Diosdeisis Sandoval Damas was attacked and then dragged into the street, where an elderly neighbour tried to help her.
14ymedio, Havana, 19 November 2025 — Diosdeisis Sandoval Damas, 28, is the latest victim of femicide reported by the independent platforms Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo en Cuba. The woman, a resident of La Güinera, in the Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, was allegedly murdered by her ex-partner on 13 November.
According to witnesses, the woman was attacked by the man, who then dragged her into the street, where an elderly neighbour tried to help her. The attacker stabbed her fatally in the groin, and when the man tried to intervene, the attacker started throwing stones to stop him. The victim had a young daughter.
According to 14ymedio’s tally, this case is the 37th femicide in Cuba so far this year and the fourth in November. Before this incident, the newspaper had reported on the murder of Liena de la Caridad Reinoso Ramos, a 23-year-old nurse stabbed by her ex-partner in Pinar del Río on 6 November.
The assailant allegedly stabbed her fatally in the groin, and when the man tried to intervene, the attacker started throwing stones to stop him.
Independent organisations that keep these records compile and verify femicides based on community reports, social media complaints and testimonies from family members, due to the lack of detailed official data.
With less than a month and a half left until the end of the year, 14ymedio’s records show 15 fewer femicides than at the end of 2024, when 52 were documented. However, it it is still impossible to know the true extent of gender-based violence in Cuba: many cases are never reported on social media, and the government only releases data related to certain legal proceedings.
Last year, the authorities held 76 trials for gender-based crimes, but the dates on which the murders took place are unknown. In the trials held in 2023, 110 victims were recorded.
The Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior, the Supreme Court and other institutions announced this year that they would create a computerised administrative registry to collect data on femicides, but shortly afterwards confirmed that it would not be made public.
Translated by GH
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