Two La Nación reports make references to sexual assault against female students in Costa Rica (9 Jan. 1997; 26 Oct. 1999). The first report states that in 1996, 73 teachers had been denounced for physically and sexually assaulting their students (9 Jan. 1997). Most of them had been subsequently suspended or dismissed from their jobs (ibid.). The second report states that sexual assault in institutions promoting the study of science and technology had contributed to the small representation of women in these fields (26 Oct. 1999). According to an investigation carried out by the European Union's Female Adolescent Program (Programa de Mujeres Adolescentes), 14 of 26 female students at the Technological Institute in Costa Rica felt they had been affected in the pursuit of their career in the technological field because of sexist attitudes and behaviour, the possibility of sexual assault, and the lack of female role models (ibid.). The report does not specify whether they had been sexually assaulted (ibid.).

In May 1997, La Nación reported that a bill on sexual violence had been introduced in the Legislative Assembly (22 May 1997). The bill, which was called the Law Against Sexual Violence, would punish acts of sexual violence with penalties of from 4 to 25 years imprisonment and keep offenders from recourse to conditional liberty (libertad condicional) and pardon (indulto) (ibid.). The promoter of the bill, Deputy Constantino Urcuyo of the Social Christian Party, hoped that it would be a priority on the legislative plenary agenda. The bill proposed to reform Articles 64, 90, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160 and 161 of the Penal Code in order to increase the length of prison terms. La Nación reported in July 1998 that the Law Against Sexual Violence was among the bills approved by the Legislative Assembly for further discussion. No report on whether the proposed Law Against Sexual Violence was passed could be found among the sources consulted after July 1998, however, as indicated in CRI32983.E of 19 November 1999, the Law to Penalize Violence Against Women (Ley de Penalización de la Violencia contra las Mujeres) will be presented in the Legislative Assembly on 25 November 1999 (La Nación 10 Nov. 1999). This law will consider violence against women as a crime and will also take into account other types of abuse, such as sexual assault and sexual violence on the streets (violencia sexual callejera) (ibid.).

The following information on the situation of women in the workplace in Costa Rica was provided in Chapter 3 of the annual report of the Ombudsman's Office (Defensoría de los Habitantes) for the period between May 1997 to April 1998. Please note that the main function of the Ombudsman is to protect the rights and interests of Costa Rican citizens against irregular actions carried out by the country's public institutions.

According to the Office of Women's Affairs (Defensoría de la Mujer), the body within the Ombudsman's Office that receives complaints from women who have had their rights violated or who have suffered discrimination, women have been the victims of continuous forms of discrimination and exploitation in the workplace. These forms of discrimination include differences in salary between men and women, differences between men and women regarding access to certain positions, and in days and hours of work, the difficulties for women in obtaining positions of power and decision-making, and the dismissal of women when they become pregnant.

The Office of Women's Affairs proposes in its report that fundamental rights (derecho de fondo) should prevail over rights related to workplace procedures (derecho de forma) when establishing rules of discipline in the workplace. For this to be possible, interpretations of these rights need to be made to facilitate investigations of acts committed by public servants in the workplace that affect women's rights, such as in cases of both sexual and administrative harassment.

With reference to modifying legal instruments in labour matters, the Office of Women's Affairs continues to follow-up with all public institutions to ensure they have adopted Regulations on Sexual Harassment (Reglamentos de Hostigamiento Sexual) and in cases where they have, their quality. The Office gave special attention to a bill that would reform Articles 2, 7, 9, 12, 13, 18, 24 and 31 of the Law Against Sexual Harassment in Employment and Teaching (Ley contra el Hostigamiento Sexual en el Empleo y la Docencia) of 3 March 1995. The Office worked very closely with those politicians promoting the bill. The reforms aimed to enlarge the concept of labour relations, including the issue of impunity of those who held appointed positions, the explicit inclusion of domestic workers, and greater intervention in these cases by the Directorate General of Inspection of the Labour Ministry (Dirección General de Inspección del Ministerio de Trabajo).

The following information on sexual harassment was provided in Section C of the 1997-1998 annual report of the Ombudsman's Office.

Following the obligations and recommendations made under the Office's 1996-1997 annual report, accomplishments in matters of sexual harassment had been made in the following areas: the Ministry of Justice had incorporated the regulation on Sexual Harassment in Articles 101 and the others of the Autonomous Service Regulation (Reglamento Autónomo de Servicio); the Ministry of Education elaborated an internal regulation on sexual harassment (Reglamento Interno sobre Hostigamiento Sexual) in close consultation with the Ombudsman. Another accomplishment, as mentioned earlier in this Response, was the bill to reform various articles of the Law Against Sexual Harassment in Employment and Teaching, which would essentially address the imprecisions and omissions in the application of this law.

In Chapter 2 of its 1998-1999 annual report, covering the periods of May 1998 to April 1999, the Ombudsman states that a commission composed of representatives of its office, the Labour Ministry, the National Women's Institute, the Women's Political Agenda (Agenda Política de Mujeres) and the Women's League for Peace and Liberty (Liga de Mujeres pro Paz y Libertad) had been working on the analysis of women's labour rights, proposing ways to enlarge these rights and proposing ways to communicate them to public servants with the appropriate training (1999). More specifically, the commission had elaborated on themes including night work (trabajo nocturno), the expansion and intensification of day labour (la ampliación y intensificación de la jornada laboral), labour rules for domestic workers and the situation of female workers in the factories (maquilas) (ibid.).

The 1998-1999 annual report of the Ombudsman's Office also reported that while prostitution between adult persons does not constitute a contravention or a crime, female sex workers were often arbitrarily abused by police (1999). For example, in the Province of Puntarenas, some sex workers were arrested without a judicial resolution (resolución judicial) or without an obvious crime having been committed, had their identity documents (cédula) or health card taken away from them when they were brought to the commander's headquarters of Puntarenas (Comandancia), were deprived of liberty for several hours without being told the reasons, or were not told the identities of the arresting police officers (ibid.). As a result of this incident, representatives of the Ombudsman met with the First Commander of Puntarenas, as well as other officers, at the Comandancia (ibid.). The meeting served, among other things, to hear the point of view of those who had been denounced by the sex workers, and to remind the officers of their obligations as public police officers and of the rights of sex workers (ibid.).

The following information on how to lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman's Office was taken from its Website (no date).

Only those complaints related to services provided by public institutions may be investigated by the Ombudsman, not those cases awaiting a judicial resolution (resolución judicial). All persons, including men, women, minors, nationals or foreigners, may file a complaint with the Office if their rights or interests have been violated by a public institution or by a public servant. The Office may also set in motion proceedings against an institution or a person who has committed irregularities even though no one has come forward to lodge a complaint.

The procedures to present a complaint to the Office are simple, informal and free of charge. In other words, there is no need for the complainant to hire the services of a lawyer. One may make the complaint by visiting the Office in San José, by visiting the various mobile offices of the organization in various locations in the country, by phone, by fax, by mail, by telegram or by electronic mail. The complaint must be clear, equipped with sufficient proof and accompanied by complete personal information. Once the complaint is received by the Office, the case is processed and admitted if it falls within the jurisdiction of the Office, then the specifics of the case are investigated and final recommendations are made as to how to remedy the situation. These recommendations act both as control measures and put pressure on those public institutions or servants who have committed the alleged deeds. In terms of penalties, the Office may recommend sanctions against a particular public servant or suggest to his/her superior that the employee in question be dismissed.

For information on police abuse of women and the recourses available to them, please consult CRI30928.E of 20 January 1999 and CRI31627.E of 14 June 1999.

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.

References

Defensoría de los Habitantes. 1999. Informe Anual de Mayo de 1998 a Abril de 1999. http://www.nacion.co.cr/ln_ee/ESPECIALES/Informe1999/capitulo2-1.html [Accessed on 3 Nov. 1999]

_____. 1998. Informe Anual de Mayo de 1997 a Abril de 1998. Chapter 3. "Labor Sustantiva de las Direcciones de Defensa." http://www.nacion.co.cr/ ln_ee/ defensoria/1998/mujer.html [Accessed on 4 Nov. 1999]

_____. 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]

_____. n.d. "Lo Qué Debe Saber Para Proteger Sus Derechos." http://www.crnet.cr/~defensor/15 preg.html [Accessed on 4 Nov. 1999]

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]

_____. 26 October 1999. Thaís Aguilar. "Enemigos de la tecnología." http://www.nacion.co.cr/viva/1999/octubre/26/portada.html [Accessed on 3 Nov. 1999]

_____. 15 July 1998. José David Guevara M. "Miniplenarios con agenda." http://www.nacion.co.cr/ln_ee/1998/julio/15/pais4.html [Accessed on 4 Nov. 1999]

_____. 22 May 1997. Ronald Matute. "Severas penas contra agresores." http://www.nacion.co.cr/ln_ee/1997/mayo/22/severas.html [Accessed on 4 Nov. 1999]

_____. 9 January 1997. Nicolás Aguilar R. "73 educadores sancionados." http://www.nacion.co.cr/ln_ee/1997/enero/09/pagina08.html [Accessed on 4 Nov. 1999]

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.