Uruguayans Call for Femicide Law After Five Murders in 37 Days

Perceived as one of South America's safest nations, Uruguay has recorded five femicides in the past 37 days, local authorities said Wednesday as social unrest over this issue has grown. Activists and NGOs are now demanding authorities properly address this increasing problem.

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In Uruguay's latest femicide case, a 45-year-old man killed his 42-year-old partner at their home in the capital of Montevideo, authorities said. The victim was identified as Caren Ritzel. The assailant, whose name is still unknown, confessed that he murdered her by hitting her with a pot.

"Violence is control and power of one person over another," said a member of the group Mujeres de Negro, which fights against femicide in Uruguay.

The Frente Amplio and the National Party, which together account for more than 80 percent of the Uruguayan parliament, called to reactivate a 2015 bill that seeks to introduce femicide as a crime in the penal code.

Femicide legislation has been stagnant for almost two years in the senate. According to the Ministry of the Interior, in 2016 there were 22 fatal cases of women murdered by their partners.

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Last week thousands of men and women protested in Montevideo for the killing of Valeria Sosa, who was shot in the head by her husband, a police officer, who used his issued firearm to kill her in front of her two children in a case that shocked the whole country.

Human right advocates and feminist groups have announced further mobilization across the country in coming days.