Ombudsman warns of escalating gender violence crisis.
2025 November 27
Costa Rica's Ombudsman (Defensoría de los Habitantes) sounded the alarm on a deepening crisis of violence against women, with 33 femicides recorded in 2025, the highest number in over a decade.
2025 ended as the most violent year for women in the country, with 85 of the 873 homicide victims being women. Since 2022, the femicide rate has climbed steadily, with intimate partner violence as the leading cause.
The Ombudsman called for stronger prevention and protection measures, including better inter-agency coordination, steady funding for support programs, a reliable national care network, easier access to work for women, and crime strategies that consider gender impacts.
The Defensoría stated that violence against women stems from deep-rooted structural inequalities, patriarchal norms, and inadequate state responses — the same systemic conditions that drive violence against trans and gender-diverse people.