AREQUIPA, Peru – The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) published this Friday a report on femicides in the region. The text for the first time includes data about Cuba, although it falls short of the real dimension of this typology of crimes on the Island.
According to the latest figures offered by official organizations to the Gender Equality Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean (OIG) of ECLAC, at least 11 violent deaths of women due to gender occur every day in the region.
In 2023, some 3,897 women were victims of femicide or feminicide in 27 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, the organization reports.
Among the countries with the highest femicide rates are Honduras (7.2 cases per 100,000 women), the Dominican Republic (2.4) and Brazil (1.4). The lowest rates occur in Haiti (0.2 cases per 100,000 women), Chile (0.4) and Guatemala (0.5 cases).
In the Caribbean, at least 20 women were victims of gender-based violence resulting in death in 2023, according to information provided by nine countries and territories.
In this regard, ECLAC clarified that each country registers the victims of feminicide or violent deaths of women due to gender in accordance with their legal classification and produces the data at different times of the police or judicial investigation processes, so it is not It is possible to make a strict comparison of the indicator between countries.
Eight of the ten countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean with information available in this regard would be Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
In the case of Cuba, according to OIG and ECLAC numbers, the Island would be located with an index of 1.1 ahead of Haiti (0.2), Chile (0.4), and Guatemala (0.5). , these last three countries with the lowest rates.
In contrast, gender observatories of Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo in Cuba during 2023 included 89 cases of femicides in their sub-records. Taking into account the previous figure, the Cuban rate would go to 1.70, the third highest rate in the region, only behind Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
The majority of gender-related deaths in the region occurred within current or terminated relationships. Likewise, the ECLAC report highlights that femicidal violence affects all ages: More than 75% of the victims were between 15 and 59 years old, however, 3% were girls under 15 years old and 10% were 60 years old. years and more.
As has been indicated in previous years, femicides also have serious consequences for the victims’ dependents, understood as sons, daughters and other dependents. In the 7 countries that reported on this variable in 2023 (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Uruguay) 488 indirect victims are registered.
Femicides in Cuba during 2024
A Cuban mother of two girls was murdered at the hands of his ex-partner Saint ClareVilla Clara, at the beginning of this month, a crime that raised the number of femicides in Cuba in 2024, according to reports from independent feminist platforms.
The lifeless body of Elaine González Estrada was found on November 5 at her ex-partner’s house, after her disappearance had been reported on social networks of friends and family, according to the information offered this Thursday by the gender observatories. IYesI Believe in Cuba and from the magazine Tense Wings.
The observatories specified that González was missing since November 3. After the feminicide, the aggressor, her ex-partner, fled but was captured.
The platforms’ complaint detailed that the authorities, instead of helping, re-victimized their relatives during the search process.
“In this case, we focus on the re-victimization that the family has suffered due to the poor work of the authorities, as reported on social networks,” they alleged.
With the murder of González Estrada, the number of femicides that occurred in Cuba this year reaches 46 cases.
Feminist activists alluded to the femicides preceded by citizen alerts of early disappearances, which are not considered fundamental by the authorities. “The time of action is decisive to find a person at risk alive.”
The platforms also reported that five attempts at feminicide have been recorded and they need access to the police investigation of six possible cases of sexist crimes that occurred in Havana (3), Santiago de Cuba (2) and Villa Clara (1).
In addition, they are investigating other possible femicides, two in Matanzas and one in Las Tunas, another in Holguín, Guantánamo, Ciego de Ávila and Santiago de Cuba.
Also this month, Dianelis Veloz Hernández and Yoannia (Yuyi) Hernández Pupo, both young mothers, were murdered in public places.
