The heartbreaking murder of a Cuban mother by her former partner in Santa Clara, Villa Clara, earlier this month has left two young girls without their mother and increased the count of femicides in Cuba to 46 in 2024, as reported by independent platforms.
Elaine González Estrada's lifeless body was discovered on November 5th at her ex-partner's residence, two days after she was reported missing, according to updates from the women's violence observatories YoSíTeCreo in Cuba and the magazine Alas Tensas. The perpetrator initially fled, but authorities have since apprehended him.
Despite this, the platform highlighted the ongoing issue of femicides where early public alerts about disappearances are “still not being considered key by the authorities.” YoSíTeCreo in Cuba emphasized, "The timing of action is crucial to finding a person in danger alive."
The statement also pointed out “the re-victimization the family has endured due to the authorities' poor handling of the case, as reported on social media.” Condolences were extended to González's daughters and her entire family and friends.
The disappearance of the Cuban mother gained traction on social media following reports from her family and friends, who began searching for her on November 3rd. Last week, the Facebook profile “Desaparecidos dentro de Cuba. Somos tu voz” revealed that she had been “discovered buried in the kitchen of the aggressor's house,” and he remained at large at that time.
YoSíTeCreo in Cuba and Alas Tensas also shared on Thursday that there have been five attempted femicides reported and that access is needed to police investigations into six potential cases of such crimes in Havana (3), Santiago de Cuba (2), and Villa Clara (1).
Feminist groups are also probing other suspected femicides: two in Matanzas and one each in Las Tunas, Holguín, Guantánamo, Ciego de Ávila, and Santiago de Cuba. Both platforms have recorded 89 femicides in the country for 2023. However, in December that year, the Cuban government disclosed official statistics on violence against women, claiming 117 femicides reported by the end of October, though they refrained from using the term “femicide” for these killings.
The discrepancy between government records and those of independent feminist organizations dedicated to women's rights and protection is stark. In August, the regime revealed that 110 cases of gender-based murders of women aged 15 and above were prosecuted in 2023, according to data from the Cuba Observatory on Gender Equality.
Additionally, 378 cases of sexual violence were prosecuted, and an unspecified number of women suffered injuries due to attacks by former partners. The Cuban Penal Code does not classify femicide as a crime, nor does it employ the terms “femicide” or “gender-based murder.”
The state-sponsored Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) has acknowledged that over 16,000 women and girls from 9,579 families are living in situations of violence across the country. In July, the government established a national system for the registration, attention, monitoring, and tracking of gender-based violence incidents within the family setting.