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A young Cuban woman, mother of two children, was killed by her partner in Havana, becoming the first victim of gender-based violence in July and raising the total to 38 femicides recorded in Cuba so far in 2026, confirmed the Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT) this Monday.
Dayana Borges, 26 years old, was killed by her partner and the father of her underage children in the home they shared, at the intersection of Campanario and Salud, in the municipality of Centro Habana, on July 1st, as stated by the OGAT in a statement.
The observatory noted that the attacker had "a history of extreme abuse against Dayana and other previous partners," and after committing the crime, he took his own life.
Dayana was originally from the neighborhood of Santa Amalia, in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo. Her two children were left orphaned, without a mother or father.
OGAT warned that "illicit drugs are increasingly present" in cases of this type, a factor that is linked to violence in the country, particularly to femicide, in the context of expanding substance abuse among young Cubans.
The platform Nio reporting a crime identified the assailant as Yusuan Marrero, 32 years old, and revealed that the children witnessed the murder.
According to the information published on that profile, witnesses claimed that the man was under the influence of the drug commonly known as "el químico" when he took Dayana's life.
The OGAT requested that specialized attention be given to the minors who witnessed the aggression against their mother, and acknowledged the neighbors who took care of them after the tragedy.
Cuban authorities did not release any official information about the case, a pattern that is repeated in most of these crimes in the country.
"We are being killed," warned the OGAT in its statement this Monday.
The figure of 38 femicides in just six months represents more than double the 18 documented cases during the same period in 2025. Furthermore, as of July 6, the OGAT recorded 19 attempts of femicide and two male murders due to feminicide violence.
The observatory reported that it is actively investigating 12 possible femicides, five attempts, and one homicide of a man for gender-related reasons reported in 2025; in addition to 10 possible femicides and three attempts reported in 2026. It also indicated that the case of the adolescent Anais Tamayo Puente remains pending, as it needs access to the investigation report in order to determine if her death constituted a femicide.
The femicide of Dayana Borges occurred a few days after two similar crimes shook the province of Sancti Spíritus, with only a week's difference. In one of the cases, that of Lidianni Luis González, the OGAT denounced the "negligent conduct of the police," as the victim had previously reported her aggressor without receiving protection.
From 2019 to June 2026, Cuba has recorded 350 documented femicides according to the independent observatories OGAT and Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba (YSTCC). The year 2023 marked a historical peak with 90 cases.
The Cuban legal framework does not provide protection for women: the country lacks a comprehensive law against gender-based violence and institutional shelters for those at risk, while the current Penal Code does not classify femicide as an autonomous crime—it only appears as an aggravating factor of homicide. In 2022, the National Assembly rejected an amendment to include femicide in the new Penal Code.
The OGAT is the only independent organization currently maintaining a record of these crimes in Cuba, in light of the lack of official information from the State, which does not publish statistics on feminicides.
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