Feminist activists in Uruguay will hold a sit-in on Friday following the news that a woman identified as Milagros Chamorro died by suicide after seeking justice for a gang rape she was a victim of at the age of 15.
The hashtag #JusticiaPorMili (“Justice for Mili”) is circulating social media platforms, drawing renewed attention to gender violence in the South American country.
Prior to 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 fell unconscious after drinking alcohol provided to her, and was raped. She recalled being photographed and filmed too: content Milagros said was then distributed online, leading to “years” of harassment. Milagros said that 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 based. The case was closed that same year, in 2022.
María Elena Maciel, the public defender who took on Milagros’ case, explained that, at the time of the assault, the statute of limitations in cases where the aggressors were minors was one year.
Three months ago, Milagros began pursuing legal advice in order to reopen the case. She found a lawyer who specialized in human rights, though she ultimately did not take any further action. On Friday, she took her own life in hospital, while waiting for emergency psychiatric support.
The Instagram account @feminismo.uruguay has organized a collective sit-in in front of the Maldonado police station on Friday. The post clarifies, “There will be another march, but first we will process our grief in silence,” adding that a march will be organized in Montevideo in the future.
Staff and students from the Eastern Regional University Centre (CURE) in Maldonado, where Milagros was studying for a master’s degree in public policy, have planned their own protest on Friday. The University is also organizing a workshop which will take place next week.
Andrea Tuana, a representative from the human rights organization El Paso told news program Subrayado that Milagros’ case demonstrates the challenges women face when reporting sexual violence.
“There is a category called femicide-suicide, and I think it can be applied 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, it also kills.” She went on, “Unfortunately, it is very common for victims of sexual violence to have very strong impacts on their mental health.”
In a 2021 interview with la diaria, Susana Quagliata, an expert in suicides with a Master’s degree in psychology, acknowledged femicide-suicide to be a problem in Uruguay, though one which remains stigmatized, because “In this society, nobody believes that someone would commit suicide [because of gender-based violence].” She added, “It is really difficult for us to get femicide recognized as a crime.”