AREQUIPA, Peru – Two new cases of feminicides confirmed by independent platforms raised the number of this type of crime to 37 during 2024.
The gender observatories of the feminist magazine Tense Wings (OGAT) and the platform I Do Believe You in Cuba confirmed the femicides of Isabel Rojas Aguilera, 30 years old, and Arianni Céspedes Garcés, 35.
Rojas Aguilera was killed by her ex-partner in the La Bloquera neighborhood in the city of Camagüey on September 13, when she went to pick up belongings of their son from the attacker’s house.
“We extend our condolences to her six-year-old son, who survives her, and to other family members and loved ones, whom we recommend seek specialized help,” it said. a Facebook post of the independent platform.
For its part, the femicide of Arianni Céspedes Garcés occurred in her own home on September 14 at the hands of her ex-partner in the town of Aguacate, in Palma Soriano, province of Santiago de Cuba.
“We send our condolences to Arianni’s three surviving children, all of whom are minors, other family members and loved ones, as well as to the work group and students at the high school where she worked as a teacher,” the report added.
In addition to the 37 confirmed cases, the platforms reported three other attempted femicides, and six cases that require access to police investigation.
According to the agency, EFEthe rate of femicides on the Island (even without being exhaustive) is the sixth highest in all of Latin America and the Caribbean compared to the records of sexist murders of the Gender Equality Observatory of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) of 2022.
Gender-based violence in Cuba: only that which is reported
In 2023, YoSíTeCreo in Cuba and OGAT managed to verify 89 femicides, the highest number since both groups began collecting data in 2019.
Last December, the Cuban government itself acknowledged that 117 cases of “violent deaths of women” had taken place throughout the year, but did not acknowledge that these were femicides.
Several months earlier, in July, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel himself assured that there was “a manifest imperial effort to create a climate of insecurity and citizen distrust”, which is why “it is constantly exaggerated[ba] any criminal act, especially cases involving violence and, in particular, those involving gender violence.”
Allegedly, the visibility of cases of gender-based violence in independent media and on social networks led the Government to propose an Interoperable Administrative Registry, “which allows for real-time information on the violent death of women and girls for reasons of gender”.
However, feminist organizations consider that this measure is insufficient and that the Government must take concrete actions to prevent and punish gender-based violence.
They also demand that the specific crime of femicide be classified, and that shelters and rescue systems be created for women and their families. children in danger, the legalization of activism and the approval of a comprehensive law against gender violence.
In December 2023, for the second time in the last decade, members of Cuban civil society handed over to the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) a request for a comprehensive law against gender violence.
