Relatives of femicide victims hail the coming into force of the Comprehensive Reparation for Survivors of Femicide Law

"Those no longer here" campaign inaugurated the exhibit in front of the Central Park of Heredia, Fortín sector officially by unveiling of 15 life-size silhouettes representing women who were fatal victims of femicide.

The campaign is an inter-institutional initiative of the Ministry of Justice and Peace, the regional UNDP InfoSegura Project, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Interinstitutional Technical Commission for Statistics on Coexistence and Citizen Security (COMESCO). Joining this collective effort were the Heredia municipal government, the National Learning Institute (INA) and the National University of Costa Rica (UNA).

This exhibit aims to raise public awareness about the state of femicide in Costa Rica. On the exhibit silhouettes, the families themselves giver written testimony about the women murdered in previous years to mark the fact that femicide is a problem that can happen to any woman and that persists over time.

Participating in the event, victims' relatives took the opportunity to call on the population and the authorities to stop any expressions of violence against women and girls, and addressed the importance of Law 10263, Law of Integral Reparation for Survivors of Femicide that took legal effect.

"What do we understand by femicide? What can we do as a society to prevent femicide? What can I do to prevent femicide? Families who are survivors of femicide can share their experience and provide testimony, proposing and contributing a vision for a more just, compassionate, empathetic and supportive world," emphasized Oscar Morera Herrera, representative of the collective of relatives of femicide victims and father of Eva Morera, a 19-year-old university student, whose death due to machismo shocked all of Costa Rica.

In addition, the collective called for the implementation of Law 10263, in order to provide concrete means to respond to the devastating effects of these murders, whose effects extend beyond the victim and seriously affect the future of the victim's dependents.

This bill was approved in second debate on April 28, 2022 and was published in the Gazette on May 30. In this sense, UNDP Resident Representative José Vicente Troya Rodriguez noted that "this legislation is an indispensable starting point, providing the victims of femicide with the opportunity to rebuild a life project, because femicidal violence not only ends the lives of women, but also produces devastating effects on daughters, sons, mothers, fathers and close people who depended on them."

According to the Gender-Based Violence and Access to Justice Observatory of the Judicial Branch, between 2016 and 2022, 200 people were left motherless, 147 of them were minors at the time their mothers were killed.

Putting an end to femicide in Costa Rica

According to data provided by Deputy Prosecutor for Gender Affairs, the Justice System Statistics Subprocess, and the Inter-institutional Subcommission on Femicide Prevention, from 2007 to October 24, 2022, 417 femicides were registered in Costa Rica.

"The Ministry of Justice and Peace, calls on all institutions and the population to step up the fight against violence. In particular, to eliminate once and for all such objectionable aggressions against women and prevent even one more death. We must attack this scourge starting with the family, which is the basis of society. Raise awareness among men and create policies developed in assertive masculinities," emphasized Sergio Sevilla, Vice Minister of Peace.

"As local government we are pleased to join this initiative in order to reaffirm our commitment to the right to a life free of violence for all women, so we invite you to visit this exhibit that calls for awareness and denunciation," added Angela Aguilar Vargas, mayor of Heredia.

The silhouettes will remain in front of Heredia's Central Park, Fortín sector, throughout November. To learn more about the issue of femicide in the country and about the "Those no longer here" campaign, visit http://observatorio.mj.go.cr/