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In what constitutes Colombia’s first ever sentencing of a femicide case, the country’s Supreme Court confirmed a previous sentence against a man who killed his wife for being a woman. The historic event was praised Wednesday by a feminist organization of the capital city Bogota.
Alexander Ortiz was sentenced to a precedent-setting 23 years in prison in the groundbreaking case. The court ruled that crimes against women are not merely crimes of passion, but true femicides, which makes women more and more vulnerable.
“Killing a woman because one feels hatred against woman, without any doubt, is the most obvious expression of the “murder of a woman for gender reasons,” stated the court.
In this case, Ortiz killed the woman shortly after she ended the relationship because he was victimizing her on a daily basis. After the separation, Ortiz arranged an appointment with her in a motel, where he stabbed her to death.
Erika Rodriguez, activist of the local feminist organization Casa de la Mujer, told teleSUR this sentence was a significant and symbolic achievement.
She said this first sentencing of a femicide case in Colombia is yet to influence a transformation of culture and behaviour toward women within the Colombian society.
“The responsibility now lies in the judges’ hands, who hopefully will keep interpreting femicides as such, and not as crimes of passion like in the past,” she added.
She also pointed to the media responsibility, calling them to keep promoting this interpretation in the future.
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@BBC_WHYS in Colombia 514 were killed in the first half of 2013. By that time over 5.300 women were victims of violence. #femicide #whys
— Oscar Quintero (@oscarq911)
March 10, 2015
Femicide became an independent crime in Colombia since the summer of 2014, when the government passed legislation introduced by the Communist Party Senator Gloria Ines Ramirez. Killing a woman for being a woman, rather than killing out of passion, is now considered an aggravating circumstance.
Between 2007 and 2012, a woman was killed every three days in Colombia, according to official statistics.
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ALSO SEE: TELESUR’S SPECIAL IN-DEPTH COVERAGE: Women Resist
