Two Argentine observatories counted 200 deaths from gender violence in the first nine months of 2026, most of them femicides—roughly one woman, girl or trans person killed every 33 hours. Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven linked the toll to cuts in prevention policy under President Javier Milei, whose government abolished the women’s ministry after he took office in December 2023.
“The resurgence of gender violence comes as Milei deepens the dismantling of the public policies meant to prevent it,” Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven said. Its count ran through 29 September; MuMaLá reached the same total through 30 September. Neither tally is official.
Who Counts—and Who Is Counted
Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven recorded 167 direct femicides, 20 linked femicides, seven cases of instigation to suicide and six killings of trans women or travestis. Linked femicides include people killed to punish a woman or while trying to protect her, often relatives. The group also recorded 306 attempted femicides.
In 64% of the cases in Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven’s tally, the alleged killer was a current or former partner. Forty-one percent of attacks happened in the victim’s own home, while 23.5% happened in a home shared by the victim and alleged killer. Fourteen percent of victims had previously reported their attacker. At least 202 children and adolescents lost their mothers.
MuMaLá also counted 654 attempted killings and 157 children left without their mothers. Its tally found that 12% of victims had reported their attacker, and three in four of those had a protection order. Six percent of alleged killers belonged to the security forces. The two observatories use different methods to define attempts, so their totals don’t match.
Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven tracks gender killings through national print and online media and works with the National University of the Delta. MuMaLá runs its own national observatory. Their press-based monitoring differs from the official registry, which the Office for Women at the Supreme Court compiles from court files and publishes months after each year ends.
Services on the Budget Block
Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven said the 2027 budget bill didn’t mention Línea 144 or the Acompañar programme. Congress hadn’t yet voted on the bill. Both services depend on national funding: Línea 144 is the national helpline for victims of gender violence, and Acompañar pays survivors the equivalent of the minimum wage for six months.
MuMaLá described a “state of emergency” and linked it to economic hardship. The 2026 official registry was due in 2027, leaving the two observatory tallies as press-based counts, not official figures for the year.
The Supreme Court’s registry counted 200 direct femicide victims in 2025, plus 19 linked victims—12.3% fewer than the 228 recorded in 2024. The court reported a 2025 rate of 0.85 victims per 100,000 women, or about one every 44 hours. Chequeado said the court hadn’t changed its method, but court files and press monitoring capture cases differently, so the figures aren’t directly comparable. For the same nine months of 2025, Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven had recorded 287 attempted femicides and 149 orphaned children.
A Legal Clause Under Pressure
The Supreme Court was weighing an appeal over the 2016 killing of Julieta González in Mendoza province. Andrés Di Césare received a life sentence for aggravated homicide in a context of gender violence. His defence argued that the femicide clause should apply only to partners or former partners.
Women’s groups filed briefs asking the court not to narrow the clause, Chaco Ahora reported. Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven warned that a narrow interpretation could mean lighter sentences for gender killings by acquaintances or strangers. The ruling was pending.
Under Argentine law, femicide means the killing of a woman by a man in a context of gender violence; since 2012, the penal code has punished it with life imprisonment. Línea 144 is available nationally, and people can call 911 in an emergency. Argentina gave rise in 2015 to Ni Una Menos, a Latin American movement against gender violence.