The feminist platform YoSíTeCreo in Cuba has raised the number of femicides to 32 so far this year by confirming the death of 16-year-old Yenifer Vargas Gómez, who was stabbed by her ex-boyfriend in Santiago de Cuba this Tuesday, dying hours later on August 13.
In a post on its social media, the independent platform indicated that this incident has "particularly serious connotation as it was committed against a tenth-grade pre-university student," meaning a minor.
The note from YoSíTeCreo in Cuba did not mention the capture of the alleged attacker of the minor, who was arrested this Tuesday while hiding at a relative's house in Santiago de Cuba.
The underreporting conducted by the Gender Observatory Alas Tensas (OGAT) and the platform YoSíTeCreo in Cuba up to this August 14 indicates 32 femicides, three attempted femicides, six cases requiring access to police investigation, and two murders of men for gender-related motives.
The cases in need of access to research are: elderly woman (Esperanza, Villa Clara); Irma (Havana); Teresa Moliner Bosa (Havana); Tania Reyes (Santiago de Cuba); Samantha (Sami) Heredia Odrens (Santiago de Cuba); Laura Castillo Zulueta (Havana).
In addition to the verified cases, investigations are being conducted in Las Tunas, Matanzas, Havana, and Santiago de Cuba.
According to official data, last year in Cuba, 110 people were tried for femicide - a term that the island's authorities refuse to use - 378 cases of sexual violence in 2023, and several women were left with injuries after attacks by their ex-partners.
At the end of July, the Cuban government established a national system for the registration, attention, follow-up, and monitoring of gender-based violence incidents in the family setting, according to what was said in a meeting of the Council of Ministers.
A report from the government-aligned newspaper Granma mentioned that the System is made up of "25 experts" from the Ministry of the Interior and the People's Supreme Court, and that its objective is to develop "a computerized and interoperable administrative registry that would use the platforms of these institutions for the management of criminal processes."
The Attorney General of the Republic, Yamila Peña Ojeda, indicated that the greatest utility of this monitoring is to serve as a database to “have statistical information for prevention in the fight against acts of gender violence.”
For Cuban leaders, "the implementation of the National Registration System and the transparency of the results strengthens the rule of law, contributes to discouraging manifestations of violence, combats impunity, raises the legal education of the population, and strengthens the social fabric around an issue that concerns everyone," defended Peña Ojeda.
Likewise, the Cuban Attorney General noted that during 2023, the regime of the island obtained data on these cases, among which it stood out that 75% of the incidents occurred in the home, and warned that this trend continues this year.
In addition, 72% of the incidents involved victims between the ages of 25 and 59; 45% are unpaid workers.
They stated that "the survivors who suffered abuse during the relationship were identified, and those who had previously reported threats or injuries, which were sometimes withdrawn as part of the cycle of violence."
Peña Ojeda stated that, according to his data, 84% of the offenders were partners or ex-partners; 46% had ninth-grade education; 40% had a work-related relationship; and 31% had a criminal record for violent acts.
However, the Cuban regime does not include the concept of femicide in the current Penal Code, which was approved in May 2022.
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