Feminist activists in Uruguay will hold a protest on Friday after news that a woman identified as Milagros Chamorro died by suicide after demanding justice for a gang rape she was a victim of when she was 15.
The hashtag #JusticiaPorMili (“Justice for Mili”) is circulating on social media platforms, drawing attention to gender-based violence in the South American country.
Before her death, Milagros told the Instagram account @feminismo.uruguay that she had been invited to a friend’s house in Punta del Este, where she passed out after drinking alcohol and being raped. She recalled being photographed and filmed as well: content that Milagros said was then shared online, leading to “years” of harassment. Milagros said four of her attackers were 17 years old and one of them was 18 at the time.
Twelve years after the incident, which took place in 2010, Milagros filed a criminal complaint in Montevideo. The case was referred to Maldonado, the district where Punta del Este is located. The case was closed that same year, in 2022.
María Elena Maciel, the public defender who took over Milagros’ case, explained that, at the time of the attack, the statute of limitations in cases where the aggressors were minors was one year.
Three months ago, Milagros began pursuing legal advice to reopen the case. She found a lawyer specializing in human rights, though ultimately took no further action. On Friday, she took her own life in hospital while waiting for emergency psychiatric help.
The Instagram account @feminismo.uruguay has organized a collective protest in front of the police station in Maldonado on Friday. The post clarifies, “There will be another march, but first we will process our grief in silence,” adding that a future march will be organized in Montevideo.
Staff and students from the Eastern Regional University Center (CURE) in Maldonado, where Milagros was studying for a master’s degree in public policy, have planned their protest on Friday. The university is also organizing a workshop to be held next week.
Andrea Tuana, a representative from the El Paso human rights organization told the news program Underlined that Milagros’ case shows the challenges women face when reporting sexual violence.
“There’s a category called femicide-suicide and I think it could apply to this case,” she said. “It is a femicide-suicide because the hand that kills is not only that of the aggressor, but also the social and institutional system that does not repair, does not accompany and does not demand that justice, but also kills”. She continued, “Unfortunately, it is very common for victims of sexual violence to have very strong effects on their mental health.”
In a 2021 interview with the dailySusana Quagliata, a suicide expert with a master’s degree in psychology, admitted that female suicide is a problem in Uruguay, although it remains stigmatized, because “In this society, no one believes that someone would commit suicide. [because of gender-based violence]. She added, “It’s really hard for us to recognize femicide as a crime.”
