According to statistics presented by the Public Ministry, since 2018 a total of 185 victims and 243 orphans have been registered. In 2018 there were 50 victims of femicide, in 2019 a total of 37, in 2020 about 36 victims. In 2021, 36 victims are registered, while in 2022 the number of victims rises to 26.
Unfortunately, the saddest thing about these crimes is that behind the victims there is also the suffering of their families, since in most cases there are orphaned children left behind; According to the new numbers from the prosecution, a total of 17 victims had children who were orphaned.
At the beginning of this 2022, two cases of femicide were recorded and by February the number had already risen to four; Between March and April, four more cases were reported and between May and June there was a total of nine cases. The month of July, for its part, already registers a new case. The departments of Concepción, San Pedro and Itapúa add two cases each; The cities of Canindeyú, Caazapá, Alto Paraná, Ñeembucú and Paraguarí are also on the list of cities affected by this type of tragedy.
Complaints
In total there are nineteen reported events and thirteen people have been charged, two of them are fugitives and two committed suicide. According to statements by the Deputy Prosecutor against Family Violence, Artemisa Marchuk, “Trials usually arrive after approximately three years of the case being filed, depending of course, on each particular case.” One point to note is that the average age of the victims ranges from 16 to 57 years, and that of the aggressors from approximately 19 to 65 years.
In reference to the children who are orphaned, it is estimated that approximately 55 children lost their mothers when they were minors around 38, Marchuk said that as an institution they do not have the legal competence to refer the children to any place, but rather The only thing left for them to do is carry out an investigation and collect as much information as possible, to later refer it to the Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents, since it is their task to find a home, always prioritizing the best interests of the children. .
laws
In Paraguay there is Law No. 5777/16 that speaks about the Comprehensive Protection of Women against all forms of violence. The Law incorporates femicide in subparagraph a) of article 6, as a form of violence and typifies it in article 50 with a custodial sentence of 10 to 30 years. Said article also mentions that not all cases of homicide of women can be classified as “Feminicide”, but that certain parameters must be met to title it that way, that is, that the perpetrator of the act must have maintained some marital or domestic relationship. partner with the victim, there must have been some kind of relationship between the perpetrator and the victim and the death finally had to have occurred as a result of having previously committed a cycle of physical, sexual, psychological or patrimonial violence against the victim, regardless of whether the facts have been denounced or not.
With the recognition of femicide as an autonomous criminal type, the law gives violence against women a name and a social and legal category that clearly makes visible who is the victim, the perpetrator and in what circumstances the murder has occurred.
