DR registers three fatalities due to gender-based violence and leaves 6 children orphaned so far in 2026

16 days into 2026, the Dominican Republic has mourned the deaths of three women who were active participants in the national productive life, belonging to different social strata, victims of femicides.

On January 2, 2026, Rosmery Sosa, 30 years old, died after being attacked with a knife, allegedly by her partner José Ramón Montero, in an event that occurred at dawn in the Gualey sector, after both had been consuming alcoholic beverages. Two days later, the judge of the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services of the National District, Rigoberto Sena, imposed three months of preventive prison as a coercive measure against the accused.

In the Los Peralejos sector, Katherine Méndez, 18 years old, died on the morning of Monday, January 5 after being attacked with a bladed weapon, allegedly by her partner Ambiorix Breus, 25 years old, who remains a fugitive from justice.

That same Three Kings holiday, in the Los Mosquitos sector of the Yamasá municipality, professor Santa Sepúlveda, 32 years old, allegedly died at the hands of her partner Bayardo Manzueta Reyes, who is also a fugitive.

Orphaned Children

As a result of these events, six children were orphaned. Rosmery Sosa left three children, aged 11, 8 and 5; Santa Sepúlveda left two, aged 9 and 2; while Katherine Méndez left a two-year-old child. These figures should set off alarms in the relevant authorities. According to the Vida Sin Violencia Foundation, in 2025 at least 93 children and adolescents were orphaned as a result of 59 femicides committed by partners or ex-partners, who require comprehensive protection from the State.

You can also read: Fundación Vida sin Violencia reports 59 femicides and 93 orphans due to this cause in 2025

In 2024, 73 femicides were recorded, leaving a total of 77 children, boys and girls, and adolescents orphaned, many of whom not only lost their mothers, but also their fathers, because the aggressors committed suicide or are facing legal proceedings that separated them from raising their children.

Official and Political Reactions

The Vice President of the Republic, Raquel Peña, has repeatedly expressed her concern about the persistence of femicides and has warned that Dominican society cannot stand idly by in the face of these crimes. Peña called on all sectors to unite in a firm action against violence, stating that “we cannot allow such painful and regrettable events to continue“. For its part, the Secretariat of Equality and Gender Equity of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) denounced that the official statistics on femicides do not reflect the real magnitude of the cases that occur in the country. Its head, Cristina Rodríguez, described the situation as a “femicide pandemic“. Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior and Police, Faride Raful, announced in August 2025 the implementation of a joint plan with the Attorney General’s Office to address femicides, following the sustained increase in these crimes, the low rate of reports of gender-based violence and the fact that eight of the cases registered in that period had been committed by members of the armed forces. The cases registered in the first days of 2026 reflect that sexist violence continues to be a structural problem that affects entire families and leaves deep and lasting consequences, especially in childhood. The orphanhood derived from femicides exposes children to conditions of vulnerability that require immediate, coordinated and sustained responses from the State and society as a whole. Social organizations and human rights defenders insist on the urgency of strengthening public policies for prevention, protection, and comprehensive care for victims of gender-based violence, as well as guaranteeing effective justice and psychosocial support to affected minors. Without concrete and continuous actions, the figures could continue to rise and turn femicides into a normalized daily tragedy.