Two Argentine observatories each counted 200 deaths from gender violence in the first nine months of 2026, most of them femicides. That means roughly one woman, girl or trans person was killed every 33 hours. Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven published its tally through 29 September, and the news site El Destape reported it on Saturday, 3 October. MuMaLá reached the same total by 30 September, La Lupa reported.
Neither count is official. Both draw on press reports and use slightly different methods and cutoff dates, so they can't be compared directly with court figures.
Who Was Killed, and By Whom
Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven, Spanish for “Now That They See Us,” is a feminist observatory that tracks gender killings through national print and online media. It works with the National University of the Delta. Of its 200 deaths, 167 were direct femicides. Twenty were linked femicides: people killed to punish a woman or while trying to protect her, often relatives. Seven were cases of instigation to suicide. Six were killings of trans women or travestis. The group also recorded 306 attempted femicides.
The danger mostly came from people the victims knew. In 64% of cases, the alleged killer was a partner or former partner. Some 41% of attacks happened in the victim's own home, and 23.5% in a home the victim shared with the alleged killer. At least 202 children and adolescents lost their mothers.
MuMaLá, short for Mujeres de la Matria Latinoamericana, runs its own national observatory. It counted 200 gender killings between 1 January and 30 September, along with 654 attempted killings and 157 children left without their mothers. The two groups define attempts differently, which accounts for the gap between those totals. For the same nine months of 2025, Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven had recorded 287 attempted femicides and 149 orphaned children.
Reports Made, Protection Falling Short
Many victims had already sought help. Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven found that 14% had previously reported their attacker. MuMaLá put the figure at 12%, and three in four of those victims had a protection order. Six percent of the alleged killers in MuMaLá's count belonged to the security forces.
Cuts, Silence in the Budget and a Court Test
Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven linked the deaths to cuts in prevention policy under President Javier Milei, who abolished the women's ministry after taking office in December 2023. The observatory said the 2027 budget bill didn't mention Línea 144 or the Acompañar programme. Created in 2013, Línea 144 is the national helpline for victims of gender violence. Acompañar, launched in 2020, pays survivors the equivalent of the minimum wage for six months. Both rely on national funding.
“The resurgence of gender violence comes as Milei deepens the dismantling of the public policies meant to prevent it,” the observatory said. MuMaLá described a “state of emergency” and tied it to economic hardship. Congress hadn't yet voted on the 2027 budget bill.
The official count runs on a slower clock. The Office for Women at the Supreme Court compiles it from court files and publishes each year's total months after the year ends. On 29 May 2026, the court said its registry recorded 200 direct femicide victims in 2025, plus 19 linked victims. That was 12.3% fewer than the 228 recorded in 2024. The 2025 rate was 0.85 victims per 100,000 women, or about one every 44 hours. Chequeado, a fact-checking site, said the court hadn't changed its method. The official registry for 2026 is due in 2027.
The Supreme Court is also 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 argues the femicide clause should apply only to partners or former partners. Women's groups filed briefs asking the court not to narrow it, Chaco Ahora reported. The observatory warned that a narrow reading could mean lighter sentences for gender killings by acquaintances or strangers. The ruling is 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, a country of about 46 million, gave rise in 2015 to Ni Una Menos, a Latin American movement against gender violence.
Why This Matters: Behind the totals are specific people: 202 children and adolescents who lost their mothers in one count, 157 in the other. Between 12% and 14% of victims had already reported their attacker. What protection follows a report is therefore central, not peripheral. Línea 144 and Acompañar depend on national funding, and the 2027 budget bill, which Congress hasn't voted on, doesn't mention either. The official figures won't arrive until 2027, leaving civil-society counts as the only running measure for now. The pending Supreme Court ruling could decide how far the femicide clause reaches. For advocates, the question is whether public institutions can keep a promise the law has made since 2012.