Government Has No Plan to Handle Increase in Post-disaster, Gender-based Violence

Since Hurricane Fiona struck September 18, the government of Puerto Rico has held more than a dozen press conferences, but in none has it provided information that helps victims and survivors of gender-based violence get specialized aid they need during the emergency, when they are most vulnerable. 

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The Children Whose Mothers Were Taken Away by Machismo

“Where’s mom?,” asks Sgt. Roberto Mercado at the doorway of the light green house, located in the La Fuente neighborhood, in the town of Florida.

Behind the window, a 2-year-old boy responds by looking down at the floor next to him.

“For me, it was a sign that his mom was dead,” says the Puerto Rico Police negotiator about the femicide that he had to handle on the afternoon of June 30, 2018.