CRC/C/DOM/CO/3-5
Dominican Republic
Held by the Committee: 30 January 2015
Published by the Committee: 4 February 2015
Issues raised:
Ratification and national policy:
The Committee welcomes the adoption of The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict in October 2014, The Policy on Early Childhood in 2013 (para.4,5).
Discrimination:
The Committee remains concerned about: The low implementation of relevant policies and the lack of strategies targeting particular groups of children ; The persistent discrimination and the gender stereotyping of women and girls, often perpetuated in media and campaigns for promoting tourism and which contribute to a high prevalence of gender-based violence, particularly affecting girls of Haitian origin; The prevalence of discrimination against children of Haitian origin, especially with regard to their right to education; The continuous discrimination and/or violence against children with disabilities, children living with HIV/AIDS, children in marginalized urban and rural areas, children in street situations, LGBTI children and children from disadvantaged and marginalised communities (para.17).
Birth registration:
The Committee is concerned that one fifth of children under 5, mostly from families living in poverty, had no birth certificate in 2012 and majority of children remain unregistered (para.25).
Name and nationality:
The Committee is concerned tens of thousands of people of Haitian descent, including children born in the country from parents with an irregular migratory status, may be deprived of their nationality (para.27).
Right to privacy:
The Committee is concerned about the lack of regulations to protect the privacy and safety of children accessing Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) (para.31).
Violence:
The Committee is deeply concerned about the very high incidence of domestic violence and gender-based violence, including feminicides where many mothers have been murdered leaving behind orphaned children; The high prevalence of corporal punishment of children and the lack of an explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings; The high rate of violence and bullying among students; The lack of sufficient guidelines, protocols and referral mechanisms for children victims or witnesses of violence (para.31).
Sexual exploitation:
The Committee is concerned about: The high prevalence of sexual abuse and exploitation, such as sexual exploitation by foreign tourists particularly affecting children of Haitian descent; Sexual abuse and exploitation still being perceived as a private matter which contributes to a large impunity in this area; Reports that a number of cases of adolescent pregnancies is the result of sexual violence; The lack of a minimum age for sexual consent in the criminal code and the definition and sanctions of crimes related to sexual exploitation and abuse not being in full accordance with international standards; The insufficient implementation of the Action Plan to eradicate all forms of abuse and sexual exploitation of children (2006-2016); The lack of appropriate care and rehabilitation programmes for child victims of sexual exploitation and abuse (para.33).
The Committee is deeply concerned about the numerous cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation, which have not yet been duly prosecuted, including those committed by members of the Catholic Church (para.35).
Harmful practices:
The Committee is concerned that although the minimum age of marriage is set at 18 for both girls and boys, child marriage, especially affecting girls, remains highly prevalent in the State party. The Committee is particularly concerned that 15 years old girls and 16 years old boys can enter marriage with the written consent of their parents and that even younger children can be allowed to marry with the authorisation of a judge (para.37).
Children deprived of family environment:
The Committee is concerned about the high number of children living in public and private institutions; Reports that children are admitted irregularly in institutions, without a court order or documents supporting their identity; The lack of national standards for alternative care of children (para.41).
Adoption:
The Committee is concerned about the lack of transparency in the adoption processes (para.43).
Children with disabilities:
The Committee is concerned about reports that, in 2013, only 52% of schools received students with disabilities, out of which, around 60% had no specialized staff, strategies or resources to implement inclusive education; The lack of access to adequate health care, public spaces due to architectural barriers, and adequate spaces for recreation and participation;The lack of support to families with children with disabilities living in poverty; (para.47).
Health:
The Committee is also concerned about: Continued high rate of neonatal mortality and slow reduction on child mortality rates; High rates of maternal mortality 80% of which were preventable; Persistent chronic child malnutrition (para.49).
The high prevalence of pregnancies among girls as young as 10 years old and information that 33.2% of the girls between the ages of 15 and 19 living in poverty had been pregnant at least once in 2010; Reports that many of the maternal deaths are among adolescent girls; Pregnant girls resorting to unsafe abortions due to the fact that abortion is criminalized; (para.51).
The Committee remains concerned at reports that HIV/AIDS testing is only available at a limited number of Community Health Centres (para.53)
The Committee is concerned about the high incidence of psychotropic substances among children and the insufficient measures taken to prevent and reduce it (para.55).
Education:
Children lacking birth certificate and children of Haitian descent lacking official documentation not being allowed to take the national exams required to graduate from primary and secondary education; Challenges in ensuring permanence and completion of primary education and information that only 19.5% girls and 15.4% boys completed their secondary education in 2012 . The insufficient infrastructures and limited educational resources, in particular in marginalized urban and rural areas; The high number of dropouts among pregnant girls and adolescent mothers, and reports of them being expelled from school or forced to change shifts because of being pregnant; Reports that a majority of children between 3 and 4 years of age do not have access to early educational programmes; (para.57).
Refugee and migrant children:
The Committee is concerned that the inefficient functioning of the National Refugee Commission (CONARE) is greatly affecting the rights of asylum-seeking children and their families, the overwhelming majority of them being of Haitian nationality. The Committee is also concerned that the inadequate access to identity documents for child refugees and asylum seekers and/or their relatives put them at risk of detention and deportation and hamper their access to health care and education (para.61).
The Committee is concerned that a majority of child migrants, most of them from Haiti, lack legal residential permits and adequate access to services and are frequently victims of exploitation, discrimination and violence. (para.63).
Labour exploitation:
The Committee is concerned about: The high prevalence of child labour in the State party; The minimum working age set at 14 which is not in accordance with international standards; The insufficient measures taken to address child domestic labour; More than half of the child workers not attending school and many of them suffering from violence, in particular domestic workers (para.65).
The Committee is concerned about the high prevalence of child trafficking in the State party. The Committee is particularly concerned about: The number of Haitian children trafficked for forced labour which has increased since 2010; Haitian children from poor families being given for adoption by their parents to Dominican families and working in these families in slavery-like conditions (para.69).
The Juvenile system:
The Committee is concerned about the inefficient functioning of the juvenile justice system; The insufficient juvenile courts and lack of adequate procedures; The lack of alternative measures to detention; Reports of children being detained together with adultsvenile justice (para.71).
Child victims and witnesses of crime:
The Committee regrets the insufficient measures taken to protect the rights of child victims and witnesses of crimes (para.73).
