P.R. Laws tit. 1, § 317
The Office shall have the following duties and functions, in addition to others provided in this chapter or in the laws and programs whose administration or implementation it is charged with:
(a) To conduct and promote studies and investigations, as well as compile and analyze statistics on the situation of women, analyze the factors that affect the rights of women in all social, political, economic, cultural and civil endeavors, as well as the causes for inequality in the treatment, access and participation in matters regarding education and training, health, employment, self-management, economic development, and in general, in the exercise of their civil, political, social and cultural rights, including participation in decision-making processes at all levels, among others.
(b) To oversee compliance with the public policy established in this chapter, watch over the rights of women and assure that the public agencies comply with, and adopt affirmative or corrective action programs, promote that private entities incorporate the same, and evaluate the already existing programs in order to achieve the eradication of discrimination and inequality, and propitiate the fullest citizen participation of women.
(c) To file, at its discretion, before the courts, administrative forums and instrumentalities and political subdivisions of the Commonwealth, per se or in representation of the interested party, be it of women as individuals or as a class, the actions that it deems pertinent to attend to violations of the public policy established in this chapter. The Office shall be exempted from the payment and cancellation of all types of stamps, fees and charges required to file and process any documents, actions or proceedings, or to obtain copies of any document filed before the courts of justice and administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(d) To conduct an ongoing review and assessment of the activities conducted by public agencies and private entities to prevent violations of the rights of women and to make feasible systematic advisory processes with private and nongovernmental women’s entities for the purpose of ensuring that the activities of the Office respond at all times to the needs, demands and aspirations of all women sectors in the Island.
(e) To promote actions which contribute to solving the problem of violence against women in all manifestations. The Office shall establish an information network and adequate support resources to tend to young and adult women who have been victims of domestic violence, to wit: medical, psychological, educational, and assistive services, among others, to promote women’s integrated development and self-sufficiency.
(f) To consider the effect of new advancements on the methods used for the promotion and defense of women’s rights and provide the pertinent corrective action to be implemented.
(g) To cooperate with, and establish work and information and experience exchange networks with private women’s entities and nongovernmental organizations of the Island and abroad, and with state, municipal and federal agencies engaged in the development and promotion of women’s rights.
(h) To assess international agreements, norms and directives on women’s rights and investigate concrete controversial arguments that shed light on problems of general importance, and recommend remedies directed to assuring gender equality and the participation of women in all social, political, economic and cultural endeavors.
(i) To propose the legislation it deems pertinent for the effective development of the public policy established in this chapter and the rights that the Constitution of the Commonwealth and the laws recognize for women, as well as to ascertain that the public policy is guided by a perspective based on gender and that the initiatives, statements and bills directed specifically to women are assessed and implemented with a nonsexist and nonpaternalistic vision.
(j) To coordinate efforts for community education on women’s rights and related matters, and carry out throughout the Island awareness, guidance and educational campaigns on the problem of discrimination against women and to promote the values and practices on which equality among human beings is based.
(k) To take all those necessary measures to propitiate the individual and socioeconomic development of women.
(l) National and international organizations. — The Women’s Advocate of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico may be a member of, and represent Puerto Rico before the various national and international organizations that bring together Women’s Advocates and that promote the human rights of women as well as concrete actions that seek to eliminate any discriminatory action towards these.
History —Apr. 11, 2001, No. 20, § 9; Sept. 29, 2004, No. 519, § 1; Sept. 27, 2009, No. 102, § 1.