The number of femicides rises to 23 during this year in Cuba.

Independent feminist platforms raised the verified femicide figure in Cuba to 23 so far this year on Wednesday.

The victim, Aniuska Hernández Ginard, 49 years old, married and mother of three daughters, was murdered inside her own home in Guantánamo last Tuesday, June 4th, by a neighbor with a history of domestic violence and murder, as reported by the Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT) and the feminist platform I Believe You in Cuba (YSTCC).

The assailant was identified by other neighbors as Rafael Rivera Hechavarría, also known as "El Niño," and is currently on the run, according to a post on the official OGAT website.

Hernández Ginard's youngest daughter, only seven years old, witnessed the crime. The victim also had two other daughters, one who is 12 years old and another who is 20 years old.

This femicide is the first one verified in Guantánamo so far this year. In 2023, five violent deaths of women were recorded in this province.

According to the platforms, in 2024, a total of 23 femicides have been reported in Cuba, along with three attempted feminicides and six crimes still unresolved in Villa Clara, La Habana, and Santiago de Cuba.

The director of OGAT, Ileana Álvarez, points out that although the number of verified femicides this year is lower than last year, when 89 were recorded, it does not necessarily mean a decrease in cases.

Álvarez indicated that the government has pressured the relatives of the victims to prevent them from publicly reporting the deaths of their family members, which has hindered the registration and triangulation of complaints by the observers.

The article explains that both observatories have verified femicides in nine provinces. The highest incidence of these crimes is in Camagüey (five cases), Santiago de Cuba (four), and Holguín and Havana (three each).

This year also saw the murder of a man for gender-related reasons, and feminist platforms are working on verifying femicide alerts in Havana, Artemisa, Camagüey, and Santiago de Cuba, as detailed by OGAT and YSTCC, who verified three more femicides last week in Holguín, Cienfuegos, and Santiago de Cuba.

The lack of clear and transparent official data continues to be a challenge for organizations working on verifying and reporting these crimes in Cuba, they emphasized.