Demand to widen search for missing women in Guatemala

The Women's Ombudsman's Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH) in Guatemala, issued a demand to government authorities to widen the process of searching for missing women in the country.

The defender and representative of women in the Attorney General's Office, Dorotea Gómez, regretted and denounced that "little or no efforts are being dedicated to the prevention of violence against girls, adolescents and women."

Gómez called on state authorities to strengthen inter-institutional work and to link efforts with the Ministry of Education to implement content that leads to the prevention of violence against women.

Her call follows the murder of Blanca Ramírez and Angie Caseros, mother and daughters reported missing on September 5, for which Gómez said she felt indignation and rejection of the State's indifference in the face of the growing problem.

The bodies of the victims were found in the municipality of San Pedro Ayampuc, in the department of Guatemala, three days after they were reported missing through the Public Prosecutor's Office's Isabel Claudina alert.

Several witnesses of the urbanization where they lived agreed that some alerts were registered the day of their disappearance; even, states the security company, that an emergency call was attended by an injured woman who was found at the back of the victims' house.

According to statements made by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the case was transferred to the Prosecutor's Office against the Crime of Femicide, to carry out the relevant investigations.

In Guatemala there have been at least 1,297 reports of missing women between January and July of this year.  According to data from the Mutual Support Group, until the end of June the number of murdered women totaled 297 victims, without counting the cases reported in the first days of July.

The PDH expressed its concern about the evident increase in crimes against girls, adolescents and women in the Central American country.