The gender violence continues to claim fatalities in Cuba. In recent days, independent activists have reported several cases that bring the number of women who have lost their lives on the island due to sexist murders to 40 so far this year.
The feminist platforms Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba and Alas Tensas confirmed this Thursday a new event of this type in the province of Mayabeque. The victim, 28 years old, died on November 3, allegedly at the hands of her partner, in the home they shared in the El Mamey town of the San Nicolás de Bari municipality.
This is the 39th fatality of 2025, according to the count of these platforms, although the Spanish agency EFEwhich also keeps a record, counts two less.
He leaves behind a girl, whose age is not specified in the activists’ report, nor does it specify whether she would be the daughter of the alleged murderer or the result of a previous relationship of the deceased.
One day before, both platforms had reported three other sexist murders verified by them and that occurred in recent weeks on the island.
In these cases, the victims were a 45-year-old woman, attacked in the Avilanian town of Chambas by her ex-partner; another 49 years old, also murdered by her ex-partner in the Camagüey town of Vertientes; and a private carrier from Havana, victim of “extreme violence” by unknown people.
In their most recent report, feminists report 15 attempted femicides and one murder of a man for gender reasons. In addition, they report investigating two in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Villa Clara, as well as three others in which they need access to the police investigation.
From the Government
The Cuban authorities have declared “zero tolerance” against sexist violence and although there is not much frequent information about femicides in the state press, in recent months reports and articles about this scourge have appeared.
The Cuban Government confirmed that the courts identified a total of 76 women murdered by their partners, ex-partners or other people in trials held last year. In the judicial processes held in 2023, 110 victims were registered.
The Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior, the Supreme Court and other institutions announced this year the joint development of a computerized, but not public, administrative registry to collect data on femicides.
In the Cuban Penal Code, feminicide is not classified as a specific crime, nor is the use of the terms “feminicide” or “sexist crime” common in state media.
The majority of these crimes, and other acts of sexist violence that do not lead to death, are committed by partners or ex-partners. Many cases, especially those without fatalities, go unpunished due to legal loopholes or inaction by the authorities, and can later have fatal consequences.
Other initiatives
The Women and Family Care Centers of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) have been addressing gender violence for decades. In parallel, different institutions, groups and citizen projects work or have worked on the same thing.
These efforts include campaigns such as Evoluciona, Únete, Eres más, Van de la mano, as well as the Afro-descendant Women’s Network, the Afro-Cuban Group, the Nosotrxs project, the SemLac-Cuba platform, as well as university professorships, blogs and other initiatives.
At the end of December 2024, the project “No more: prevention and response to gender violence against women in Cuba” was made official, the result of an alliance between international cooperation and national entities, which aims to promote female empowerment, based on a cultural change and the articulation of local organizations and institutions.
Co-financed by the European Union (EU), the initiative covers municipalities in the eastern provinces of Las Tunas, Granma and Guantánamo and Havana with the aim of contributing to efforts to raise awareness about the importance of fighting against gender violence in the country.
The initiative is a joint effort between the Italian organization for Cooperation for the Development of Emerging Countries (Cospe), the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) and its Women’s Publishing House.
On the other hand, intellectuals and artists have spoken out, at different times and systematically, against cases of gender violence.
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 3,897 women were victims of feminicide in 2023, which represents approximately 11 deaths per day due to gender reasons. In 2024, that number increased to 4,854 femicides, that is, 13 deaths per day.
So far in 2025, the three countries with the most sexist murders recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean are Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador, according to preliminary data from independent observatories and regional media.
EFE / OnCuba
