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Women Of Puerto Rico Unite To Bring Justice To Victims Of Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault


It was a quintessential beach day in Arecibo, Puerto Rico in December of last year. Golden hour was approaching, as Karla Hernandez Rosario strolled along the sand dunes to her car. Her husband was surfing turquoise waves in the distance. All was well on La Isla de Encanta, until Rosario was attacked from behind, and held at knifepoint by a man who violently raped her seconds later.  

Fast forward five months, and Rosario’s suspect is still roaming free against the backdrop of Puerto Rico’s government-declared state of emergency over gender violence, which was announced in January 2021. This transpired three years after women’s right groups and health organizations pleaded with Governo Ricky Rossellό and then his successor Governor Wanda Vázquez to make a statement.

The Crisis

In 2018, after Hurricane Maria exacerbated conditions for a community that was already vulnerable, and the number of women killed by their partners doubled. According to the ACLU, Puerto Rico currently has the highest per capita rate in the world of women over 14 killed by their partners. Today, a woman is murdered every week in Puerto Rico

For a number of these women, their fate was not due to lack of seeking help or wanting justice. Rosario is scheduled to give her testimony later this month. 

“I have been blessed to recover from the incident fairly well, but what has had the biggest toll on me has been the energy I’ve invested reaching out to get help, while getting constantly discouraged or ignored, especially when I needed it the most,” shares Rosario. “At this point, I feel that my circumstances and lack of support from the system have forced me to accept the possibility that there may never be justice or closure for me. But at least I can use my experience to shine a light on a topic that most people don’t want to talk about—to inspire other women to keep fighting and not be afraid to speak up—especially here in Puerto Rico.”

Sexual assault is the only crime in which victims have to defend themselves and prove that they’re victims,” says Vilma Gonzalez Castro, director of Coordinadora Paz para las Mujeres, which is the Puerto Rico Coalition Against Violence and Sexual Assault. “In any other crime, the police go to the person who allegedly committed the crime.”

Conceptualize that.

“People get victimized by the system,” says Castro. “But if we can implement education that focuses on prevention, we’ll see changes.” 

The Need For Gender-Based Training 

Education begins with information and the truth. While Rosario has chosen to speak publicly about her case to instigate change, the same isn’t possible for Andrea Ruiz Costas, whose body was discovered lifeless and half burned on April 30, or Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz, whose corpse was found floating in the San José Lagoon on May 1. 

Former Olympic boxer, Félix Verdejo Sánchez, was charged for the murder of Ortiz, who was pregnant with his child at the time of her death. On May 11, he pleaded not guilty

Meanwhile, Costas, recently made history. A month before she was murdered, she sought a protection order against her ex-partner. However, when she went before a judge with no prosecutor present, the judge found no probable cause. The day Costas’ body was found, Santiago confessed to killing her. From now on, every alleged domestic violence victim will be granted a prosecutor during a probable cause hearing. 

Castro considers this a win, and adds, “We also need prosecutors that are trained to understand gender violence. If the prosecutor doesn’t, that person probably isn’t going to do the work. It’s the same for judges. It’s the same for police officers. You need to have a person present who is trained to understand the problem.” 

“There should be no doubt that we are in a state of emergency due to gender violence,” Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said in a written statement. ‘The pain, anger and indignation that we feel every time we witness a crime of gender violence has to be kept alive in us so that we do not rest in our responsibility to protect, prevent and abolish this evil, as well as to do justice for all the victims.’”

The Need For Coordinated Efforts 

In response to the problem, on May 3, Colectiva Feminista en Construcción, an advocacy group for the rights of women and marginalized communities, and an estimated 600 women, held a demonstration in front of the Governor Pedro Pierluisi’s mansion, demanding him to acknowledge his responsibility regarding the crisis. 

We’ve made a public outcry of ‘where is the state of emergency?’ The government says it’s been declared since January, but we’re not seeing it. We’re seeing gender-based violence increase,” says Shariana Ferrer-Núñez, cofounder and spokesperson of Colectiva Feminista en Construcción.  

The women behind Colectiva Feminista en Construcción want to see the government implement the following pillars to start:  

  1. educational campaigns informing victims on how to recognize the signs of gender-based violence
  2. an integrated approach to resources for survivors, including flexible employment laws, public housing, and accessible health care   
  3. educational curriculum through a gender perspective in schools 

The good news is that because of Puerto Rico’s declaration on the state of emergency for the first time in the island’s history, gender violence has become a part of the political discussion among candidates running for office.

“The declaration is recognition that we have a problem, and all the government agencies have to take action,” says Castro. “This is a mandate.”

The Power of Solidarity 

Castro and her team are working tirelessly reviewing all the statutes and protocols regarding the issue. Coordinadora Paz para las Mujeres collaborates with 38 women-focused organizations across Puerto Rico, including Taller Salud, a nonprofit dedicated to improving women’s access to healthcare and reducing violence within the community. 

Executive Director of Taller Salud, Tania Rosario Méndez, says one of the biggest gaps in the legal system has been untested rape kits. Two years ago, five Puerto Rico-based five non-profits organizations called for the government to process rape more than 2,500 rape kits containing genetic material that had not been examined by the Bureau of Forensic Sciences.  

“This is part of what made us demand the state of emergency,” says Méndez. “You cannot have 10 years of unprocessed rape kits, and at the same time expect sexual assault victims to trust the process. These actions convey very concrete messages—that your life is not important—and neither is your safety, your security, or your well-being.” 

A 41-year-old organization, Taller Salud was founded in response to women’s bodies being used to test the abortion pill without their knowledge in the 1970s. In addition to offering 24/7 support lines, the nonprofit works closely with shelters and organizations that provide forensic exams. Taller Salud was part of the group the governor consulated for the approval of the state of emergency, and is part of the subcommittees that was created after that executive order was approved. 

“We play a crucial role because sometimes we are the entry door for sexual assault victims,” says Méndez. “Most of the time emergency rooms are the entry door, and they don’t follow protocol. The victims pay for that lack of training and lack of rigor. The police can also be an entry door. There are very good and rigorous protocols, but not everyone follows them every step of the way. So we need to find out where we are failing the most. I have the intuition that correcting this is not expensive and doesn’t need a lot of time.” 

While women-led organizations continue to call for more collaboration and cooperation among government agencies, emergency rooms, and the police department, the solidarity of these women across support lines, on-the-ground, and at demonstrations grows stronger every day. On May 7, Colectiva Feminista en Construcción, led a coordinated, island-wide demonstration across 38 different municipalities with spokespeople in each one. 

“That day was indicative of us having a network of people who are nurturing a movement that’s far bigger than one collective,” says Ferrer-Núñez. 

Méndez agrees. “I think it’s important that we back each other,” she says. “Survivors, women leading organizations, activists, and women in governments. We have you back.”

For Rosario and a plethora of women, who have been neglected by or ignored by the justice system, this is for you.



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