Two Recent Violent Crimes Against Women Highlight Urgency of 16 Days Campaign

As the country prepares to observe the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, there have been two recent violent crimes against women. This week, a woman was kidnapped and gruesomely beaten by her ex-husband after leaving what she says was an abusive marriage. On Wednesday, 63-year-old Miriam Castellanos was viciously stabbed to death inside her home in the Cayo District. The crimes come as the country is preparing to observe the days geared at raising awareness to eliminate violence against women. Minister of Human Development, Families, and Indigenous People’s Affairs, Dolores Balderamos Garcia, weighed in on the recent uptick and acknowledged that, unfortunately, such crimes tend to spike during the 16 days of activism. 

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister of Human Development: “Seeing the news last night, it was very heartbreaking. Very, very heartbreaking, you know? And the sad part is that whenever we approach Christmas time and sometimes the Valentine Day and even the 16 Days of Activism we seem to have more of these cases. When we took the minute of silence to remember those who have died based on gender-based violence, I called the name of Stephanie Lindo because that was such a such a terrible occurrence, you know. But it happens to so many others and we have lost many people due to gender-based violence, even men, you know, mostly women, of course. But it’s heartbreaking and I think we have to go after the perpetrators but we have to encourage peace and tranquility in all our communities.”

Police have identified suspects in both crimes but are yet to make any arrests.