'Vicious circle': Femicides in Peru reveal 'crisis' of violence (trigger warning for graphic violenc
‘Vicious circle’: Femicides in Peru reveal ‘crisis’ of violence (trigger warning for graphic violence)
A string of high-profile murders has drawn attention to rates of gender-based violence in the South American country.
Magali Aguilar speaks into a bullhorn as women carry a banner featuring the faces of women who have faced gender-based violence
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The organisation Mothers Fighting for Justice marches through the streets of Peru to protest violence against women [Neil Giardino/Al Jazeera]
By Neil Giardino
Published On 24 Apr 202324 Apr 2023
Lima, Peru – Last month, 18-year-old Katherine Gómez finally decided to end her brief relationship with her boyfriend, Sergio Tarache. It was a Saturday evening, and despite having planned a night out with friends, she acquiesced to meet him one last time in a crowded plaza in central Lima.The couple began to argue and Tarache abruptly left, according to witnesses. Moments later, surveillance footage revealed him buying gasoline at a nearby station. He returned, doused Gómez and set her aflame with a lighter, fleeing the scene as she burned alive. Nearly six days passed before a superior court judge in Lima issued an arrest warrant. Tarache, 21, had already fled the country. Meanwhile, Gómez, suffering severe burns to her chest and face, died of respiratory failure in an induced coma.
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A group of protesters calls for justice in the case of Katherine Gómez as they demonstrate in central Lima, Peru [Neil Giardino/Al Jazeera]
In this country of 33 million, six out of 10 women have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence, and rates of femicide — broadly defined as the intentional, gender-motivated murder of women — are soaring.
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Since January, there have been 51 reported femicides in Peru, a figure likely to outpace the 137 recorded last year, according to public officials.
This dark inventory does not account for disappearances. In 2022, there were 11,524 reports of missing women. Only 48 percent of them were found by authorities, according to Peru’s ombudsman. Describing what many consider an “emergency” to Al Jazeera, government officials, women’s rights organisations and family members faulted entrenched misogyny, mistrust in the justice system and ultra-conservative legislation as contributing to the increasingly violent attacks against women. “It’s a vicious circle,” said Diana Portal of the ombudsman’s office. “Cases continue to occur, and a negligent state response sends an unfortunate message that in Peru you can rape, disappear or kill a woman without consequence.”
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Cinthia Machare holds a portrait of her daughter Katherine Gómez in downtown Lima to protest the state’s response to a recent wave of femicides [Neil Giardino/Al Jazeera]
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Protesters raise picket signs featuring the faces of women killed or injured in gender-based violence
Since January, there have been an estimated 51 femicides reported in Peru, according to the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations [Neil Giardino/Al Jazeera]
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“[Boluarte] has demonstrated that just because a woman has risen to a position of political power does not guarantee she will work in favour of women,” said Ortiz.
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Standing in front of the Ministry of Women’s headquarters recently, Magali Aguilar unfurled a banner revealing portraits of dozens of victims of femicide. In the centre was her daughter, Sheyla.
“She was 19 and ready to take on the world. Her dream was to become an obstetrician,” said Aguilar. In 2018, Sheyla’s ex-boyfriend, Romario Aco, entered an open window in her bedroom and slit her throat. Aco was given the minimum sentence of 15 years, in part because of his confession. Aguilar said her lawyer, appointed by the Ministry of Women, never showed up to the sentencing hearing. “He’ll get out when he’s 34 with his whole life ahead of him. And my daughter? Nothing. I go to the cemetery and can’t hug my daughter,” said Aguilar.
In 2020, she formed an association called Mother’s Fighting for Justice, which serves as a support network for bereaved families and holds workshops to teach young women how to recognise and avoid abusive relationships. “Through our pain, we’re rising up,” Aguilar said. “When we’re together, we cry when we need to, and then we dry our tears and keep fighting so that there isn’t another Sheyla. So that this story doesn’t keep repeating.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/24/vicious-circle-femicides-in-peru-reveal-crisis-of-violence