By Yovanna Cabrera
The governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vazquez, issued a National Alert Status in May 2019 in response to the femicide crisis on the island. In the press conference, the governor called on all sectors and government organizations to respond with urgency to the situation. Even though they gathered with many feminist organizations and protest took the streets asking for the official issued of State of Emergency for women, the governor never did it.
Fast forward to more than a year later, the women of Puerto Rico are still asking for the governor to declare a State of Emergency. During the quarantine, femicide escalated by 83%, and social media is being flooded with posts of the kidnapping of 21 women. A study by “Proyecto Matria” and “Kilómetro Cero” reported that at least one femicide happens per week on the island. The study highlighted that Puerto Rico ranks among countries with the highest femicide rates.
The people of Puerto Rico wake up daily to devastating news of women and trans women being kidnapped, murdered, or attacked. Gender violence has become part of our daily lives. The psychoeducational campaign “Creando Conciencia” reported an estimate of 25 victims of murder from January to August, with only 15 of those being worked on. With the wake of so many kidnappings during this year, more women become frightened to leave their home. The justice system in the island does not recognize or applies human trafficking laws correctly and continues to treat the disappearance of women as cases of domestic violence.
Women from all over the island have used social media to report cases that might lead to human trafficking or domestic abuse. Posts declaring “women will not leave without notifying someone” and “you are not alone” have surfaced all over Instagram. Puerto Rican women are taking matters into their own hands by educating and protecting each other while the government continues to ignore the issue.
“Creando Conciencia” posted on their social media that “Femicide is not only the murder of women but the violation of their human rights for gender reasons, sustained by the structural inequality between women and men.” (Viu Fandos, S & Iñiguez Rueda, L., 2017) The government has not placed women’s rights as a priority for the island and have continuously ignored the calling for social reform to guarantee women the human rights they deserve. All the kidnappings and femicides can be linked to the absence of treating the situation with urgency, like they promised.
Being a woman in Puerto Rico means living in fear and being disregarded.