Gender-sensitive criminal regulation and the general principles of criminal law: a critical review

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present a critical review of the most recent regulations with a gender focus that have been introduced into Chilean criminal legislation in recent years with a view to gain clarity and an all-embracing vision of the modifications. This article also raises interpretative proposals that are operational for those called upon to apply the laws, but also functional for future regulations on the subject in the light of criminal principles and the criminal process as the founding parameters of the creation and application of criminal laws. To this end, a lege lata review of the most recent laws on the subject will be carried out (I); then the symbiosis between gender and criminal law will be critically analysed (II); to finally plan the need for rational control of this symbiosis with a lege ferenda proposal (III).