Invisible victims How Colombia plans to support children orphaned by femicide
Invisible victims
How Colombia plans to support children orphaned by femicide
Siblings Fabian Ramirez, Luna Castro and Jennyfer Ramirez lost their mother to femicide in 2022 [Christina Noriega/Al Jazeera]
By Christina Noriega
Published On 11 Jun 202511 Jun 2025
Bogota, Colombia – The news made her breath catch in her throat. There, on her Facebook feed, was a post with an image of her mother's ex-boyfriend. The caption announced a femicide: the intentional murder of a woman because of her gender. Jennyfer Ramirez was only 17 years old at the time, a high-school student and the eldest of three siblings. She had been waiting at her uncle's house, where her mother, 33-year-old Leidy Navarrete, was expected to arrive. It was December 23, 2022. Only two days remained before the Christmas holiday. But as Ramirez read the Facebook post, she realised her mother would never come. Navarrete was the victim referenced in the caption. Her ex, Andres Castro, had forced his way into her apartment in southern Bogota that morning and strangled her to death before she could leave for work.
Ramirez felt like she could no longer breathe. Overwhelmed with the shock, she fainted.“It was always the four of us together, my mother and the three of us," said Ramirez, now 19. "From one moment to another, everything changed."
Ramirez, her brother and her baby sister are what domestic violence advocates consider the “invisible victims” of femicide: children who are left without a mother or loved one upon whom they rely.Such murders can often leave kids orphaned without any parents at all, particularly when the perpetrator is a father or guardian.But new legislation passed in Colombia's Congress seeks to offer state support to the child survivors of femicide, like Ramirez and her siblings.The bill is part of a growing trend of legislation in Latin America that provides compensation and funds for mental health services to children struggling with the aftermath of gender-based violence.“It recognizes that, in the process of femicide, the mother isn’t the only victim," said Representative Carolina Giraldo, who helped draft the bill. "There are indirect victims as well."
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According to the United Nations, eight Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Ecuador, have passed similar laws to support the dependents of femicide victims. The need, advocates say, is great. In 2023, the United Nations estimated that 11 women each day were murdered because of their gender in Latin America and the Caribbean region.In Colombia alone, at least 1,746 children were left parentless as a result of a femicide between 2019 and 2024, according to the Colombian Observatory of Femicides, an independently run research group that tracks violence against women.
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Luna Castro holds up a photo of her mother, the late Leidy Navarrete [Christina Noriega/Al Jazeera]
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Luna Castro does homework at her grandmother's home in southern Bogota [Christina Noriega/Al Jazeera]
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The legislation will provide support to minors who lose a parent to femicide until the age of 18. Children who pursue higher education or who are disabled will remain eligible for benefits until the age of 25. It also offers funding for funerals and free access to mental health programmes. The bill now heads to the desk of President Gustavo Petro, where it is expected to be signed into law. When the law comes into effect, Ramirez said that she plans to enroll in a university to continue her education in tourism studies. She said she owes her strength to her mother. “My mother practically made me in her image,” said Ramirez. “I learned a lot of things from my mother that now I can offer to others.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/6/11/invisible-victims-how-colombia-plans-to-support-kids-orphaned-by-femicide