge of applying the procedures related to sexual harassment so as to ensure that they would provide better security to those who had denounced it. In carrying out this training, the Office was able to confirm that most public institutions had internal regulations to prevent and punish sexual harassment.

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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Canada NewsWire. 25 February 1999. "CIDA to Support an Initiative by Two Ontario Universities in Prevention of Domestic Violence in Costa Rica." (NEXIS)

Defensoría de los Habitantes. 1998. Informe Anual de Mayo de 1997 a Abril de 1998. Section C. "Violencia Domestica y Hostigamiento Sexual." <http://www.nacion. co.cr/ ln_ee/ defensoria/1998/hosti.html> [Accessed on 4 Nov. 1999]

Directorio de organismos nacionales a cargo de las políticas y programas para las mujeres de América Latina y Caribe. 26 November 1998. "Costa Rica." <http://www. eclac.cl/espanol/investigacion/series/mujer/directorio/costarica.htm> [Accessed

La Nación [San José]. 10 November 1999. Montserrat Solano C. "Agresión golpea a más mujeres." <http://www.co.cr/ln_ee/1999/noviembre/10/pais1.html> [Accessed on 12 Nov. 1999]

_____. 1 October 1999. Thaís Aguilar. "Albergue para mujeres felices." <http://www. nacion.co.cr/viva/1999/octubre/01/portada.html> [Accessed on 3 Nov. 1999]

_____. 6 June 1999. Irene Vizcaíno. "Agresión doméstica…la ley no basta." <http://www.nacion.co.cr/ln_ee/1999/junio/06/pais1.html> [Accessed on 3 Nov. 1999]

_____. 3 January 1999. Hazel Barahona G. "Sube violencia doméstica." <http://www. nacion.co.cr/ln_ee/1999/enero/03/pais4.html> [Accessed on 3 Nov. 1999]

The Tico Times [San José]. 6 August 1999. Christie Pashby. "Domestic Violence Called 'Epidemic'." (Central America NewsPak [Austin], Vol. 14, No. 12, 2 Aug.-15 Aug. 1999, 3)

Additional Sources Consulted

Boletín Red Contra la Violencia [Santiago]. 1998-1999.

Central America Report [Guatemala]. 1998-1999.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1998-1999.

Women's Watch [Minneapolis]. 1998-1999.

Electronic Sources: IRB Databases, REFWORLD, LEXIS/NEXIS, WNC, Internet.

Topics: Domestic Violence, Violence against women, SGBV,