An alarming surge in femicides—the killing of a girl or woman on account of her gender—has been observed throughout the world during the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying lockdowns. In Puerto Rico, two horrific killings during the month of April have spurred outrage over the increase of gender-based violence on the island and prompted calls for reforming a system that has failed to protect the victims of these crimes.
35-year-old Andrea Ruiz did everything that a victim of abuse is advised to do in her situation. When her ex-boyfriend Miguel Ocasio began to follow, harass and threaten her, Ruiz filed a complaint under Puerto Rico’s domestic violence intervention and prevention law. She sought for the court to issue a protection order against Ocasio, and when that failed she pleaded for his arrest. The judge found “no cause” for his arrest, and Ruiz’s requests were denied. On April 28, a month after her virtual court appearance, her body would be found on the side of a road, burned and disfigured so badly that dental records were needed to identify the body. Ocasio confessed to assaulting and killing Ruiz with a knife shortly thereafter, and has been charged with first-degree murder.
Three days later, another body was discovered. 27-year-old Keishla Rodríguez’s body was found floating on the San José Lagoon two days after her family had reported her missing. Her alleged killer, Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo, assaulted her, injected her with drugs, tied her up to a cinder block, and threw her into the lagoon after Rodríguez revealed that she was pregnant with his child. According to the criminal complaint, Verdejo proceeded to shoot her from the bridge above. Both Verdejo and his accomplice have pleaded not guilty, and are both being held without bail on charges of kidnapping resulting in death, killing an unborn child and using a firearm during a violent crime.
Puerto Ricans were stunned by these crimes and are demanding accountability from the system that failed to protect Ruiz, Rodríguez, and far too many women like them. Last year, 60 women were reportedly killed in Puerto Rico, a 62% increase from the previous year, according to the Observatorio de Equidad de Género coalition. During the month of April of this year alone, seven femicides were reported. The coalition estimates that the lives of 21 women have been taken since the beginning of the year.
For months, even before Ruiz and Rodríguez’s murders, organizations and activists protested and demanded reform to address the increase in gender-based violence. Former Governor Wanda Vázquez signed a law creating a “pink alert,” which authorized the deployment of certain law enforcement resources to find disappeared women. The alert was activated for the first time during Rodríguez’s search, but tragically failed to find her alive. In January, Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency due to the increase in gender-violence cases. The state of emergency declaration allows for funding and resources to be allocated to address the crisis. Pierluisi requested $7 million for this purpose, but the fiscal board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances, which is appointed by the federal government, approved only $200,000. The board has since backtracked and approved the full $7 million. “It was terrible because it showed once again that this is not a priority for our politicians. If we would’ve not complained and raised our voices, that would have never changed,” said Irma Lugo of the Observatorio de Equidad de Género.
The April murders of Ruiz and Rodríguez have intensified the protests and demands for reform. 68% of all protection orders—like that requested by Ruiz—have been denied by Puerto Rican courts during the last nine months. “That’s why so many women avoid going to the authorities,” Lugo said.
Hundeds of Puerto Ricans attended Rodríguez ‘s two-day funeral last month. “Let her be the last,” her grieving mother, Keila Ortiz, said. “The abuse against women has to stop,” she added. “Not one more,” echoed her father, José Antonio Rodríguez.
Photo: Dzilam Mendez/UN Women