The femicide of Agostina Vega revives complaints over lack of protection for women in Argentina
The murder of a 14-year-old girl in Córdoba, together with other recent cases of gender violence, sparked a wave of outrage and called into question the cuts to women's protection programmes implemented by the current government.
The femicide of Agostina Vega revives complaints over lack of protection for women in Argentina
A fourteen-year-old girl was murdered and her remains were found fragmented in a vacant lot near the city of Córdoba. The discovery took place on 30 May, seven days after the victim, identified as Agostina Vega, lost contact with those around her.
A report of her disappearance was filed on 23 May, but search operations only began on 27 May. Her family members had insisted from the beginning, however the police initially considered that the teenager had left of her own accord with an acquaintance.
During a press conference, prosecutor Raúl Garzón, who is leading the investigation, avoided acknowledging delays in police action and highlighted the work of the dog that found the remains. The reaction of broadcaster Laura Vilches, who confronted him on the spot, spread widely across the internet.
Agostina's murder is part of a series of similar incidents that occurred in recent days. In the province of Misiones, a seventeen-year-old girl named Dulce María Beatriz Candia was found dead, also asphyxiated, in an abandoned structure. Meanwhile, Noelia Romero, aged thirty, was murdered by her partner after police officers delayed entering her home whilst waiting for a written warrant, despite her having requested help by telephone.
These incidents revive the memory of the case of Chiara Páez, whose death in 2015 gave rise to the "Ni Una Menos" marches. Since then, the organisation has documented more than three thousand two hundred deaths linked to gender-based violence.
In the current political context, various voices have warned that the elimination of the Ministry for Women and the reduction of funding in gender-related areas, implemented by Javier Milei's administration, weakened the state's response. The telephone service 144, previously dedicated exclusively to gender violence situations, was reformulated in 2024 as a general helpline for any type of violence.
The Justice Ministry rejected the accusations and stated that the discontinued policies had produced no concrete results.
_Source: BBC Mundo_
Source: Google News AR — Crime