Since June 3, 2015, Ni Una Menos raised its voice against femicides and promoted official records in different state areas. By 2023, the Supreme Court revealed 9 femicides in Mendoza, out of a total of 250 nationwide. Argentina registers almost 2,500 in 10 years: the number does not decrease, but the budget does.
Nine years passed since the first Not one lessthe cry of that June 3, 2015 that overwhelmed feminisms and united Argentine society to demand the end of femicides. Justice began to record these crimes in their specificity, as the tragic consequence of the sexist violence that still seems to find no limits. Many things changed, but the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation reports today that in ten years there were at least 2,446 direct victims of femicide; Line 144 answers more than 100 calls daily and, per day, the Mendoza Justice Department registers 25 complaints for gender violence.
Not one less She was the voice of historical feminist claims and in 2015 she highlighted two things at the same time. On the one hand, that femicides They are a particular crime – different from other acts of insecurity and other types of murder – sustained in a system of inequalities between genders that generate sexist violence. On the other hand,—despite being a social problem—the institutions were not up to the task of recognizing the phenomenon and acting to mitigate this violence.
Since then, different devices have been articulated to understand the problem, and the National Registry of Femicide of the Argentine Justice (RNFJA) It is one of those achievements. It is prepared by the Women’s Office of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. For 10 years, they have published a report with statistical data on judicial cases in which deaths are investigated violent of cis, transvestite and trans women for gender reasons. All jurisdictions in the country work federally and the tool is recognized at the regional and international level by specialized agencies of the United Nations, the OAS and ECLAC.
The methodology was consolidated in 2017, but in any case they show relative stability compared to 2014. The victim rate in 2014 was 1.03 per one hundred thousand women; 0.99 and 0.96 in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and 1.05 in 2023 —250 in total. In these 10 years, at least 2,446 direct victims of femicide, an average of almost 245 per year. In total, around 85 correspond to Mendoza and in 2023 there were 9.
But not all situations gender-based violence end in a femicide. That is why there are different detection, addressing and prevention devices such as specialized prosecutor’s offices, municipal and provincial areas and Line 144. They all have data that serves to paint a picture of the problem and develop policies to combat them.
Mendoza Justice
At the provincial level, and at the initiative of the Attorney General’s Office – the governing body of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Mendoza – between 2016 and 2017, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Unit for Gender Violence (UFi VG) was launched. In dialogue with Unidiversity, indicated that in 2023 the prosecutor’s offices received 9,014 complaints of gender violence. This average of 25 per day is also reproduced in March, the last month of the survey that recorded 774.
This unit today is headed by lawyer Laura Rousselle. In each constituency—which is more or less divided into North/Greater Mendoza, East, South and Valle de Uco—there are different specialized prosecutor’s offices according to the need for the number of cases and budgetary possibilities, she explained. Since 2019 they have been working with a Protocol for the Investigation of Violent Deaths of Women for Gender Reasons.
“It is a tool that provides categories of analysis and perspective to position ourselves against the phenomenon, to assess the evidence, to banish victim stereotypes, allowing us to develop strategic litigation that makes it visible. The protocol, together with the training, are key to installing the gender issue as something transversal to all UFis,” said Rousselle.
The Institutional Liaison Directorate (DEI) works together with this Unit, which was created in 2016, with the objective of applying Law 26485 on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women in its full scope. It serves as a link with the entire Public Prosecutor’s Office to coordinate efforts and guarantee access to justice for people in situations of gender violence. The DEI began operating in 2017 with the UFI VG, although its work is expanded to others. It carries out training, campaigns and projects and prepares Annual Statistical Reports that compile, among other things, the number of complaints published here. Today it is in charge of the lawyer Rosana Dottori.
Line 144
It was enabled in 2013 and when it turned ten years old, in September 2023, it had almost a million communications. Line 144 is a federal telephone service device for queries related to gender violence. As reported by the Chief of Staff to the National Senate, the public data of Line 144 that were made before and after mid-2023 are not comparable. It happens that, as of August of that year, the Integrated System of Cases of Cases was implemented. Gender-Based Violence (SICVG) that changed the way of recording and measuring.
This system today is under the wing of the Ministry of Human Capital, which indicated that, in the first quarter of 2024, there were 9,294 communications due to situations of sexist violence. Of that total, 371 correspond to Mendoza, which translates into four calls per day.
A report from the Latin American Justice and Gender Team (ELA) states that, although there are no changes in the number of personnel on Line 144, there is a 25.52% reduction in budget execution, when compared year-on-year. In the publication, they show concern for the continuity not only of 144 but of all the programs implemented by the former Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity (MMGyD) – Accompany, Bring Rights closer, Comprehensive Assistance Network, Urgent Support, transfers, etc.—because there is no clear information about which ones will be maintained and how they will be developed throughout the national territory.
“Spending on public policies that, according to the State itself, aims to reduce gender inequality was, so far in 2024, 33% lower than last year. This adjustment is even stronger than that suffered by the total national budget, which was 24%,” the report maintains.
Single Case Registry
The Single Case Registry is a tool of the Gender and Diversity Directorate of the Government of Mendoza (DGD) that since 2015 has compiled and systematized the situation of women who are in situations of domestic violence. In the beginning it had information from only ten departments of Mendoza, but today it reaches 18. According to the municipal teams and the DGD, in 2023 there were 7,277 situations of economic, sexual, physical, environmental and psychological violence for which Mendoza women They went to the local specialized offices.
The RUC 2023 shows a 4% increase in consultations due to situations of gender violence compared to 2022. It also included all departments and there were 7,053 in total. Furthermore, it reproduces data that is eloquent about the specificity of these crimes: in 62% of cases the aggressor is a partner or ex-partner of the victims. Regarding access to Justice, 26.3% claim to have agreed to file a civil lawsuit, while 39% filed a criminal complaint.
