The Cuba Gender Equality Observatory (OCIG), part of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), published this month the official data on feminicide violence on the island: 49 women aged 15 and older were victims of gender-based murder in judicial processes adjudicated in 2025, which corresponds to a rate of 1.19 per 100,000 women.
The source of this data is the Complementary Statistical Information Subsystem of the Supreme People's Tribunal (SIEC-TSP), which this time publishes the figures corresponding to cases processed in court in 2025, but it does not clarify whether these data refer to events that occurred in 2025 or include cases from previous years.
The report indicates that Havana had the highest number of cases, with 12, followed by Mayabeque, Camagüey, and Holguín, each with six, and Santiago de Cuba, with five.
The official report highlights that 46.9% of the victims were killed by their former partner; 75.5% were not employed at the time of their death; and in 89.7% of the cases, the crime occurred within the victim's own home.
Additionally, 32 of the victims had minor children, leaving 54 boys and girls without maternal protection.
The age group most affected was those aged 20 to 44, with 38 victims. More cases were reported in urban areas (33) than in rural ones (16), although the rate was higher in the countryside, with 1.65 per 100,000 women.
According to the official report, the figures for 2025 represent a decrease compared to the 76 cases judged in 2024 —with a rate of 1.79— and the 60 from 2023, with a rate of 1.37. However, independent observers warn that the reduction in the judicial data does not necessarily reflect a real improvement in the situation.
By the end of 2025, the Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT) and Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba (YSTCC) verified 48 femicides, a figure that both organizations consider an underreporting of the actual cases, as many deaths go undocumented, especially during the prolonged blackouts affecting the island.
What is unequivocal is the trend for 2026: up to August 2, OGAT reported 46 femicides so far this year, an increase of approximately 112% compared to the same period in 2025.
Since 2019, the observatory has documented 359 femicides on the island. The pattern is consistent: 83.3% of the cases are perpetrated by current or former partners, 64.6% involve bladed weapons, and 62.5% occur in the victim's home.
The structural backdrop exacerbates the situation: Cuba lacks a comprehensive law against gender-based violence, femicide is not classified as an autonomous crime in the Penal Code currently in effect since December 2022, and the country does not have specialized shelters for women at risk.
In April 2026, YSTCC closed due to lack of resources, leaving OGAT as the only active independent observatory monitoring femicides in Cuba.
"These preventable deaths clearly highlight the urgency of shelters in Cuba for the protection of women, their children, families, and the community itself. In the face of a femicide, specialized structures for protection are needed," warned OGAT in August 2026.
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