Open letter

Lima - Peru, 7 July 2022

Natacha de Crombrugghe and already almost 5000 women disappeared in Peru so far in 2022: what happened to them?

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It's been almost 6 months since the Belgian tourist Natacha de Crombrugghe disappeared in Peru (since January 24th in Cabanaconde Colca, Arequipa). And although the search continues, Natacha's parents, as well as the majority of the relatives of the almost 5000 women who have disappeared in the country, have still not found their daughters, sisters, mothers, wives, and do not know what happened to them.

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In May of this year alone, the People's Defence revealed in its report "Where have they gone?" that 4981 missing women were reported in the country, of which 2318 were found, or 47%, less than half. Also in May, out of a total of 1563 disappearances, 921 (50%) were women. Of these, 433 have been found; however, 488 women are still missing and their whereabouts are unknown.

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According to the report, the vast majority of cases of women reported missing are girls and teenagers. They are the ones most often subjected to this form of violence.

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Cases of missing women, such as that of Natacha and thousands of other Peruvian women, require not only that the search for them be carried out, but above all that the investigation not stop, as is usually the case after a few months.  This situation already represents a form of violence against women, as incorporated in the recent decree D.S. N° 005 - 2022 MIMP promulgated on 5 June 2022.

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Furthermore, it is vitally important to make public the statistics of the National Registry of Information on Missing Persons and the main causes of disappearance in order to reveal their relationship with crimes such as kidnapping, trafficking, rape, murder.

 

What happened to Natacha and the almost 5000 missing women in Peru?
The search and investigation must continue! 

We want to know the truth! 

Justice for Natacha and the disappeared women in Peru! 

No to impunity!

 

Heless Álvarez Bazán, Peruvian journalist

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