Argentina: Rise in female incineration deaths

Perhaps the most well known case of violence against women in Latin America are the hundreds of femicides in the Mexico's Ciudad Juarez. In one South American country, meanwhile, an increase in femicides has caught the attention of police and women’s’ rights groups.

At least 260 women and young girls in Argentina were killed in 2010 including eleven via incineration according to local NGO La Casa del Encuentro. The number of female burn victims last year represented a slight increase compared to 2009 and includes the death of Wanda Taddei, the wife of former Los Callejeros member Eduardo Vázquez. (Quick aside: Los Callejeros were the rock band playing during 2004’s tragic Republica Cromagnon fire that claimed the lives of nearly 200 partygoers).

Sadly the increase in violence against women in Argentina continued into this year; last week alone three women were killed via incineration. Hence, La Casa representative Fabiana Tuñez proposed several reforms including preventing impunity against those accused of committing such crimes. Furthermore, as she told the local press:

"We ask that femicides are recognized as an independent criminal offense using antecedents that already exists in Guatemala, Costa Rica and most recently in Chile”…

The intent behind having femicides as a spate crime “is not because we believe that it is the only way to combat violence against women, but because it’s a judicial recognition to clearly show that this form of violence is unacceptable.”

The issue of violence against women has received renewed attention with the recant deaths of several Ciudad Juarez women’s rights activists. Additionally, an article published yesterday in Mexican daily El Universal accused the federal government of making “inoperable” a landmark 2007 law aimed at protecting women.

Image- El Universal
Online Sources- Terra Peru, The Latin Americanist, Clarin.com, ElComercial.com.ar