In Periódico 26, 72% of participants in a survey consider the current laws against these crimes to be “insufficient.”
14ymedio, Havana, 31 July 2025 — After years of complaints by observers and independent media about the limited capacity of the Cuban Penal Code to punish crimes against women, this Thursday the official press finally began to ask questions. “Do we need more legal reforms in this regard? Should sexual offenses be better criminalized? Do we need faster judicial processes and more protection for victims?” asks Periódico 26 in its own survey in which it exposes a crucial fact: 72% of the participants consider that the current laws against these crimes are “insufficient” or “lax.”
The media warns that the survey “is not representative,” but ensures that the perception of citizens brings to debate a concern not unfounded and, above all, “brings to light the macho culture that surrounds us.”
In 2024, according to figures from the Cuban Observatory on Gender Equality, Las Tunas reported 22 cases of “gender-based violence,” two more than the previous year. Although the report does not detail whether they were assaults or murders and offers a brief profile of the victims -the most common being white women between 20 and 44 years old- it confirms that these facts are hardly those that reached the courts.
The survey also measures the low level of trust in authorities.
Las Tunas was also the second province in the country with the highest number of cases that year, only behind Havana (51), which has more than four times its population, an information that Periódico 26 ignores.
The survey also measures the low level of trust in authorities — between 46% and 55% of respondents believe that many cases are never reported — and the stigma women suffer when they are victims of machista violence. “It is frightening that some, [a] small percentage but enough to worry, feel that ‘they are asking for it’, in a clear sign that the reprehensible culpability of the victims persists,” warns the media.
This same Thursday, the official newspaper of Camagüey, Adelante, announced that the system of courts on the island created “gender committees” in each province to “mainstream a gender perspective in the administration of justice.”
According to the article, the strategy seeks, among other things, to deal with these cases “urgently and as a matter of priority,” emphasizing the “right to a dignified life free from violence.”
The articles of both Adelante and that of Periódico 26 were published ten days after the official press reported the murder of a woman in Holguín, calling it “femicide” contrary to its custom. However, a few weeks ago the independent media reported the case of Orlis Daniela, only nine years old, killed by a neighbor in Grito de Yara, Granma, about which the authorities never commented.
So far this year, 14ymedio records 20 femicides, of which one took place in that province.
The girl and her four brothers had found the body of their mother, Yusmila Mayo Ruiz, victim of a femicide perpetrated by her partner on February 14, 2024, in Las Tunas. After Orlis’ death, independent observatories called out the authorities for leaving the children homeless. “The terrible story of this little girl is not a tragedy or fate; it is the consequence of a broken society and a State that refuses to protect the lives of women and girls,” they said.
So far this year, 14ymedio records 20 femicides, of which one took place in that province. This is the teacher Nancy Leyva García, 35 years old and a resident of Las Delicias (Puerto Padre), who was killed by her partner on the street on April 12.
According to the platforms, Nancita, as she was known, was very popular in the community for her profession. She had two children, at least one of them of school age.
In an unusual report that seeks to confirm that enough attention is being paid to machista violence in Cuba, the official press also reported last June the sentencing to 28 years in prison of a man accused of killing his former partner last year in Las Tunas. “The accused, in the early hours of June 5, 2024, assaulted with a knife and deprived of life the woman (…) with whom he had two children,” said Periódico 26, which did not reveal the name of the victim, who could be identified thanks to independent records.
This is Katia Ortiz Figueredo, 25 years old, killed around 11:00 in the evening in front of several people who were waiting to buy medicines in front of a pharmacy. “They had been divorced for a few months, but he, under threats, had kept her in his home for five days and sexually abused (her), according to the expert reports from the necropsy, leaving two children, a boy eight and a girl of three,” said a family member.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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