United Nations, November 19 (RHC)-- The United Nations has called the Argentinean government to do more to combat the alarming rising of femicides that have plagued the South American nation in recent years.

Dubravka Simonovic, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, met with 35 women's rights organizations in the northwest province of Tucuman, one of the most affected places by these gender crimes.

Simonovic said murders of women are not just numbers and praised the work made by the organization "Ni Una Menos" (Not one less), that has been carried out protests across the country to highlight the seriousness of this phenomenon and to demand the government of President Mauricio Macri to adopt real, effective measures to halt all violence against women.
 
"We have to identify which gaps exist in the protection system, because the police are often not aware of the situation, the prosecution is not efficient enough and public services are not available," Simonovic said.

According to data from human rights organizations, a woman in Argentina dies every 30 hours from domestic violence, and since 2008, 1,808 women have been violently killed in the country.  This year alone, 178 women have been killed in gender violence cases.