State of emergency declared in Puerto Rico after murders against women and transgender people

Recently inaugurated the governor of Puerto Rico Pedro PierluisiPedro Rafael PierluisiPuerto Rico votes in favor of the State of the USA Puerto Rican voters are fundamental in the State of the Sun in Puerto Rico. Democratic chief: Party ‘cannot support’ AOC / Velázquez status bill MORE declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico in response to murders against women and transgender people in recent years.

Pierluisi signed an executive order declaring emergency for gender-based violence on Sunday. It is set to last until June 30, 2022.

For years, activists have been pushing for government action to deal with the deaths and violence, which they say got worse after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the coronavirus pandemic hit the island, CNN reported.

Puerto Rican police report that at least 5,517 women were victims of domestic violence in 2020, and the Gender equality observatory documented at least 60 direct and indirect femicides, six transfemicides and 26 cases still under investigation or without information.

“Gender violence is a social evil, based on ignorance and attitudes that cannot have space or tolerance in Puerto Rico that we aspire to,” said Pierluisi in a statement translated by CNN. “For a long time, vulnerable victims have suffered the consequences of systematic machismo, inequality, discrimination, lack of education, lack of guidance and, above all, lack of action.”

The governor’s order establishes several programs to deal with violence, including the establishment of a committee focused on education, support and rescue.

The 17-member committee, which will include three representatives from organizations that focus on gender-based violence, will provide an initial progress report 45 days after the start and every 30 days until the end of the statement.

Pierluisi also called for the creation of a mobile app to allow victims to report violence without drawing attention to themselves.

Defense organizations celebrated the governor’s order as progress.

“Today, our anger carries some hope,” Colectiva Feminista en Construcción posted on Facebook. “Today, as always, our hope is radical. We are not going to take a step back.”