Bolivia registers 62 femicides and 28 infanticides since January

The lives of 62 women and 28 children have been taken at the hands of their aggressors so far this year in the country, a fact that has dismayed Bolivian families causing mourning and pain due to the viciousness with which the criminals committed the bloody acts.

The prosecutor’s office specializing in crimes against life and personal integrity keeps a record of the 62 femicides and 28 infanticides that occurred throughout the country, most of the cases reported in the department of La Paz.

The director of this unit, Sergio Fajardo, indicated that,he total of the acts of femicide, 22 correspond to La Paz, another 17 women were victimized in Santa Cruz, nine in Cochabamba, five in Tarija, four in Potosí, two in Beni, two in Chuquisaca and one in Oruro. The only department that did not report cases of femicide was Pando.

“These acts of femicide generally occur in the family, as a couple or in an intimate relationship where extreme violence is generated, which is often not reported by the woman. We call on that all those women who are victims of this scourge report it to the corresponding authorities,” Fajardo declared.

Compared to the past administration, between January and August 2021, 81 femicides were registered in Bolivia, figures that show that this year there was a decrease in cases, registering 62, although this is not considered an achievement for the authorities either.

Regarding the causes of death of the victims, due to suffocation there are 24 cases; by knife, 18; by blow or trauma, 15 cases, the rest for the use of a firearm, substance intoxication, among others.

yesAccording to the relationship of the victim with the feminicide, the majority are cohabitants in 20 cases, 14 of them were lovers, 10 femicides had no relationship or bondsix were ex-partners, in five defendants their relationship with the victim was not determined, three were husbands, two ex-lovers, one was a niece and another a stepfather.

While, the ages of the victims are between 21 and 30 years old in 18 cases, from 31 to 40 years old in 16 years, from 13 to 20 years old in 13 cases, from 41 to 50 years old in six events, four victims were between 51 and 60 years old and more than five cases were women over 61 years old.

“Currently there are 16 sentences, 33 in the preparatory stage, eight in the preliminary stage and four with formal accusation. In 87% of cases, the person responsible for the act is held in preventive detention or is serving a sentence,” Fajardo stressed.

Regarding the cases of infanticide registered in the country, in the same way the majority of the cases were reported in La Paz with 11 cases, another five cases in Santa Cruz, five in Potosí, four in Cochabamba, one in Chuquisaca, one in Oruro, one in Tarija. In Pando and Beni no cases were recorded.

“Among the factors of infanticide events we can refer to the emotional imbalances of fathers and mothers, the naturalization of mistreatment by those responsible of girls and boys, to this, it is added that when children are the result of an unwanted pregnancy or rape, emotional states of despair and anguish are generated that lead to the solution of ending the lives of these defenseless beings as in the last case of the victims in the city of La Paz,” explained the prosecutor.

According to the records of 2021, in eight months 27 infanticides were registered and in the same period of this 2022, the situation is similar because the figure amounts to 28 victims.

The causes of death of the children were due to suffocation in nine cases, seven of them were victimized as a result of blows or traumas, six due to substance intoxication, five due to the use of a knife and one due to another cause.

The relationship between the infanticide victim and the aggressor indicates that in 12 cases the mother was the perpetrator, five aggressors were the parents, without determining three cases, three were stepfathers, two of them were father and stepmother, two had no relationship and one was both parents.

The ages of the victims are between zero and three years in 17 cases, in three cases the minors were between 11 and 12 years old, another three were between 8 and 10 years old and three other victims were between 4 and 7 years old.

“All the processes for infanticide are investigated and are in different stages, two of them have been sentenced, five in the preliminary stage, two cases were rejected and 16 in the preparatory stage.. Of the total cases of infanticide, 72% are found with the person responsible for the act with preventive detention or serving a sentence, “said the prosecutor.