Pre-candidate for congresswoman will fight for mandatory sex education in schools

Santo Domingo.- Dominga Soto Fernandez, candidate for deputy for the Santo Domingo East constituency N0.1 for the Modern Revolutionary Party, assured that she would fight to achieve the modification of Law 66-97 of Education so that sexual Education is obligatory in all the schools of the country.

“This type of teaching becomes very necessary since pregnancy in minors constitutes a great problem. In fact, we occupy the first place in the entire region in teenage pregnancy,” he explained.

In addition, Soto Fernandez indicated that another of her proposals is the creation of Community Centers for the Prevention of Violence and Promotion of Peaceful Coexistence (CECOPVPCP) to prevent violence since, according to her, violence and criminality constitute the second concern of the citizens within the SDE constituency N0.1.

“According to National Police reports, more than 80% of violent acts do not come from crime, but from personal and community conflicts, which expresses the need to work with the citizenry for the construction of a culture of Peace, violence prevention and conflict management”, she said.

Other proposals

Creation of several centers for the prevention of violence and criminality and for the reinsertion of young people.

Dominga understands that young people, besides being the engine of development and the construction of a future of progress and advancement of the country, are also the most prone to develop violent and criminal behavior. It points out that over 80% of those who commit crimes are under 35 and come from a circle of poverty, dysfunctional homes, and lack of supervision. In addition, many of these young people come from families that intentionally or through negligence encourage them to get money regardless of the means they use to do so.

On the other hand, there are more than 800,000 young people in the country who neither work nor study, which is a real-time bomb and a breeding ground for organized crime. This makes it clear that urgent and concrete actions are needed to provide young people with orientation and support so they can insert themselves productively and positively into society. He says that although there are many offers for quality technical training in the country from the National Institute of Technical Professional Training, INFOTEP, and other public institutions, the lack of a ticket and other necessary logistics prevents thousands of young people from entering a training program that would allow them to obtain a decent job.

In other cases, thousands of young people find themselves in the dilemma that if they study, they cannot work because they must cover all their expenses, so they decide to keep working in subhuman conditions, working up to 16 hours a day for a minimum wage, and sometimes below the legal minimum, without the possibility of seeing their living conditions improve. They have not had the opportunity to receive training. He says that the above-mentioned makes clear the urgent need to develop initiatives to support these vulnerable young people, to facilitate their insertion in the productive apparatus, to create hope, and convince them that, through legal and legitimate mechanisms, a decent life can be achieved, and that the world of crime is never a good option.

Creation of at least one community mental health center and psychological and psychiatric assistance.

Dominga Soto Fernandez expressed that one of the most worrying issues is that of mental health in the country since the health system provides very little support to people suffering from psychological or psychiatric disorders, and for a poor person to get an appointment in a hospital can take between 3 and 9 months. At the same time, private consultation is unaffordable because it costs between $RD 3000.00 and $RD 8000.00, equivalent to 25% and 55% of a person’s minimum wage. How many suicides or tragedies due to psychotic crises are not avoided because of the absence or delay in supporting people with psychological and psychiatric disorders?

Why is she going into politics?

The pre-candidate expresses that she decided to launch her aspirations to become a deputy for the SDE constituency N0.1 because she understands that the country needs a leadership that believes in the new politics, committed to social justice, transparency, and institutionality, leaders to whom the concepts of change, social justice, equity and ethics in the political exercise are not part of populist and demagogic discourse, but a real commitment.

He says that he will legislate to guarantee social justice, strengthen the protection of human rights, promote social and economic equity, and gender equity, so that women have greater participation in the spaces of power, promote inclusion and respect for all people regardless of their ideology, creed, preferences, etc., also to legislate to protect natural resources, to encourage responsible use of natural resources.

Its slogan is: “For those who have no voice,” those it considers the majority in the country, the poor, the vulnerable, those that most politicians only think about when it comes to campaigning.

More about Dominga

Born in the crowded sector of Cristo Rey in 1957, she is the third of 14 siblings. Her parents were José Soto Martínez and Danilda Fernández. She is the mother of 3 children who reside abroad. At the age of 14, she began teaching children in a school in the area where she was born. At 20, she was already a Capotillo and Juan Pablo Duarte High School teacher. At 17, when she entered her first career, pedagogy, at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, UASD, she simultaneously joined the student movements Flavio Suero and Amín Abel of the academic institution.

He joined the Dominican Revolutionary Party, PRD, at 18 through the zonal committee of Cristo Rey after moving to the La Isabelita sector of Santo Domingo East, where he maintained his constant activism, working in coordination with Tonty Rutinel and his mother, contributing to the growth of the party, not only in the Isabelita sector but throughout the eastern zone, promoting the creation of more than 30 committees at that time.

In the early 90s, he went to live in the United States without disconnecting from his activism, always motivating family and friends to vote for the PRD, firmly following the guidelines of its great leader: José Francisco Peña Gómez. In 2005, he returned to the country and immediately began collaborating with the party, despite not occupying any position within the leadership. In 2014, she joined to contribute to the arduous task of building the Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM), as did more than 95% of the Perredeístas.

Dominga defines herself as a humanist and democrat, pro citizen’s rights and guarantees, and has a great community and social activism trajectory. She has been part of for more than 15 years of the Block of Community Organizations of La Isabelita and Los Mameyes, Association of Homeowners. Del Isabelita. In 2020, she founded La Fe’ en el Porvenir, an entity in which she has developed different aid programs, educational campaigns, cleaning operations, etc. She is also the founder of the prominent citizen coalition Cambiemos.