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Project September 21, 2021

Femicidal Cops: Argentine Women say, 'Basta!'

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Ursula Bahillo could still be alive. She had filed several charges against her ex-boyfriend, a police officer. But no protective measures were taken. He stabbed her to death on February 8, 2021. After Ursula's murder, protesters took to the streets throughout Argentina to denounce the heinous crime and the fatal failure of the authorities.

Ursula's murder is no exception. Since 2015 women in Argentina have been shouting "Ni una menos" ("not one more"), spurring a movement throughout Latin America and beyond.

But, the number of femicides is not decreasing: In 2020, a woman was killed every 29 hours in Argentina, with 212 children losing their mothers. “It is indeed another pandemic to attack,” states Florencia Raes in a 2020 United Nations report. A quarter of the murdered women had previously filed charges against their killers. 12% of the murderers were members of the security forces, according to the Observatorio MuMaLa. Another NGO even assumes in 1 out of 5 cases that the murderer belonged to the security forces.

Journalist Karen Naundorf and photographer Sarah Pabst have been reporting on Argentina’s women's movement for years. Building on this documentation, they are taking a deeper look into gender-based violence from the ones who are supposed to protect: the security forces. The project also aims to raise awareness to systemic failures in the institutions and therefore strengthen the demand for life-saving solutions.

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