Havana/This Monday night, Rosaidis Donatien, 23 years old, was murdered by her husband in the Nito Ortega neighborhood, in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba. The aggressor is hospitalized in serious condition after self-harming, according to the Alas Tensas Gender Observatory (Ogat), which confirmed the case this Tuesday. This is the second feminicide recorded this week on the Island.
In its report, the NGO called on citizens “to stop judging facts of alleged infidelities and objectifying women.” Furthermore, he stressed that “taking another person’s life is not justified and our Western societies condemn it with murder, and the most advanced ones protect and specify when there is machismo, misogyny or hatred.”
The observatory also denounced that “general violence and especially against women and girls has skyrocketed” in the midst of the humanitarian crisis that the Island is experiencing.
In its message, Alas Tensas reported that another 12 cases of possible femicides are under investigation, which, if confirmed, would considerably increase the number. In addition, he indicated that there have been 19 attempted murders of women for gender reasons so far this year.
Another 12 cases of possible femicides are under investigation, which, if confirmed, would considerably increase the figure
According to the record of 14ymedioWith this case, a total of 28 deaths due to sexist violence have been recorded in Cuba so far in 2026. For the platforms, however, it is number 32, since their list includes crimes against women associated with reasons other than sexism, such as the case of Yarisleidis Saavedra Hernández or that of Olimpia Pérez, a 79-year-old woman who was found dead in her home in Mayabeque, on March 2.
The most recent confirmed case had been that of Yohanka Maconcha Acosta Rodríguezwhose identity was confirmed this Monday. The woman’s body was found during the early hours of last Thursday, on the corner of 23rd and Paseo, in the heart of Havana’s El Vedado. Acosta Rodríguez was murdered, the organization indicated, by her ex-partner, who is already detained.
Since 2019, the year the Alas Tensas Observatory was founded, 345 femicides have been recorded in Cuba. According to the under-reporting of organizations and media, in the absence of official figures. The year with the most cases was 2023, with 90.
Since 2019, the year the Alas Tensas Observatory was founded, 345 femicides have been recorded in Cuba
“This monitoring is carried out in an adverse context, marked by the precariousness of resources, the criminalization of independent activism and the absence of official public records. Documenting femicides, accompanying families, requesting information or reporting the lack of institutional protection can lead to harassment, smear campaigns or reprisals,” the organization notes.
The majority of these attacks have been carried out by the victims’ partners. According to an analysis by typology of the femicides verified in 2025 by Alas Tensas, 83.3% of the murders recorded last year were carried out by the couple. “The persistence of gender violence in the area of emotional relationships is confirmed as the main risk scenario,” he indicates.
Likewise, it states that “the marked concentration of femicides of partners and ex-partners indicates that the home and intimate relationships continue to be spaces of high vulnerability, in a context where unequal power relations persist and where institutional mechanisms of prevention, protection and care are insufficient or non-existent.”
