The number of femicides in Cuba has risen to 50 so far this year, following the confirmation on Tuesday of four more murders of women at the hands of their partners or ex-partners, according to records kept by independent platforms.
Vania Mojena, 43 years old; Daynilis Lobaina Torrell, 30; Doralis Cardoza Artiles, 25; and a 37-year-old woman, whose name is believed to be Yanisel Riverón Meriño, were victims of femicide within the span of one month, between October and November, reported the Gender Observatory of the magazine Alas Tensas (OGAT) and YoSíTeCreo en Cuba (YSTCC).
Mojena passed away on November 13 after being assaulted by her ex-partner at her home in Mabay, Bayamo, in the province of Granma. The crime was committed in front of her three children, two of whom were minors.
"It was publicly known the mistreatment Vania had suffered when she was with the aggressor," the platforms revealed, while emphasizing "the urgency for Cuba to have a comprehensive prevention system in which publicly known cases like this and others could be avoided."
Lobaina was murdered by her partner on November 10, at her home in Mula de Sabana, Maisí, Guantánamo.
Several family members of the woman were injured while trying to prevent the crime, which was committed with brutality. The deceased was a mother of two girls.
Cardoza's life was also cut short by her partner on November 1 at her home in Isla de Turiguanó, Morón, in the province of Ciego de Ávila. She is survived by two adult children.
According to the information, on October 12, a woman identified as Yanisel Riverón Meriño was killed by her partner in broad daylight in the city of Holguín. Before carrying out the murder, the attacker had assaulted Riverón's 15-year-old son at their home, who “is no longer in life-threatening danger.”
The platforms expressed condolences to the children of the four victims and to their other family members and loved ones.
The note from OGAT and YSTCC states that these events were reported by the press, citizens, and activists, and verified with community sources through the joint efforts of both organizations.
Furthermore, according to their calculations, six attempts of femicide have been recorded, and access to the police investigation of six possible cases of crimes of this nature is needed, which occurred in Havana (3), Santiago de Cuba (2), and Villa Clara (1).
Organizations are investigating other potential femicides: two in Matanzas, two in Havana, and one each in Las Tunas, Holguín, and Santiago de Cuba.
In their statement, OGAT and YSTCC also expressed their sorrow and conveyed condolences to the families of two Cuban women who were killed under trafficking conditions by organized crime in the city of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico.
The underreporting of femicides in Cuba by both platforms included a total of 89 such crimes in 2023. However, in December of that year, the Cuban government published official statistics on violence against women and stated that as of the end of October, 117 femicides had been reported, although it did not use that term to refer to the murders.
The count by Cuban authorities exceeds the number of violent deaths of women reported by independent feminist organizations in the country, which are focused on addressing women's issues and protecting their rights.
In August, the regime revealed that in 2023, 110 cases of gender-based murders of women aged 15 and older were tried in courts, according to data from the Cuba Gender Equality Observatory.
A total of 378 cases of sexual violence were also judged, and an unspecified number of women sustained injuries following attacks by their ex-partners.
In the Cuban Penal Code, femicide is not classified as a crime, nor are the terms "femicide" or "machista crime" used.
The official Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) acknowledged that more than 16,000 women and girls, from 9,579 families, are living in situations of violence in the country.
The government established a national system for registering, addressing, tracking, and monitoring incidents of gender-based violence within the family environment in the middle of this year.
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