According to figures from the National Police, so far this year there have been 53 femicides throughout the country, 12 of which were in Bogotá.
Web/LN Writing
At least 53 women have been victims of femicide so far this year, according to official data from the National Police. Of these, 12 cases occurred in Bogotá, and although a decrease in records is reflected compared to the same period in 2022, the alarms continue to go off due to the exacerbation of gender-based violence (GBV).
Only on Mother’s Day there were three femicides in the country, one in Bogotá, another in Santa Marta and one more in the Cómbita prison, Boyacá, where a man serving a 34-year sentence for femicide murdered his girlfriend during a visit.
Érika Aponte, Gloria Domínguez and Merly Andrea Rengifo were the most recent victims of this structural violence against women and girls. Added to them are the names of Jackeline Álvarez, Yared Pomares, Gina Paola Bocanegra, Melisa Toro, Mariana Rueda, Valentina Trespalacios, Angélica Treco, Jeidy Herrera, Dora Ortiz, María Camila Plazas and hundreds of other women.
Although in Colombia femicide is classified as an autonomous crime thanks to Law 1761 of 2015, prevention measures fall short when it comes to protecting women at risk. Unfortunately, the panorama of gender-based violence seems increasingly gray.
A structural problem?
Perhaps the first step to understand the reality of gender-based violence is the fact of naming it for what it is; stop calling femicides “crimes of passion” or branding feminicides “mentally ill”.
Charging the victim with responsibility is usually much easier than pointing out the perpetrator, and this is reflected in the management that is given to these issues from the institutional framework, from public opinion, and even from the social sphere.
