OVV Guárico registered an increase in violence against women between January and April 2023

Cases of non-lethal violence against women, in Guárico State, increased by 87% in the first four months of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year. This is according to press monitoring carried out by the ONG Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV) in this plains state.

By Pedro Izzo – La Patilla Correspondent

The OVV-Guárico team documented between January and April of 2022, 22 victims of non-lethal violence and only 6 of them were against females. Meanwhile, during the first four months of 2023 at least 30 attacks of different kind were recorded and 26 had women as victims.

Also, OVV Guárico registered 25 victims of intentional homicides during the first four months of 2022 as the total number of cases of lethal violence and only 2 of these were against women. However, this last figure doubled to four (4) in the same period of 2023. Despite the fact that there was a decrease in the total number of murders (18) in the state.

The coordinator of OVV-Guárico, Adrián González, urged the National Executive to implement public policies in a context where intra-family violence sometimes results in women being attacked or murdered.

“It is worrying to see the increase in violence against women. Thsat is why it is important to exhaustively systematize (the recording of) the various manifestations of violence in order to identify the prevailing contexts, raise awareness in society of the consequences – in many cases deep and permanent – of intrafamily violence, which in addition to directly affecting the victim negatively affects the family group and in extreme cases culminate in femicides, usually perpetrated by the partner,” he remarked.

González said that the total number of violent deaths between January and April decreased by about 8% between 2022 (38 victims) and 2023 (35 victims). Violent deaths in the first quarter of the current year correspond to 18 homicides, 8 deaths due to police intervention and 9 self-inflicted violence (suicides).

According to the monitoring of the regional press by OVV-Guárico, this last indicator registered an increase of 200%, tripling the 3 victims of 2022. So it is necessary to raise awareness of the importance of mental health today.

The violent deaths in the first four months of 2023, according to OVV Guárico, occurred in the municipalities: Zaraza (11 victims), Miranda (5), Monagas (5), Infante (4), Ribas (3), Rondón (3), Roscio (2), Mellado (1) and Camaguán (1).