Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

1. Overview
1.1 Domestic Violence

In its annual report on violence against women in Chile for 2021–2022, the Chilean Network Against Violence Towards Women (Red Chilena contra la Violencia hacia las Mujeres, Red Chilena), which is made up of NGOs and other civil society organizations (Red Chilena n.d.), indicates that domestic violence represents [translation] "one of the most common forms of violence against women" in Chile, and is "the third category of most recorded crimes" in the country (Red Chilena 2022-08, 22). Analysis conducted by the same source, based on data from Chile's Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention (Subsecretaría de Prevención del Delito), finds that in 2021, domestic violence was [translation] "the type of crime that most affects women in Chile, followed by sexual crimes" (Red Chilena 2022-08, 23).

The following table contains statistics provided by the Chilean Investigations Police (Policía de Investigaciones, PDI) and the Carabineros [1] and presented by Chile's Centre for the Study and Analysis of Crime (Centro de Estudios y Análisis del Delito, CEAD):

	2019	2020	2021	2022
Domestic violence	644.4	604.3	736	737.3
Domestic violence perpetrated against women	486.2	460.2	556.1	548.4

(Chile [2023], figures given for every 100,000 inhabitants)

The Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention conducted a survey in 2020 on the prevalence of general domestic violence with 6,775 women respondents aged 15 to 65 in the urban areas of Chile's 16 regions; the survey found that 41.4 percent of respondents experienced domestic violence at some point in their lives, compared to 38.2 percent of respondents who participated in the 2017 survey (Chile 2020, 3, 6). The survey further indicates that in 2020, 21.7 percent of respondents had experienced domestic violence in the preceding 12 months (Chile 2020, 6). The same source reports that the five regions with the highest percentages of domestic violence that respondents experienced in the year preceding the survey are as follows: Coquimbo (29.5 percent), Arica y Parinacota (29 percent), Tarapacá (26.4 percent), Maule (25.5 percent), and Biobío (25.4 percent) (Chile 2020, 8). Another survey on domestic violence against women, conducted by the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity (Ministerio de la Mujer y la Equidad de Género), among others, as part of a rural-focused pilot project in the Los Ríos region of Chile, from 18 May to 15 November 2021, found that out of the sample size of 2,002 cases of women aged 15 and over, a total of 6.7 percent of respondents had experienced domestic violence over the last year, or a total of 8 percent in urban areas of the Los Ríos region, and 5.3 percent in rural areas (Chile 2022-01-07, 12). The same source includes the following breakdown of the types of domestic violence experienced by respondents:

Type of Violence	Total	Urban Areas of Los Ríos	Rural Areas of Los Ríos
Psychological	6 percent	7.1 percent	4.9 percent
Physical	1.6 percent	2.3 percent	0.9 percent
Sexual	0.9 percent	1.4 percent	0.3 percent

(Chile 2022-01-07, 12)

1.1.1 Domestic Violence Survivors Who Are Persons with Diverse SOGIESC

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a doctoral student at Chile's Adolfo Ibáñez University (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez), whose research focuses on access to justice for women and LGBTQI+ individuals, indicated that data regarding survivors of domestic and gender-based violence with diverse SOGIESC "is not available" from the government, but that "some" organizations have been able to collect this information (Doctoral student 2023-04-03).

The information in the following paragraph was provided by two Chilean organizations, the SUR Corporation for Social Studies and Education (SUR Corporación de Estudios Sociales y Educación - SUR) and Organizing Trans Diversities (Organizando Trans Diversidades - OTD) [2], in a report on their study on the right to housing and to an adequate environment for people with diverse SOGIESC, for which they conducted a survey between 23 December 2020 and 15 February 2021 with 735 respondents from 139 municipalities, aged 15 and over, along with online interviews with 28 LGBTQIA+ individuals aged 18 and over:

The study found that 30.4 percent of survey respondents had [translation] "experienced violence and/or discrimination in their home," while 45.5 percent had experienced violence and/or discrimination in a public space. Regarding the type of violence, 68.1 percent of respondents who experienced violence in their home faced "verbal abuse," 65.1 percent faced "psychological abuse," and 24.2 percent had their gender identity denied, while 22.7 percent faced "treatments to 'correct' sexual orientation," and 19.6 percent reported facing "physical abuse." The perpetrators of domestic violence carried out against the respondents in their homes were "immediate family members" (parents, siblings, children) for 61.2 percent of respondents, while someone not living in the household was the perpetrator for 40.3 percent of respondents (SUR & OTD 2021-11-28, 15, 52–56).

1.1.2 Indigenous Survivors

Information on the situation and prevalence of domestic violence affecting Indigenous individuals in Chile could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

1.2 Femicides

According to Freedom House, violence against women and children "remains a problem"; 44 femicides and 163 attempted femicides were reported by the Chilean government in 2021 (2022-02-24, Sec. G3). The US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2022 indicates that violence against women and girls, including rape and femicide, is a "significant problem" (US 2023-03-20, 9). The Red Chilena also documents cases of femicides in Chile and reported that in 2022, in addition to 42 femicides filed as such by the authorities, there were 14 cases of violence against women and girls that the organization deemed femicides but were instead prosecuted as homicides or not prosecuted at all (Red Chilena [2023]). Examples of such cases include the following:

• In December 2022, a mother and daughter were murdered by the daughter's ex partner who had a history of domestic violence. The murder of the daughter was categorized as a femicide but the mother's was filed as a homicide;
• In September 2022, a woman died at the hospital after having been poisoned while her partner was home. She had reported her partner twice for "abuse" (maltrato; also translated as mistreatment) and had asked her family for help. No one was arrested in this matter (Red Chilena [2023]).

US Country Reports 2022 includes an example of a femicide for which a man was arrested and placed in pretrial detention for the 3 June 2022 murder of his former partner who had an expired restraining order against him (US 2023-03-20, 10).

The government of Chile reported 10 femicides from January to April 2023 (Chile 2023-04).

2. Legislation

According to the Fighting Domestic Violence tool [3], a comparative law tool developed by Baker McKenzie, an international law firm that provides business law services (Baker McKenzie n.d.), the "relevant statutes and codes on domestic violence in Chile" include Law 20,066 on Domestic Violence (Ley 20.066 de Violencia Intrafamiliar), "which aims to prevent, punish and eradicate domestic violence and grant protection to victims of violence," in addition to Chile's Criminal Code (Código Penal, CP) (Baker McKenzie [2021], 1). According to US Country Reports 2022, physical and psychological domestic violence, as well as the "rape of men or women, including spousal rape," are criminalized under Chilean law (US 2023-03-20, 9). The same source indicates that murder "in the context of domestic violence is defined as femicide in the criminal code" (US 2023-03-20, 9). Sources note that since 2020, Chilean law stipulates that cohabitation between a perpetrator and a victim of a killing is no longer required to be considered femicide (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 68; Red Chilena 2022-08, 15).

The Red Chilena reports that Law 20,066 is the [translation] "only legal tool available" to survivors of domestic violence seeking to report it and obtain state protection, though it is "limited to a marital relationship or cohabitation" (2022-08, 22). Additionally, the same source notes that the domestic violence law does not [translation] "consider violence against women as a fundamental concept," and that by "placing [violence] within the family" context, does not recognize "the disproportionality with which women experience" domestic violence at the hands of their partners (Red Chilena 2022-08, 22). Enacted in 2005 and last updated in 2021, Law 20.066 provides the following definition of domestic violence:

[translation]

Article 5º .- Domestic violence. Any mistreatment that affects the life or physical or psychological integrity of anyone who is or has been the offender's spouse or cohabitant, or is a relative by blood or affinity in the direct line or in the collateral line up to the third degree inclusive, of the offender or of his spouse or current cohabitant, shall constitute domestic violence.

It is also considered to be domestic violence when the conduct referred to in the preceding paragraph occurs between the parents of a common child, or is done against a minor, elderly or disabled person who is under the care of or dependent on any of the members of the family group.

Likewise, domestic violence is considered to be behaviour in the context of affective or family relationships that has as its direct purpose the violation of the economic autonomy of the woman, or the violation of her property, or of the economic subsistence of the family or of the children, such as repeated failure to provide alimony, which is carried out with the purpose of exercising control over her, or over her economic or property resources, generating dependence or generating an impairment of such property or that of her sons and daughters. (Chile 2005)

Baker McKenzie indicates that family courts hear domestic violence cases that do not "constitute a crime," while criminal courts address domestic violence acts that do ([2021], 1). US Country Reports 2022 specifies that cases of "habitual psychological abuse and physical abuse" related to domestic violence are handled by the criminal justice system (US 2023-03-20, 9). Law 20,066 provides the following:

[translation]

Paragraph 3º Domestic violence constituting a crime

…

Article 14 .- Crime of habitual mistreatment. The habitual exercise of physical, psychological or economic violence against any of the persons referred to in Article 5 of this law shall be punishable by a minimum to medium term of imprisonment, unless the act constitutes a crime of greater gravity, in which case only the penalty assigned by law to the latter shall be applied.

In order to assess habituality, the number of acts committed, as well as their proximity in time, shall be taken into account, regardless of whether such violence has been committed against the same victim or different victims. For these purposes, previous acts in respect of which an acquittal or conviction has been handed down shall not be considered. (Chile 2005)

Baker McKenzie lists the following acts related to domestic violence as "potential causes of action" under the Criminal Code:

• femicide/parricide (Article 390 of the CP)
• bodily injury in the context of domestic violence (Article 400 of the CP)
• child abuse (Article 403-bis of the CP)
• rape (Article 361 of the CP)
• rape with homicide (Article 372 of the CP)
• sexual harassment (Article 161-C of the CP)
• kidnapping (Article 141 of the CP)
• threat (Article 296 of the CP)
• causing an abortion with violence (Article 343 of the CP)
• abandonment (Article 352 of the CP)
• unauthorized entry to housing (Article 144 of the CP). (Baker McKenzie [2021], 1–2)

The same source adds that "domestic violence not constituting a crime" is also a "potential caus[e] of action" (Baker McKenzie [2021], 1–2).

According to Baker McKenzie, civil and criminal legal remedies accessible to survivors of domestic violence include the obligation of the perpetrator "to pay the victim disbursements and damages that have been caused because of the acts constituting domestic violence that are the subject of the trial," such as "repaying money, or damaged, destroyed or lost property" ([2021], 3). US Country Reports 2022 indicates that penalties related to the crime of habitual abuse [or mistreatment] are "based on the gravity of injuries and range from 61 days' to 15 years' imprisonment" (US 2023-03-20, 9). The same source reports that domestic violence cases handled by the family courts incur penalties like "fines and other sanctions, such as eviction of the offender from the residence shared with the survivor, restraining orders, confiscation of firearms, and court-ordered counseling" (US 2023-03-20, 9). Law 20,066 includes the following provision:

[translation]

Article 11 .- Disbursements and economic damages (perjuicios patrimoniales). The sentence will establish the obligation of the convicted person to pay to the victim disbursements and damages of an economic nature caused by the performance of the act or acts constituting domestic violence that are the object of the judgment, including the replacement in money or in kind of damaged, destroyed or lost property. These damages will be prudentially determined by the judge. (Chile 2005)

Regarding penalties for other sexual violence crimes, US Country Reports 2022 states that the crime of rape incurs penalties ranging from 5 to 15 years of imprisonment, while penalties for the crime of femicide vary from 15 years to life imprisonment (US 2023-03-20, 9).

The same source indicates that the law provides protections for the "privacy and safety of the victim making the charge of rape or domestic violence" (US 2023-03-20, 9). According to Baker McKenzie, civil protection orders for survivors of domestic violence may be issued as "'precautionary measures'" [4] at any point in the complaint process, by both family and criminal courts ([2021], 6). The same source notes that protection orders also offer protection from "abuse and intimidation" to the survivor's family members, and can last up to 180 business days, following which they may be "extended, limited, modified, replaced or terminated"; whereas "restraint measures" defined in the sentencing range in duration from 6 months to 2 years and may be extended at the survivor's request (Baker McKenzie [2021], 9).

Law 20,066 provides the following regarding the legal representation of survivors of domestic violence:

[translation]

Article 20 .- Judicial representation of the victim. In cases qualified by the National Women's Service, the latter may assume the sponsorship and representation of the female victim of crimes of domestic violence who is of legal age, if she so requires, for the purposes of the provisions of Article 109 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Service may enter into agreements with public or private entities in order to comply with the provisions of the preceding paragraph. (Chile 2005)

El País, a newspaper based in Madrid, reports that Chile has established a national Registry of Alimony Debtors (Registro de Deudores de Pensiones de Alimentos) that tracks individuals who have defaulted on their alimony payments for at least 3 consecutive, or 5 discontinuous months, of which men make up 9 out of every 10 offenders, and designates this as amounting to the [translation] "crime of domestic violence" (2022-11-18). Citing Chile's president in a 2022 speech, the same source indicates that [translation] "[o]nly 16 percent of alimony payments are actually paid in Chile," and that the consequences of being placed on the registry will range from taxes being withheld to being unable to renew one's driver's licence (El País 2022-11-18).

For further information on child custody rights in Chile, including legislation, whether a parent can relocate with a child without notifying the other parent, including in situations involving domestic violence and in situations when a protection or restraining order is in place, and procedures for a parent to locate their child, see Response to Information Request CHL201160 of May 2023.

3. Treatment
3.1 Treatment by Society

The doctoral student indicated that societal attitudes towards domestic violence in Chile have shifted over the last decades towards "recogni[tion]" that it is "wrong and is a crime" (2023-04-03). The same source noted that variations regarding societal attitudes towards domestic violence exist "main[ly]" across urban and rural areas, "since in rural areas, traditional gender roles are still valued," and across older generations compared to younger ones, as "for older groups, domestic violence is not so criticized [or] widely regarded as a societal problem" (Doctoral student 2023-04-03). According to the survey conducted by the Chilean government on domestic violence in Los Ríos, 47 percent of the rural survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that [translation] "[t]he man should be responsible for family and household expenses," compared to 38.5 percent of urban inhabitants of Los Ríos; 35.4 percent of rural and 27.5 percent of urban inhabitants agreed that "[i]t is more appropriate for the man to be recognized as the head of the household"; 21 percent of rural and 14.8 percent of urban inhabitants agreed that "[i]f there is battering or abuse in the home, it is a matter for the family to resolve" (Chile 2022-01-07, 18).

In an interview with the Chilean daily newspaper La Tercera, the director of Fundación para la Promoción y Desarrollo de la Mujer (PRODEMU), a Chilean state institution that promotes women's participation, organization, and development and is present in all of Chile's regions and provinces (PRODEMU n.d.), indicated that in Chilean society, [translation] "'there are still macho stereotypes such as the male provider, the one who provides solutions and makes decisions'," and that "'women normalize the fact that they cannot work and must only take care of domestic tasks and their families'" (La Tercera 2022-02-01). The article by La Tercera further states that domestic violence in the form of economic violence [5] [translation] "goes unnoticed" and yet "exists to the point that it has become normalized to a large extent" in Chile, "due to the [gender] roles that have historically been imposed on women" (2022-02-01). According to the November 2022 to January 2023 figures on employment from Chile's National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas, INE), women's participation rate in the labour market was 51 percent, compared to 70.7 percent for men (Chile 2023-02-27, 2).

Without providing further details regarding Indigenous survivors of domestic violence in particular, Freedom House reports that Indigenous people in Chile "still" face "societal discrimination" (2022-02-24, Sec. F4). The same source notes that "LGBT+ people continue to face societal bias" (Freedom House 2022-02-24, Sec. F4).

3.2 Treatment by Authorities

According to the doctoral student, while there are government efforts to "educate authorities" on domestic and gender-based violence and to implement "specialized police offices" to address domestic violence matters, "some problems prevail in the ways authorities (police and prosecutors) implement the norms" in place (2023-04-03). The same source offered examples of such problems, which include police not submitting complaints to the public prosecutor's office; public prosecutors deciding not to prosecute the complaints; and the "lack of effective implementation by the Carabineros of the protection measures offered to survivors as instructed by the prosecutors" (Doctoral student 2023-04-03).

The survey conducted in Los Ríos by the Chilean government found that 25.5 percent of women who experienced domestic violence filed a formal complaint with the authorities; among women residing in urban areas, this figure is 22.5 percent, and the rate is 29.6 percent among women in rural areas (Chile 2022-01-07, 16). For those who experienced psychological violence, 22.3 percent reported it, while 28.8 percent reported physical violence cases, and 15.9 reported cases of sexual violence (Chile 2022-01-07, 16). The same survey found that the three following statements were among the most prevalent reasons for not reporting cases of domestic violence, in particular for women who experienced psychological or physical violence: [translation] "I did not know that I could report it," "I don't believe that reporting it is useful, or I had reported it [in the past] and nothing was done," and "[i]t was not serious and I did not think it was necessary" (Chile 2022-01-07, 17). For sexual violence cases, the same source notes that top two reasons women did not report them to the police were the [translation] "shame of talking about [their] situation" and that they "did not know [they] could report it" (Chile 2022-01-07, 17).

The information in the following three paragraphs was provided by the Red Chilena through its November 2020 study conducted from 11 June to 30 September 2020 with 205 women participants, that explores, through quantitative and qualitative questionnaires, the various police responses to complaints filed by women regarding violence they have experienced, with a focus on domestic violence, and includes the following findings:

• 50.2 percent of respondents resided in the capital metropolitan region;
• 81 percent of respondents were between the ages of 18 and 40 when they filed or tried to file a domestic violence complaint with the police;
• 50 percent of complaints were filed before 2018, and 48 percent between 2019 and 2020;
• 77 percent of respondents filed or tried to file their complaint with the police in person, 19 percent by telephone, and 3 percent through other channels; and
• 81 percent of participants had a [translation] "negative" experience when they filed or attempted to file a domestic violence complaint with the Carabineros.

Examples shared by respondents of police responses to their complaints of domestic violence include the following:

• "'Why did you take so long? Well, if you wanted to do something you should have done it before... block him, so you can avoid having contact with him'";
• "'what is she complaining about if she has not broken anything?' … They brought me to talk to him so that we could sort out our relationship problems, horrible";
• "they told me outright that I was unintelligent for 'being involved with someone like that' [referring to the aggressor]";
• "'Madam, what were you doing that caused your husband to hit you? If you made him lose his mind, it's your fault'."

Based on women's testimonies, "guarantees of protection are non-existent," and the "ineffectiveness of the system is evidenced in each of the institutions" tasked with protecting survivors, including the police and Ministry of Women and Gender Equity, resulting in a "total feeling of being unprotected" from [gender-based violence]. Rather than "understanding the problem of violence" against women, the same source finds that respondents' experiences "corroborate that these institutions reproduce and naturalize it" (Red Chilena 2020-11, 5–7, 8, 9, 10).

In a case reported by the BBC, a domestic violence survivor who killed her partner in September 2019 following domestic violence-related "hospital visits, restraining orders and countless police reports," and who was detained and later acquitted by the courts, stated that "'[w]hen you report violence, the police take one look at you and say you're fine; to stop crying over nothing'" (2022-07-24).

Without providing further details regarding Indigenous survivors of domestic violence in particular, Freedom House reports that Indigenous people in Chile "still" experience "police brutality" (2022-02-24, Sec. F4).

4. State Protection

US Country Reports 2022 states that Chile "generally enforced the law" on rape and spousal rape, and enforced domestic violence laws "effectively" (US 2023-03-20, 9). Without providing further details regarding cases of domestic violence in particular, Chile's national report to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) states that out of the 485,595 [translation] "female victims [whose cases were] admitted for crimes of gender-based violence" between 2018 and December 2021, 219,364 obtained convictions, and 62,353 resulted in acquittals (Chile 2023-01-16, para. 38). In its 2021–2022 annual report, Red Chilena indicates, based on data from the Directorate of Studies of the Supreme Court of Chile (Dirección de Estudios de la Corte Suprema), that there were

• 114,906 registered cases of domestic violence in 2021 compared to 83,148 in 2020;
• 63,247 precautionary protection measures were issued in 2021 compared to 38,911 in 2020; and
• 106,749 cases that were concluded in 2021, compared to 77,527 in 2020 (2022-08, 25, 27).

The same source notes that during the COVID-19 pandemic, [translation] "the percentage of cases that resulted in a sentence [handed down by the courts] decreased (37.4 percent of the total), while the number of cases that were concluded because the complaint was not pursued, increased (26.6 percent of the total)" (Red Chilena 2022-08, 27). Regarding domestic violence cases constituting a [translation] "crime of habitual abuse," Red Chilena reports that the number of cases filed saw an "increase" over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, "as with the rest of the cases" filed for domestic violence (2022-08, 27). However, the same source found that crimes of habitual abuse related to domestic violence show a [translation] "low number of cases concluded with sentences" handed down by the courts, namely "less than 6 percent" from 2015 to 2021 (1,818 cases out of 32,157), and 4.9 percent in 2021 (258 cases out of 4,024) (Red Chilena 2022-08, 28, 29).

Chile's report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) notes that "[c]ounselling, social and legal services are available free of charge to victims of violence against women through the hotlines" set up by the National Service for Women and Gender Equity (Servicio Nacional de la Mujer y la Equidad de Género, SERNAMEG) (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 28). In the same report, Chile states that women represent more than 70 percent of the individuals who receive "victim-support services" from Chile's Legal Assistance Corporation, which "provides free legal assistance and legal sponsorship," notably services related to "legal representation and psychosocial support for victims of sexual offences" (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 30). According to Chile's report to the CAT, the Violence Against Women Counselling Hotline (Fono de Orientación en Violencia Contra la Mujer), the free hotline service for women survivors of violence, is accessible through applications such as WhatsApp, available 24 hours a day, and includes a direct line of contact to Chile's Carabineros in cases of emergencies (Chile 2023-01-16, para. 43). Chile's report to CEDAW states that the hotline service received 126,645 calls in 2021, "an increase of 149.1 per cent as compared with 2019" (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 15). Additionally, the same report indicates that the WhatsApp line "was contacted 18,923 times, reaching a peak of 4,656 chat sessions in May 2020" (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 15). Freedom House notes that while the "right to legal counsel is constitutionally guaranteed and due process generally prevails" in both civil and criminal cases in Chile, "indigent defendants do not always receive effective legal representation" (2022-02-24, Sec. F2).

The doctoral student indicated that the implementation of state protection mechanisms for survivors of domestic violence varies depending on the different ruling governments and administrations, such as from the government of former president Sebastián Piñera [2018–2022] compared to the administration of President Gabriel Boric [since 2022] (2023-04-03). The same source noted that Piñera's "policies for women's shelters took on a more conservative approach" and focused on "mediation between survivors and their aggressors, which turned out to be dangerous for the survivors and personnel" who were "exposed to and suffered violence from the aggressors" (Doctoral student 2023-04-03). The doctoral student added that the Boric administration "is much more sensitive to the mechanisms that underlie domestic violence" (2023-04-03). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to women's rights networks and organizations cited in a BBC article, there are "many" cases of "domestic abuse survivors who have been unjustly criminalised for defending themselves" against their aggressors (2022-07-24). According to documentation sent from Chile's prosecutor's office to the BBC, "there have been 224 cases of women killing or attempting to kill partners" from 2011 to 2022, out of which 86 have received a criminal sentence, and "over" 50 of which are "still active" (BBC 2022-07-24). In an interview with the BBC, a "feminist activist who provides aid in the jail" where a domestic violence survivor was detained for killing her partner and aggressor, and who also "was the one who first alerted rights organisations to the case [of the detained domestic violence survivor] and requested their support," stated that "'[m]any cases like this could be avoided if the justice system did its job'" and if "'a woman was actually protected every time she reported domestic abuse'" (BBC 2022-07-24). In the case of the article's profiled domestic violence survivor detained for killing her partner, she had as evidence "'at least one hundred domestic violence reports'," including hospital visits, restraining orders, and "countless" police reports; she was later acquitted by the courts (BBC 2022-07-24).

Chile's report to the CAT notes that efforts to [translation] "strengthen institutional training programs" from 2018 and 2022 have resulted in the Public Prosecutor's Office having trained 1,300 public officials on gendered and intercultural awareness, among other courses on human rights and gender equality introduced in institutions such as the police and the judiciary (Chile 2023-01-16, para. 44).

4.1 State Protection for Survivors Who Are Persons with Diverse SOGIESC

Information on state protection available to domestic violence survivors who are persons with diverse SOGIESC was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to US Country Reports 2022, Chilean law "prohibits discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment, and access to government services"; however, "[a]t times," state authorities "appeared reluctant to use the full recourse of antidiscrimination law," including charging "assailants of LGBTQI+ victims with a hate crime" (US 2023-03-20, 15). According to the doctoral student, "most" government measures aimed at addressing domestic violence have not included "an intersectional approach" that considers the experiences of survivors of diverse SOGIESC (2023-04-03). The same source added that "many LGBTQIA+ rights organizations have pointed to the fact that authorities discriminate against LGBTQIA+ persons" when they file complaints of violence, "which also includes domestic and gender-based violence" (Doctoral student 2023-04-03).

4.2 State Protection for Indigenous Survivors

Information on state protection available to Indigenous survivors of domestic violence was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

US Country Reports 2022 indicates that the Chilean constitution "does not specifically protect Indigenous groups" and that "human rights organizations" state that Indigenous peoples faced "serious obstacles to exercising" their political and civil rights, including with regards to "nondiscrimination and equal access to justice" (US 2023-03-20, 12). According to its report submitted to CEDAW, Chile has set up an "intersectoral working group" working on a "national training programme on the human rights of [I]ndigenous women and their access to justice for the staff of the Office of the Public Defender, the Legal Assistance Corporation, the Carabineros, the Investigative Police, the National Prison Service and the National Service for Minors" (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 35). Information on the implementation and effectiveness of the national training program could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

5. Support Services, Including Mental Health Services

Chile's report to CEDAW further specifies that through its Programme for Care, Protection and Redress in Cases of Violence Against Women, handled by SERNAMEG, survivors are granted access to

care, protection, rehabilitation and access to legal services through a network of outpatient centres, providing psychosocial and/or legal assistance to women victims of intimate partner or ex-partner violence (women's centres, centres for deaf women, legal representation at protective measures centres); specialized rehabilitation support for survivors of sexual violence (centres for women victims of sexual assault) and victims of grave violence (comprehensive rehabilitation support centres); counselling, information and referrals for women victims of grave and/or life-threatening gender-based domestic violence at the time the violence occurs (Enlace support centre); and re-educational support for men who use violence against intimate partners or ex-partners (re-education centres for men who use violence against their partners). (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 66)

The same source adds that the program also

offers a residential protection service that provides psychosocial and legal support to women victims of severe violence (shelters) [...] It also has an Extreme Violence Helpline, which provides specialized legal representation to women victims of attempted femicide and in cases of gender violence of a public nature and legal representation to family members of women victims of femicide. (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 66)

In response to CEDAW, Chile further specifies that during the COVID-19 pandemic, women were given access "to all care facilities" of SERNAMEG, "including 44 shelters that provide residential services to women survivors of severe intimate partner violence; 113 women's centres that provide outpatient services, 10 of which were opened between 2018 and 2021," as well as "16 re-education centres for men" who perpetrate violence against their intimate partners (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 15). However, according to the doctoral student, "shelters do not have much capacity nor the security measures" necessary to provide services for "most survivors, especially in rural areas" (2023-04-03). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

In its report to CEDAW, Chile notes that its Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning along with its ministry and National Service for Women and Gender Equity, updated in 2020 an agreement that responds to "the urgent housing needs of women survivors of gender-based violence and domestic violence," effectively "allowing preferential treatment in terms of a housing subsidy to women referred by the National Service" (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 188). The same source indicates that under the framework, "more than 800 housing subsidies" were granted between 2018 and 2021 (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 188). Additionally, between 2020 and 2021, 2,814 property titles were delivered to female heads of household under the government's Social Agenda priorities (Chile 2022-05-16, para. 188). According to an article by El Mostrador, a Chilean digital newspaper, access to housing represents "one of the worst crises in decades" in Chile, as the lack or poor conditions of housing, such as families "living doubled up with relatives," has resulted in perpetrators having "the possibility of exercising more control, and the victim has less space and fewer possibilities of seeking help" (2022-06-12).

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 for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] The Chilean Investigations Police (Policía de Investigaciones, PDI) is the "civilian police force responsible for investigating crimes, including drug trafficking and organized crime," while the Carabineros are the "national militarized police force" (InSight Crime [2018]). For further information on these institutions, see Response to Information Request CHL200952 of May 2023.

[2] The SUR Corporación de Estudios Sociales y Educación (SUR) is a Santiago-based civil society organization that emphasizes democracy, social justice and human rights and aims to support Chile's development and influence public policy (SUR n.d.). Organizando Trans Diversidades (OTD) is a Chile-based organization that aims to "build community from transfeminist activism" to defend, promote, and empower the human rights of "trans diversities" in Chile (OTD n.d.).

[3] The Fighting Domestic Violence law tool was developed with the financial support of Global Rights for Women and Every Women Treaty and provides rapid analysis of various countries' national legislation on domestic violence (Baker McKenzie 2021-12-01).

[4] Baker McKenzie indicates that civil protection orders may be issued under the following circumstances defined as of "imminent risk:"

1. The offender has intimidated the potential victim with damages.
2. There are circumstances or a background such as drug addiction, alcoholism, or one or more prior complaints of domestic violence.
3. There is a prior conviction for domestic violence, pending proceedings or previous convictions for crimes against people.
4. A psychiatric or psychological background denotes characteristics of a violent personality.
5. The defendant violently opposes or refuses to accept the end of an emotional relationship [they have] recently had with the victim. ([2021], 6)

[5] According to La Tercera's article, economic violence is defined by Fundación para la Promoción y Desarrollo de la Mujer (PRODEMU) as

[translation]

"the control that exists by the male provider in giving money necessary for the maintenance of the household and/or the common children or other individuals who make up the family unit." [PRODEMU] also states that economic violence occurs when "someone else" appropriates the money earned by the woman through her work, and denies, extorts, or imposes conditions on the economic resources necessary for the maintenance of the common household. Also, [it occurs] when the "head of the household" does not allow the woman to work and generate her own income. (La Tercera 2022-02-01)

References

Baker McKenzie. 2021-12-01. "Baker McKenzie Launches Fighting Domestic Violence Comparative Law Tool." [Accessed 2023-03-07]

Baker McKenzie. [2021]. "Chile." Fighting Domestic Violence: Pro Bono Initiative. Latin America and the Caribbean. [Accessed 2023-03-07]

Baker McKenzie. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 2023-03-07]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 2022-07-24. Charis McGowan. "'I'd Defend Myself, Too': Chileans Back Abuse Survivors." [Accessed 2023-03-29]

Chile. 2023-04. Servicio Nacional de la Mujer y la Equidad de Género (SERNAMEG). Femicidios 2023. [Accessed 2023-04-24]

Chile. 2023-02-27. Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (INE). Statistical Bulletin: Quarterly Employment. [Accessed 2023-04-25]

Chile. 2023-01-16. Séptimo informe periódico que Chile debía presentar en 2022 en virtud del artículo 19 de la Convención con arreglo al procedimiento simplificado de presentación de informes. (CAT/C/CHL/7) [Accessed 2023-03-08]

Chile. [2023]. Subsecretaría de Prevención del Delito, Centro de Estudios y Análisis del Delito (CEAD). "Estadísticas delictuales: Estadísticas por delito." Database search with Medida: "Tasa cada 100.000 habitantes," Tipo de datos: "Casos policiales," Unidad territorial: "Total país," Grupo Delictual: "Violencia intrafamiliar," Año: "2021, 2022." [Accessed 2023-04-19]

Chile. 2022-05-16. Eighth Periodic Report Submitted by Chile Under Article 18 of the Convention, Due in 2022. (CEDAW/C/CHL/8) [Accessed 2023-03-15]

Chile. 2022-01-07. Ministerio del Interior y Seguridad Pública, Ministerio de la Mujer y la Equidad de Género, & Ministerio de Agricultura. Piloto Rural Los Ríos. Encuesta de violencia intrafamiliar contra la mujer. [Accessed 2023-04-03]

Chile. 2020. Ministerio del Interior y Seguridad Pública, Subsecretaría de Prevención del Delito. IV Encuesta de Violencia contra la Mujer en el Ámbito de Violencia Intrafamiliar y en Otros Espacios (ENVIF-VCM): Resultados País. [Accessed 2023-04-19]

Chile. 2005. Ley 20066 Establece Ley de Violencia Intrafamiliar. Excerpts translated by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada. [Accessed 2023-03-07]

Doctoral student, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Chile. 2023-04-03. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

El País. 2022-11-18. Antonia Laborde. "Chile considera 'violencia intrafamiliar' las deudas de pensiones por alimentos." [Accessed 2023-04-03]

El Mostrador. 2022-06-12. Natalia Espinoza. "Domestic Violence: The Hidden Face of Chile's Housing Crisis." Translated by Havana Times. [Accessed 2023-03-29]

Freedom House. 2022-02-24. "Chile." Freedom in the World 2022. [Accessed 2023-03-29]

Fundación para la Promoción y Desarrollo de la Mujer (Prodemu). N.d. "Quiénes Somos." [Accessed 2023-04-03]

InSight Crime. [2018]. "Chile Profile." [Accessed 2023-04-21]

La Tercera. 2022-02-01. Mariana del Pilar Núñez. "Violencia económica, una violencia normalizada." [Accessed 2023-04-03]

Organizando Trans Diversidades (OTD). N.d. "Us." [Accessed 2023-03-29]

Red Chilena contra la Violencia hacia las Mujeres (Red Chilena). [2023]. "Femicidios 2022." [Accessed 2023-03-29]

Red Chilena contra la Violencia hacia las Mujeres (Red Chilena). 2022-08. Dossier informativo: 2021 - 2022. Violencia contra mujeres en Chile. [Accessed 2023-03-30]

Red Chilena contra la Violencia hacia las Mujeres (Red Chilena). 2020-11. Estudio Exploratorio – Noviembre 2020: Respuestas de Carabineros frente a denuncias realizadas por mujeres que sufrieron violencia. [Accessed 2023-03-30]

Chilean Network Against Violence Towards Women (Red Chilena contra la Violencia hacia las Mujeres, Red Chilena). N.d. "Presentación." [Accessed 2023-03-29]

SUR Corporación de Estudios Sociales y Educación (SUR). N.d. "Quiénes somos." [Accessed 2023-04-28]

SUR Corporación de Estudios Sociales y Educación (SUR) & Organizando Trans Diversidades (OTD). 2021-11-28. Nicolás Méndez, et al. Estudio: Derecho a la vivienda y a un entorno adecuado para disidencias sexuales y de género. [Accessed 2023-04-21]

United States (US). 2023-03-20. Department of State. "Chile." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2022. [Accessed 2023-04-23]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Corporación Latinoamericana SUR; Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual; Organizando Trans Diversidades; professor at a university in Canada whose research focuses on women and political participation and representation in Chilean state institutions, and who has written articles on policy responses to domestic violence in the country; professor of gender studies at an American university whose research has included questions of violence, gender, sexuality, and political culture in Latin American countries such as Chile; psychologist based in Chile whose research focuses on inter-group relations, prejudice, and the mental health issues of minority groups, as well as intimate partner violence in same-sex relationships in Chile; Red Chilena contra la Violencia hacia las Mujeres.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Associated Press; Chile – Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional, Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Poder Judicial; Connectas; Diario Constitucional; El Ciudadano; EUROsociAL+; Factiva; The Guardian; Harvard University – Nieman Foundation; Human Rights Watch; Infobae; International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs; La Izquierda Diario; La Nación; LatinAmerican Post; MercoPress; Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual; Organization of American States – Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Radio ADN; Radio Programas del Perú; The Santiago Times; Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes; SinEmbargo; UN – UN Women; Universidad de Chile.