{"id":843252,"date":"2026-06-04T06:55:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/843252\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T06:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:55:34","slug":"another-teen-girls-death-gives-new-energy-to-argentinas-femicide-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/843252\/","title":{"rendered":"Another teen girl’s death gives new energy to Argentina’s femicide protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) \u2014 In May 2015, the grisly killing of a pregnant 14-year-old girl named Chiara P\u00e1ez by her 16-year-old boyfriend triggered massive protests<\/a> in Argentina that evolved into a generation-defining movement throughout Latin America<\/a> under the motto of \u201c Ni Una Menos<\/a>,\u201d or \u201cNot One Woman Less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, 11 years after the first Ni Una Menos protest created a collective consciousness about what would come to be known as femicide<\/a> \u2014 the killing of women and girls because of their gender \u2014 the nation is convulsing with anger once again.<\/p>\n

This time, it\u2019s over the killing of 14-year-old Agostina Vega, in the central city of Cordoba. She arrived at a family friend\u2019s home the night of May 23, expecting to pick up a gift for her mother. Instead, she was sexually assaulted and hanged, initial autopsy results indicate, her body dismembered with a kitchen knife. <\/p>\n

Her remains were found in a drainage ditch Saturday, a week after her disappearance, as vigils in her home province erupted into clashes with police. <\/p>\n

The outrage has reverberated across the country, and on Wednesday, thousands of protesters gathered for the annual Ni Una Menos demonstration in downtown Buenos Aires. Many held posters printed with the faces and names of women who\u2019ve been killed or who disappeared in recent years, including Agostina. Her case brought renewed energy and purpose to the protest, amplifying demands for government action and intensifying criticism of President Javier Milei<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Demonstrators<\/p>\n

Demonstrators hold photos of 14-year-old Agostina Vega, who was murdered, during a march marking the anniversary of the \u201cNi Una Menos\u201d (Not One Fewer) women\u2019s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/p>\n

Demonstrators hold photos of 14-year-old Agostina Vega, who was murdered, during a march marking the anniversary of the \u201cNi Una Menos\u201d (Not One Fewer) women\u2019s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/p>\n

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The libertarian ally of U.S. President Donald Trump has called the feminist movement \u201ca ridiculous and unnatural fight,\u201d promoted scrapping femicide from the penal code, and defunded programs supporting victims of gender violence as part of his cultural war and cost-cutting campaign<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This year, lawyers at the Center for Legal and Social Studies, a leading Argentine human rights group, have counted 63 legally registered femicides. But they and other advocates say it can be an uphill battle against the government to get that classification. Some have compiled a list of more than 100 names of women killed this year, arguing that many aren\u2019t properly labeled. <\/p>\n

Reports of femicide in Argentina fell 12%, to 200 cases last year compared with 2024, according to statistics published by the Supreme Court. Victims\u2019 lawyers say the change doesn\u2019t reflect a drop in gender-based violence, but instead a failure to properly classify crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo stop calling femicides by their name, to deny the existence of gender violence \u2014 it\u2019s an attempt to rewind the past 20 years,\u201d said Natalia Gherardi, director of the Latin American Team for Justice and Gender, a Buenos Aires-based rights group. \u201cI hope this reaction generated by Agostina\u2019s case, what we show in the streets, will be enough to counter the desire to move backward.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Demonstrators<\/p>\n

Demonstrators take part in a march marking the anniversary of the \u201cNi Una Menos\u201d (Not One Fewer) women\u2019s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/p>\n

Demonstrators take part in a march marking the anniversary of the \u201cNi Una Menos\u201d (Not One Fewer) women\u2019s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/p>\n

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Questions plague the handling of 14-year-old Agostina\u2019s case <\/p>\n

After Agostina\u2019s death, protesters directed anger at local law enforcement, setting tires alight in the streets of Cordoba. Her family filed a missing person\u2019s report the morning after her disappearance, but over 80 hours passed before phones across the province buzzed with a child abduction alert, according to family lawyer Gustavo Vaca.<\/p>\n

The day after her death, a taxi driver reported that he\u2019d driven Agostina to the house of the family friend, 33-year-old Claudio Barrelier, which security camera footage confirmed. <\/p>\n

Agostina\u2019s family has complained that security forces were consumed by concerns of fan violence during a major soccer game in the city of Cordoba that day. Three days later, police raided the house of Barrelier, an ex-boyfriend of Agostina\u2019s mother. <\/p>\n

Barrelier is in custody as the main suspect in the case and denies killing Agostina. Investigators say his criminal history shows he had been arrested for abducting a young woman a year ago but was released on bail of $3,500 after 20 days.<\/p>\n

When peppered with accusations of foot-dragging, lead prosecutor Ra\u00fal Garz\u00f3n said last week that authorities \u201care not engaging in any self-criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Demontrators<\/p>\n

Demontrators walk near a painting reading in Spanish ” Milei femicide accomplice\u201d referring to President Javier Milei during a march marking the anniversary of the \u201cNi Una Menos\u201d (Not One Fewer) women\u2019s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/p>\n

Demontrators walk near a painting reading in Spanish ” Milei femicide accomplice\u201d referring to President Javier Milei during a march marking the anniversary of the \u201cNi Una Menos\u201d (Not One Fewer) women\u2019s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/p>\n

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Calls grew to characterize Agostina\u2019s killing as a femicide. Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva has refused to do so. <\/p>\n

\u201cA homicide, whatever its nature, is not solely defined by what happens during one hour, two hours, or three hours, where the act itself occurs,\u201d Monteoliva told reporters Monday in her only public comments on the case.<\/p>\n

Advocates insist using the term<\/a> femicide \u2014 which carries harsher penalties than other forms of homicide, with a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment in Argentina \u2014 is crucial for effective prosecution and victim protection. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t name the specific form of violence, if we don\u2019t recognize it, then we can\u2019t understand the problem in all its dimensions, and we can\u2019t create policies to prevent and combat it,\u201d said Lucila Galkin, director of the gender and diversity program for the Argentina chapter of Amnesty International.<\/p>\n

Milei has waged his culture war against policies on gender <\/p>\n

Milei has waged a cultural war against gender-based policies \u2014 what he sees as a dangerous consequence of socialism. <\/p>\n

After Milei railed against the crime of femicide as \u201clegally making a woman\u2019s life worth more than a man\u2019s\u201d at the Davos summit last year<\/a>, his justice minister announced plans to strip the category from the legal code. <\/p>\n

Nothing came of that, but his government now is working to stiffen penalties for women who falsely report cases of gender-based violence. It is awaiting congressional debate.<\/p>\n

In the last two and a half years, Milei has dissolved Argentina\u2019s women\u2019s ministry, shut down its anti-discrimination institute, gutted support programs for victims of gender violence, banned the use of gender-inclusive language in official documents, and defunded training in gender issues for public school students and state employees.<\/p>\n

Among the affected programs is Acompa\u00f1ar, which assisted 350,000 women with aid equivalent to six months\u2019 minimum wage before it was defunded. A 24-hour hotline to help victims lost two-thirds of its budget and half its staff last year. A government-sponsored program providing free legal assistance to people experiencing domestic violence or sexual abuse has also been dismantled.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Demonstrators<\/p>\n

Demonstrators gather outside Congress during a march marking the anniversary of the \u201cNi Una Menos\u201d (Not One Fewer) women\u2019s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/p>\n

Demonstrators gather outside Congress during a march marking the anniversary of the \u201cNi Una Menos\u201d (Not One Fewer) women\u2019s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/p>\n

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With the latest case, an annual protest has gained urgency <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, protesters gathered at Plaza Congreso, opposite the seat of the National Congress, as they have every year since Chiara P\u00e1ez\u2019s death in 2015. <\/p>\n

Laura Lenaza, 41, said she hadn\u2019t attended a street protest in almost a decade. But the shock of recent cases moved her to bring her 17-year-old daughter, Milena.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fighting for myself, for my 11-year-old sister, and for all the women I know,\u201d the young woman said, squeezing her mother\u2019s hand. <\/p>\n

Mar\u00eda Cacharo, 54, said she came with her 18-year-old daughter in honor of her sister, killed by her husband several years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever resources are reduced, somehow we\u2019re the ones who have to bear the cost,\u201d she said of the impact of Milei\u2019s cost-cutting on women, adding that the way police handled Agostina\u2019s case makes her sick. <\/p>\n

Carrying \u201cJustice for Agostina\u201d signs, her family led a march in Cordoba on Wednesday to push for accountability in her killing under the banner of the movement that once made Argentina a regional beacon for social and legal action on gender equality. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think this femicide, which caused so much pain, so much shock, also mobilized us, reminded us that this is a problem concerning all of society,\u201d Galkin said of Agostina\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are being forced to have conversations about issues we thought we had agreed on, a topic that we thought had been settled.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) \u2014 In May 2015, the grisly killing of a pregnant 14-year-old girl named Chiara…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":843253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[345074,2841,42860,1613,345070,345071,79341,4219,69,25742,57,345077,4221,24720,1612,345076,345072,345075,345073,50,80,402,345078,4217,3981,8572,103,107],"class_list":["post-843252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-alejandra-monteoliva","tag-argentina","tag-buenos-aires","tag-central-america","tag-chiara-pez","tag-claudio-barrelier","tag-cordoba","tag-crime","tag-donald-trump","tag-gender","tag-general-news","tag-gustavo-vaca","tag-homicide","tag-javier-milei","tag-latin-america","tag-laura-lenaza","tag-lucila-galkin","tag-mara-cacharo","tag-natalia-gherardi","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-ral-garzn","tag-south-america","tag-teens","tag-violence","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116690533536716021","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}