Independent activists from Cuba denounced a new act of sexist violence that caused the death of a 30-year-old girl in Havana two days ago.
“We regret femicide of Patricia Williams, 30 years old, perpetrated by her partner, on the night of June 22,” refers to a publication on social networks of the platforms “Yo yes you believe in Cuba” and “Alas Tensas”, which compile data on femicides in the absence of an official count, indicates a report by EFE.
The activists report that the event occurred in the aggressor’s house, in the Los Pinos neighborhood of the Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, and say that the victim leaves behind a daughter, the Spanish agency points out.
“We continue to warn of the singularity of femicide violence, which in this case reiterates the cruelty and cruelty against women’s bodies,” highlights the note, which claims that “it must be specifically addressed in confronting the general problem of the gender violence, which in the Cuban case continues to be fragmented and limited.”
In their publication, the activists consider that “the lack of recognition is so profound that a new Penal Codewithout delimiting the different types of femicides” and add that “in the face of the Cuban State’s ignorance of the problem, femicides fall on society and families.”
The Penal Code approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba on May 15 contemplates gender-based violence, but does not classify the crime of femicide, recalls EFE.
This omission generated an internal debate in the legislature, which finally ended without the explicit mention of these homicides. In addition, it provoked criticism from activists, opposed to the government or not, and also from many other people who advocated the inclusion of femicide in the regulations.
The Cuban authorities assured that, even without its explicit mention, the new Code does cover this type of crime and all types of gender violence, and punishes the aggressors. Similarly, together with official organizations, such as the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) they have addressed the issue of gender equality and violence and launched a national program for the Advancement of Women.
However, femicides continue to occur and are reported on the Island. A report by “Alas Tensas”, cited by EFErecorded that at least 36 women died violently last year in Cuba, allegedly at the hands of their partners, and another 32 had a similar fate in 2020.
So far this year, these platforms have denounced several cases of sexist violence, three of them registered in Havana and the eastern provinces of Las Tunas and Holguín, adds the news agency.
The official statistics on sexist violence date from 2016 and show that 26.7% of women between the ages of 15 and 74 suffered some type of violence in their partner relationship in the 12 months prior to the study.
3.7% of Cuban women who revealed that they had been assaulted by their current or previous partners asked for institutional help, according to the National Survey of Gender Equality carried out at that time and which included 10,698 women, points out the Spanish agency, which underlines that this same data is collected in a national report sent in 2019 to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
EFE / OnCuba
