JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF FEMICIDE IN PERU
December 7, 2020 | Donor Direct Action
23-year-old Solsiret Rodriguez was last seen on August 23, 2016 in El Callao, Peru, where she lived with her two children and her partner at the time, Brian Villanueva. Her disappearance came only 10 days following the massive "Ni Una Menos" (Not One Less) march that galvanized half a million people in the streets of Lima, calling for an end to gender-based violence. Solsiret herself was a women's rights activist and coordinator of "Ni Una Menos" in Callao.
Solsiret’s parents started looking for her immediately after her disappearance and filed a missing person complaint, which was initially dismissed by the police who said she must have been “hot-headed.” While family and friends suspected Solsiret’s partner Brian Villanueva had relevant information he was never questioned by authorities. It was clear that it would require sustained pressure to get them to investigate the case.
In August 2016, Manuela Ramos launched a campaign called “We are looking for Solsiret” and stood with Solsiret’s mother in demanding justice in her case. In the course of two and a half years following her disappearance, Solsiret’s case was sidelined by two prosecutors, and it was only in January 2019 when a third prosecutor, Jimmy Castañeda, picked up the case that a serious investigation began.
175 women wrote letters to President Martin Vizcarra on behalf of victims of femicide calling for greater protection for Peruvian women.
In January 2019, Manuela Ramos along with other Peruvian women’s rights groups organized a letter-writing campaign - 175 women wrote letters to President Martin Vizcarra on behalf of victims of femicide calling for greater protection for Peruvian women. Following this campaign a delegation including Solsiret’s mother Rosario Aybar met with the President.
Through the course of 2019, Manuela Ramos was part of the collective that organized several Ni Una Menos national marches in Peru to highlight the unacceptable levels of gender-based violence there.
Solsiret’s case finally gained traction in early 2020 when investigators found out that her SIM card had been removed from her phone and inserted into the phone belonging to Andrea Aguirre Concha, her partner’s sister-in-law.
Aguirre and her partner Kevin Villanueva were arrested on February 18, 2020, and shortly after revealed that Solsiret Rodríguez's remains were hidden in the house they shared with Brian.
Justice continues to elude victims of femicide in Peru. In 2019, 168 cases of femicide were recorded while only 4 perpetrators were sentenced to prison for femicide.
