Deputy Altagracia de los Santos’s remarks expose church’s grip on the Dominican Congress

Santo Domingo.- Deputy Altagracia de los Santos ignited a firestorm this week when she claimed that married women cannot be victims of rape because “they married to have sex,” urging lawmakers to revise the proposed Penal Code’s Article 135 to shield husbands from accusations. Speaking on the Chamber floor, De los Santos dismissed spousal consent as a given—“nobody marries a mummy or a robot,” she quipped—suggesting that women will falsely accuse partners who refuse intimacy.

Her comments came amid debates over new provisions criminalizing non-consensual acts within marriage. Civil-society groups immediately condemned the deputy’s stance as a grotesque misunderstanding of consent, warning that such attitudes endanger survivors of domestic violence. Observers point out that, with dozens of pastors holding seats in the Chamber of Deputies, religious doctrine often carries undue weight in shaping laws that should be grounded in human rights and legal principles.

A licensed clinical psychologist and founder of the Hermosa Restoration Church, De los Santos wields influence both pulpit and podium. Since her election in 2024 with the fewest votes among her party’s Santo Domingo Este candidates, she has championed faith-based initiatives—such as a proposed “Ministry of Men” and a club house for evangelical Christians—alongside her legislative duties on family and education commissions.

As the Senate moves toward a final vote on the Penal Code, critics argue that the legislature’s clerical majority risks codifying prejudice. They urge lawmakers to strip personal beliefs from legal texts and ensure protections for all victims of sexual violence—married or not—remain inviolate. The deputy’s remarks have crystallized a broader fear: when church leaders dominate political halls, democratic safeguards for women’s rights may be the first casualty.