Some 82 femicides were registered in the province of Buenos Aires during 2022, eight cases more than the previous year, at an average of one crime every four days, according to the Report on Femicides and Criminal Proceedings of Family and Gender Violence prepared by the Buenos Aires Attorney General, within the framework of International Women’s Rights Day.
According to the work released today, which includes all the cases initiated by crimes that occurred in a context of family or gender violence, recorded in the Criminal Registry of Family and Gender Violence (Revifag), and the investigations initiated by acts considered as femicides , 63.1 percent of the murders of women were the product of gender violence.
Official data shows that during 2022 a total of 129,886 criminal proceedings for family and/or gender violence were initiated (including criminal proceedings initiated in the Juvenile Criminal Responsibility Jurisdiction and in the Criminal and Correctional Jurisdiction), which represents 13 .7 percent of the total of 946,611 criminal proceedings opened during that period.
The total number of femicides in 2015 was 98; in 2016, 90; in 2017, 98; in 2018 and 2019 of 102; in 2020, 94; in 2021, 73 and in 2021, 82.
From the survey it was possible to notice that of the total number of registered victims (125,997), 78 percent are female, while in 88.5 percent of the cases where female victims are recorded, the defendants were men.
The judicial departments with the highest number of criminal proceedings were San Martín (20,922), Lomas de Zamora (18,735) and La Matanza (12,794), while Necochea (1,109), Trenque Lauquen (1,686) and Dolores (1,795) were the ones that registered a lower number of criminal proceedings assigned to REVIFAG initiated during 2022.
On the other hand, in relation to the reported crimes, it was noted that 28.9 percent correspond to “threats”, 26.5 percent “injuries”, 12.2 percent “disobedience”; and then followed, in a lower percentage, by the crimes of “sexual abuse” (7.6 percent), “damage” (5.1 percent), among others of lower incidence.
From the analysis of the femicide cases, it appears that during 2022, 81 criminal proceedings were initiated for the deaths of women as a result of gender violence, with a total of 82 deceased victims, of which 3 are trans/vestite women.
It was also proven that the main motive for the violent deaths of women is gender violence, since the 82 victims of femicide represent 63.1 percent of all female victims of intentional homicides in the province.
Regarding seasonality, the largest number of cases in 2022 occurred in the month of March.
78 percent of the femicides occurred in a home; 43.9 percent one shared with the femicide; 20.7 percent in that of the victim; 8.5 percent in that of the aggressor; 4.9 percent in another dwelling; 7.3 percent other; 6.1 percent in public spaces; 3.7 percent at the victim’s workplace; and 4.9 percent undetermined.
Regarding the means used to perpetrate the femicides, to a greater extent it was through physical force in 30.5 percent, while 26.8 percent of the femicides were perpetrated with a knife. Meanwhile, 18.3 percent were carried out with a firearm, 14.6 percent with an improper weapon, and 4.9 percent with fire.
It is also observed that, of the total number of cases in which the link between the victim and the perpetrator could be verified (80 cases), 96.3 percent of the victims of femicide knew the femicide (77 cases) and 60 percent percent of the victims had a relationship with a partner, ex-partner, courtship or other type of affective sexual relationship with the femicide.
When analyzing the age range of the victims, it can be seen that 3.7 percent were between 0 and 12 years old; 24.4 percent, between 18 and 30; 23.2 percent between 31 and 40; 12.2 percent between 41 and 50; 12.2 percent between 51 and 60; 12.2 percent between 61 and 70; and 11 percent over 70.
It was also detected that during 2022 at least 147 sons and daughters were indirect victims of the femicide of their mothers. In 90 cases they are of legal age and in 57 they are under 18 years of age.
With all this, the annual rate of victims of femicide for the Province in 2022 was 0.90 percent per 100,000 women.
In the case of the processes in which the criminal action was extinguished due to the death of the accused (20 cases), in 18 cases they committed suicide after committing the femicide, in one case the accused died as a result of injuries produced during the act and one died of natural causes.
Regarding the defendants, 25.3% were between 18 and 30 years old at the time of the crime.
The Attorney General’s Office reported that a new chapter was added to the report this year, in which the analysis of “other intentional homicides in contexts of gender-based violence” is carried out, where homicides are recorded that do not refer to victims of direct femicide but to Other deaths produced in contexts of gender violence.
In this sense, it was verified that the category “related femicide” is understood as the homicide committed against a person in order to cause suffering to a woman. The attack is generally directed towards people with family ties, friendship, trust, with a woman who is a victim of gender-based violence.
On the other hand, “homicides by interposition in the line of fire” include homicides committed against a person because they intervened or tried to prevent an assault in a context of gender-based violence.
Lastly, “other homicides linked to gender-based violence” refers to the homicide of a person as a result of an attack against a woman motivated by gender reasons, even if he had not intervened in her defense.
In 2022, 7 criminal proceedings were revealed, with 7 acts of intentional homicide in the context of gender-based violence. These cases include 4 cases of related femicides, 1 case of homicides due to interposition in the line of fire, and 3 cases of other homicides in contexts of gender-based violence.
