Argentina’s femicide toll rose to 150 in 2026 after three new killings, as gender violence organizations blame the government of Javier Milei for dismantling prevention programs and cutting resources.
The Observatory of Gender Violence “Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven” (Now They See Us) raised the number of feminicides registered in Argentina so far this year.
The killings of Juana Mailén Antonich, Milagros Noemí Cabrera and Janeth Anze Colque, which occurred between Saturday and the early hours of Monday, add to the 147 cases recorded by the organization between January and July.
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Human rights and women’s defense organizations linked the increase in crimes to a scenario of state neglect that they attribute to the Milei’s government, which has emptied public programs and reduced resources necessary for the prevention of gender violence.
Janeth Anze Colque, 42, was killed while she slept during the early hours of Monday at her home in La Matanza, in the province of Buenos Aires. Her daughter, 23, reported the crime and identified her mother’s ex-partner, a construction worker who had been denounced by the victim on July 8 for gender violence, as the alleged perpetrator.
Juana Mailén Antonich, 24, disappeared Saturday night in the coastal city of Mar del Plata after heading to a supposed job interview. Her body was found Sunday at a beach resort. Two suspects, security guards aged 26 and 27, were transferred to the prosecutor’s office this morning, where they refused to testify and remained detained.
The disappearance of Milagros Noemí Cabrera, 30, had been reported Friday night. She was found dead in the early hours of Sunday in a vacant lot in the town of Pilar, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. According to local media, analysis of security camera images led to the identification and arrest of the alleged aggressor, a 36-year-old former police officer with scratches on his neck and nape consistent with an attempted defense by the victim.
Argentina registró 147 víctimas letales por violencia de género entre enero y julio: una mujer asesinada cada 35 horas.
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— Animal de Radio (@adrprensa) August 3, 2026
Text reads: “Argentina recorded 147 fatalities from gender-based violence between January and July: one woman killed every 35 hours.”
State Protection Criticized
Other organizations also work on the registration of cases. The Observatory of Violence against Women (OVcM, in Spanish), which operates in the province of Salta, updated its provisional records of cases classified as femicide, transfemicide and hate crimes under criminal investigation, as well as violent or suspicious deaths of cis and trans women not yet classified under those figures.
According to Observatory’s data, the province of Salta, located in northeastern Argentina, records five feminicides and one linked femicide so far this year. This figure already equals the total of six gender crimes committed in the province during the entire previous year.
Based on an analysis of print and digital media across the country, the Observatory of Gender Violence reported 119 direct feminicides, 17 linked feminicides -people killed with the purpose of punishing and psychologically affecting a woman-, 7 instigated suicides and 4 travesticides or transfeminicides.
According to the report, 15% of the fatal victims had filed at least one complaint for gender violence before their deaths, a figure that exposes the failure of the protection system despite existing complaints and judicial orders.
Organizations insist that the reduction of state response capacity, the closure of shelters and the official discourse that denies the existence of structural violence against women deepen the vulnerability of victims across the country.
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