Puerto Rico’s gender violence crisis has taken a turn for the worse

In Puerto Rico, lethal and severe incidents against women persist at alarming levels. Official and civil monitors document high numbers of femicides (including intimate-partner cases), homicide-suicides, and disappearances of women and girls. 

In a 2024 pilot study of over 2000 domestic violence cases, one in four women was assessed to be at severe to extreme risk of femicide.

This ongoing violence has left a visible scar on Puerto Rican society. It has changed how communities talk about safety, how families raise their daughters, and how institutions define accountability. One of the clearest examples came in 2021 with the murder of Andrea Ruiz Costas, a 35-year-old woman who was killed by her ex-partner just weeks after she begged a court for protection—and was denied, twice. Her case shook Puerto Rico, sparking nationwide outrage and renewed calls for systemic reform. Her story became a symbol of institutional neglect and the tragic cost of a justice system that refuses to listen to women until it is too late.

Through protests and indignation came a call to declare a state of emergency throughout the whole territory, along with protests to attack the causes of gender violence and demand a plan from the government. 

Protective systems have also failed to catch up. While the Office of the Women’s Advocate secured over $1.88 million in 2024 from federal grants aimed at enhancing domestic violence response, much of this funding has proven ineffective or poorly implemented.

Over the past five years, substantial amounts of public money have been awarded to address the problem of gender based violence in Puerto Rico. In May 2021, the government of Puerto Rico allocated $7 million in funding to tackle the escalating crisis. That funding was used to create media campaigns to educate the public on gender based violence. However, the campaign’s online and social media reach appears to be limited. Many people noted that the media campaign lacked clear goals, measurable outcomes, and a strategic approach to tackling the root causes of gender violence. Years later, the impact of this media campaign and its funding is unknown. 

By mid-December 2024, the Gender Equity Observatory had already documented 82 femicides, ten more than the total reported in 2023. These figures suggest not only a rising wave of violence but also a system structurally unequipped to protect women or deter aggressors.

In the past, reports have revealed serious breakdowns in institutional coordination. In the case mentioned before, the Department of Justice and the Court Administration offered conflicting accounts of responsibility, leaving accountability elusive. After Andrea’s murder, both the Puerto Rico Department of Justice and the Administrative Office of the Courts publicly blamed each other for the system’s failure to process her protection requests. Civil monitors have also reported that between 2018 and 2023, police officers in Puerto Rico committed femicides at four times the rate of the general population—some against their own partners or ex-partners. Even government officials have been accused of domestic violence, illustrating how normalized these cases have become across the Archipelago. Many women now live with a quiet sense of vigilance and fear, following an unspoken routine of checking locks twice, closing the windows, sharing their locations with friends, and memorizing emergency numbers. The phrase “Ni una menos” (“Not one less”) has become more than a slogan—it is a collective demand that echoes through classrooms, workplaces, and social media, but remains unheard within the government.