Pérdidas

Another female artist, Karla Almonte (former web editor of The Gothic Times), displayed her art through a digital painting series titled Perdidas. This is a collection of black and white framed portraits of females murdered in the Dominican Republic by their boyfriends and husbands.

Almonte said, “What inspired me to draw these women was the case of Emely Peguero. She was a pregnant sixteen-year-old girl that was murdered by her boyfriend with the assistance of his mother because Emely was against having an abortion. She was left stuffed in a suitcase in the middle of a deserted road. I was baffled by my country’s judicial system when it came to protecting women, especially the women that were poor, had no resources to defend themselves and/or connections with the government. The system continued to fail women, and I wanted to bring that conversation into a space that was detached to my country. I wanted to bring those victims into a conversation they were never in. I wanted people to become aware of what is happening to women and how power and money divert our attention from the daily brutality against women in a third world country.”

One of the pieces of art was a significance to Almonte as she knew the victim personally– a teacher named Nairoby Nathaly Pérez Reyes was stabbed to death by her husband and did not receive help from authorities despite reporting the abuse in 2016 and 2018. “She was my mother’s friend. A hard-working mother and teacher in my hometown who was known by everyone due to her charisma, love for her children, and desire to help her family progress. Her abuser stabbed her several times, called one of their kids to confess that he had indeed killed her and then he killed himself. We felt so betrayed by the authorities; Their indiligence once again cost a woman’s life.”