Adrianna Ríos has developed an interactive Google Map documenting femicides in Puerto Rico between January 2021 and April 26, 2023. To explore this resource, readers can access the map here: https://bit.ly/FloraoftheValleyProject.
She was a hard-working mother of five, a loving daughter, a good sister and a friend. She used to live in the La Bija district of Provincia Sánchez Ramírez in the Dominican Republic. She wanted a better future for her children, so she decided to leave and move to Puerto Rico. Her name was Claudia Martínez Suárez. Claudia established herself successfully in Puerto Rico, found a job and made new friends. Perhaps her new acquaintances didn’t know her truth—Claudia lived in fear.
That fear kept her in a fourteen-year relationship with her ex, Manuel Gómez. He threatened to kill her daughter if she dared to leave him. Gómez thought she was his. However, deep down, Claudia knew she belonged only to herself. She found the courage to leave him and moved to Puerto Rico looking for safety. Still, Claudia’s determination wasn’t enough. He continued to think she was his and followed her. On Friday, October 25, 2024, Gómez walked up to Claudia’s residence at Colton Street in Barrio Obrero. With his hands as weapons, he strangled her to death. That Friday, the light in Claudia’s eyes was extinguished forever. Claudia lived. Claudia loved and was loved. Claudia’s life was hers until it was taken by violencia machista.
Claudia’s story is not unique. Every month in Puerto Rico, lives are lost to gender-based violence. After Claudia, Janice Báez García was shot in the town of Hormigueros on November 1st, 2024. She had been married to her husband for over thirty years and separated for two years. He took her life in an act of jealousy. Two days after Janice’s murder, Yesenia González Ayala was stabbed to death in San Sebastián following an argument with her partner. These murders are called feminicidios (feminicides) —the killing of women because of their gender.
In Puerto Rico, this reality transcends social and demographic boundaries. I confirmed this after studying femicides that occurred in Puerto Rico between 2021 and 2023. Inspired by the work of María Salguero, who has been mapping femicides in México throughout the years, in 2023, I created an interactive Google Map charting femicides in Puerto Rico from 2021-2023. To gather personal details about these persons’ lives, I turned to local news outlets. However, most of the information featured on the map came from the Observatorio de Equidad de Género (OEG), an organization that has done outstanding work tracking femicides in Puerto Rico. Their website provides access to up-to-date charts that include the victims’ full names, ages, the town where the feminicides occurred, and even information about the aggressors. This attention to detail was instrumental in helping me piece together each person’s story. I envision the map as a tool for Puerto Ricans—a resource for education and awareness. Most importantly, it’s a space for remembrance. The map highlights details about these women’s lives: their families, their children, their careers, their hobbies, the communities they were a part of, among others. . Instead of remembering these women as victims, I want everyone to know their names and honor their lives.
After comparing the stories from the map, I noticed that feminicides are happening to a wide array of women. Les pasa a todxs—personas mayores, jóvenes, niñxs, personas trans y otrxs (It’s happening to everyone—older adults, young people, children, trans individuals, and others). There’s Nilda del Carmen Núñez López, a 75-year-old grandmother from Cidra who was stabbed to death by her own son. There’s also Janet María Santiago Gómez, a 19-year-old who was killed by her partner’s ex. Janet was pregnant and had two more children. Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín, a 21-year-old trans man, was found dead in Trujillo Alto. Brenda Liz Pérez Bahamonde, a 46-year-old woman, was fatally shot in her home despite having a restraining order against her partner. Brenda was a police officer with over 20 years of service. Davielis Victoria Rodríguez Montañez was shot at Loíza Valley Bar and Grill in Canóvanas. Davielis was a 20-year-old artist who loved urban music. All had different ages and interests. Yet, they were taken by the same gender-based violence that took the lives of Claudia, Janice, Yesenia, and countless others left unmapped.
Esta violencia no tiene límites—se esta llevando a nuestrxs madres, hijxs, hermanxs y amigxs (This violence has no boundaries—it’s taking our parents, daughters, sons, siblings, and friends). It’s harming those left behind, the families who mourn, and the children who witnessed their mothers being killed. It’s causing distress to those who read the news, especially women and other marginalized people who know they are unsafe in a country that seems to hate women.
So, what can we do? How can we do them justice? I urge you to interact with this map and learn about each of them—their names, their lives, their stories. Sometimes I feel as though I arrived too late to know these women. But we still have time. Time to remember them. There’s always time for change, for unlearning, for growth, and for creating safer communities. These are the steps toward justice, and it all begins with memory and the refusal to let these women become faceless statistics.
Every woman and marginalized person deserve the chance to live freely. They deserve justice. Para mí, justicia es tener la libertad de ser (For me, justice is having the liberty to be). Justicia es vivir sin miedo y todxs merecemos vivir sin miedo (Justice is living without fear and we all deserve to live without fear). Todxs merecemos amor y respeto (We all deserve love and respect). Todxs merecemos vivir libres de la violencia machista que nos acosa cada día (We all deserve to be free from the machista violence that harasses us every day).
¡Vivas nos queremos!
References
- “Madre y hermana de mujer asesinada señalan a expareja.” Telemundo PR, 25 Oct. 2024, telemundopr.com. Accessed 13 November 2024.
- Martínez, Orlando Rivera. “Radican cargos contra sospechoso de asesinar a su expareja en Santurce.” Noticentro Wapa TV, 30 Oct. 2024, wapa.tv. Accessed 13 November 2024.
- Claudia’s family had to raise funds to bring her body back to the Dominican Republic. For more information, see their GoFundMe page: Repatriación de Claudia Martínez.
- Pérez, Maribel Hernández. “Cargos contra hombre que asesinó a su exesposa en Hormigueros.” Primera Hora, 31 Oct. 2024, primerahora.com. Accessed 13 November 2024.
- Cancel, Alex Figueroa. “Hallan causa para arresto contra un hombre por feminicidio en San Sebastián.” El Nuevo Día, 4 Nov. 2024, elnuevodia.com. Accessed 13 November 2024.
- For more information, please visit María Salguero’s “Feminicidios en México.”
- For more information, please visit the Observatorio de Equidad de Género webpage at observatoriopr.org.