A woman identified as Yurina Yaque Pérez was murdered in the neighborhood of Sueño, Santiago de Cuba, on Monday night. The victim was “cut” on public roads by a man with whom she had a relationship, according to her relatives.
“It was her partner who cut her throat yesterday in the downpour,” he assured 14ymedio one of the sources, which detailed that the murder had been committed on Avenida de Céspedes, between I and J streets. Between seven and eight at night, approximately, a sudden downpour fell on the city, confirmed this newspaper, and in that area of the Sueño neighborhood there was a blackout at that time.
Pérez was veiled this Tuesday morning at the central funeral home on Calvario street, in Santiago de Cuba, as confirmed 14ymedio with workers of the establishment.
With the death of Yurina Yaque Pérez there have been 11 femicides in Cuba so far this year. Just three days ago, Mercedes Vasallo Herrera, 51, was murdered by her husband in the town of Carlos Rojas, in Jovellanos (Matanzas).
Vasallo Herrera, whose body her grandson found under the bed, was killed with a knife and had a serious contusion on her skull, according to the activist Marthadela Tamayo, from the Cuban Women’s Network, on her Facebook profile.
Pérez was veiled this Tuesday morning at the central funeral home on Calvario street, in Santiago de Cuba, according to this newspaper with workers from the establishment
Independent Cuban observatories such as Yo Sí Te Creo in Cuba and the Women’s Network itself verified 34 murders of women in 2022, while the figures in the two previous years were 32 and 36, respectively. These groups have called on several occasions for effective mechanisms for the prevention of sexist violence “so as not to reach its extreme manifestation, which is irreparable.”
The most recent official data on gender violence date from a 2016 survey, which revealed that 26.7% of Cuban women between the ages of 15 and 74 claimed to have suffered some type of violence in their partner relationship, during the twelve months prior to the study. Only 3.7% of the assaulted requested institutional help.
Last Friday, when it transcended the murder of two women, the official press published an extensive note in which, among many other things, it wondered if there really were more victims or if complaints had become a more frequent practice today. The mystery is unjustified, since the Ministry of the Interior is the only body that has strict control of all violent deaths that occur in the country.
Precisely, the lack of public data is one of the main claims of the independent groups, as well as the inclusion of femicide as an aggravating circumstance or offense typified in the Penal Code. The Cuban Women’s Network advocates for a new legal body that guarantees care and response to victims, since the Island is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that does not have a comprehensive law against violence against women.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
