Argentina: Woman Disappeared Amid Possible Femicide

Cecilia Strzyzowksi’s disappearance is being investigated as a femicide after possible human bones, blood traces and pieces of clothing were found at two properties belonging to the family of César Sena, Cecilia’s husband. On 27Th of June 2023, after a search in the Tragadero River, next to the farm of the couple Emerenciano Sena and Marcela Acuña, César’s parents, human skeletal remains were found, according to the report of the experts at the Forensic Medical Institute of the Judiciary of Chaco. In addition to this, tactical divers found a pendant inside of a bag that could be Cecilia's. 

César Sena and his parents, who are powerful local leaders and were pre-candidates for the recent provincial elections, have been detained and are being charged for the murder of Cecilia. César Sena has been charged with aggravated murder for his close relationship with Cecilia and for the crime being allegedly committed during a gender-based violence episode, which would make it a femicide. Meanwhile, his parents are facing accusations of aggravated murder for premeditation as co-conspirators. Four other people have been indicted under suspicion of being involved in the alleged murder or in hiding the body.

In Argentina one case of femicide was registered every 35 hours in 2022. 167 out of the 252 deaths occurred in contexts of violence in the domestic sphere. The province of Chaco is the province with the second highest femicide rate, according to information from the National Registry of Femicides of the Argentinean Justice.

Recognizing this as a concerning human rights situation, several States have made recommendations to Argentina to strengthen the fight against gender-based violence and allocate the necessary resources to bring perpetrators of femicide to justice in its latest United Nation’s Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review.