So far this year, 23 murders of women have occurred in Puerto Rico

Announcements
IEPR
18 December 2025

San Juan, Puerto Rico- May 27, 2024. Data from the Institute of Statistics indicate that, so far this year, 23 murders of women have occurred in Puerto Rico, 10 of which were femicides and, of these 10, eight were committed by their partners. These were some of the data presented during the Second Symposium on Statistics on Gender-based Violence in Puerto Rico from the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics. During the day, the importance of addressing all manifestations of violence, including economic and emotional violence, as well as child abuse, which is often used as a form of pressure on victims, was also highlighted. In addition, the importance of statistical data in the formulation of public policies was highlighted and reflections were presented on the impact of violence on educational processes.

The Second Symposium on Statistics on Gender Violence brought together more than a hundred representatives from public and private sectors and non-profit organizations, who had the opportunity to deepen the analysis of statistics and different situations related to gender-based violence. The event brought together 14 experts in different areas related to gender-based violence, who shared statistical data and offered fundamental perspectives to understand the complexity of this phenomenon. Among the issues addressed are the design of public policies to eradicate gender-based violence, the social impact of violence, and the health approach to combat it.

“This Second Symposium on Statistics on Gender Violence has become a fundamental space for the exchange of knowledge and the promotion of concrete actions to address this serious problem affecting our society. The commitment of different sectors is essential to achieve significant progress in the eradication of gender-based violence in Puerto Rico. On behalf of the Institute, we will continue to work on the generation and collection of data that aid in knowledge, but particularly in the prevention of gender-based violence,” said Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

To access the presentations and incidents of the Second Symposium on Statistics on Gender Violence in Puerto Rico, visit the following link: https://estadisticas.pr/en/segundo-simposio-estadisticas-violencia-de-genero.

For more information you can write to preguntas@estadisticas.pr. They can also follow social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), X (@EstadisticasPR), LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) and Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) accounts.

Authorized by the Office of the Electoral Controller OCE-SA-2024-08568

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Digital dashboard allows us to observe the demographic trends of Puerto Rico

San Juan, PR, May 22, 2025 — The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) published the Demographic Observatory, a summary table with graphs on demographic aspects of Puerto Rico. The tool visualizes a series of statistical indicators by demographic components, combining in a single instance the main sources of information that are usually separated. Through simple navigation, you can view recent statistics on Annual Population Estimates, Decennial Censuses, Vital Statistics with Fertility and Mortality indicators, as well as estimates of Migration by various characteristics.

El Demographic Observatory contains a total of twenty-three (23) graphics displayed in the following sections:

  • Panoramic, which is composed of five (5) graphs showing the trend of the total population, total births and deaths, natural growth and the structure by age and sex.
  • Fertility, which contains visualizations on the behavior of births by month, birth rate, fertility and specific fertility rates, births by method of delivery and number of abortions.
  • Mortality, which integrates graphs such as deaths by month, crude rates by sex, age group and total, maternal and child mortality rate, life expectancy at birth, as well as the percentage of deaths by cause and sex.
  • Migration, with estimates in recent years of the total immigrant and emigrant population and by age group, net migration and its percentage within the total population, migrants with post-secondary education or more and net movement of passengers.
  • Notes, which contains information about the concepts and their definitions in the included graphics, the sources of information and technical or explanatory notes.

El Demographic Observatory is available on the Institute's Census Data and Information page (SDC-PR) at https://censo.estadisticas.pr/node/535. “Fulfilling our mission to guarantee complete, reliable statistics with quick and universal access, we have created a series of simple visualizations that allow us to observe the demographic behavior of the jurisdiction, thus promoting informed and evidence-based decision-making,” said Lanselotte Oliveras, Assistant for Statistical Projects at the Institute.

For his part, Alberto L. Velázquez-Estrada, Senior Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute, said, “The Demographic Observatory manages to visually centralize several demographic trends in Puerto Rico as conceptualized. In this sense, people can directly consult the behavior of relevant demographic traits that are frequently requested.”

As the leading entity of the State Data Center of Puerto Rico, the Institute manages the SDC portal, which contains the main statistical reports and publications of the U.S. Census Bureau about Puerto Rico, specifically those that are most in demand, such as annual population estimates; the Puerto Rico Community Survey (Puerto Rico Community Survey) and official statistics on Puerto Rico's decennial population and housing censuses, among others. The Puerto Rico SDC portal can be accessed through: https://censo.estadisticas.pr.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

For more information you can visit the website: www.estadisticas.pr or write to preguntas@estadisticas.pr. They can also follow social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), X (@EstadisticasPR), LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) and Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) accounts.

They request collaboration to complete a survey on parenting experiences
They request collaboration to complete a survey on parenting experiences

ESCAPE and the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute join efforts to develop the First Survey on the Parenting Experience in Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico — February 27, 2025. ESCAPE, Center for Family Strengthening, in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute), are developing the Survey on the Parenting Experience in Puerto Rico. This initiative seeks to gather valuable information about the experiences of mothers, fathers and guardians (people who are responsible for the upbringing of children) with the objective of strengthening efforts for the prevention of child abuse and developing more effective programs to serve families according to their needs

The executive director of ESCAPE, Yadira Pizarro Quiles, requested citizen collaboration by completing and sharing a survey and highlighted the importance of this tool for designing more precise, relevant and relevant intervention strategies. “Every family in Puerto Rico faces unique challenges, and with this survey we will be able to better understand their realities. The data collected will allow us to evaluate existing programs and develop more effective initiatives to support parents and caregivers in parenting, thus strengthening efforts to prevent child abuse,” said Pizarro.

Participation in the Puerto Rico Parenting Experience Survey is completely voluntary and is intended for those who are responsible for raising one or more children under 18 years of age in Puerto Rico. The questionnaire, which lasts approximately 20 to 30 minutes, guarantees the confidentiality of the answers, which will be anonymous and securely stored by the Institute.

The questionnaire is structured in seven sections: Sociodemographic data of the child, Experiences and Expectations, Discipline and Communication, Technology and Quality Time, Support Needs and Future, Socio-Demographic Data on the Respondent and a Closure and Feedback.

The executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, highlighted the value of data and statistics in the formulation of prevention strategies. “Access to up-to-date and reliable information is key to making informed decisions. With this survey, we will be able to generate data that will not only help us better understand the dynamics of parenting in Puerto Rico, but also serve as a basis for the creation of public policies that reinforce the protection and well-being of children. That's why it's important to have the support of all sectors helping to share and complete this survey,” he said.

The survey can be accessed at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/crianzamenores

To coordinate collaborative efforts, you can contact Mrs. Lourdes Burgos at 787-562-2932.

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Contact: Lourdes Burgos, R-27 - Cell. 787-562-2932

About ESCAPE:

ESCAPE, Family Strengthening Center, was the first non-profit organization created on the Island (1983) with the mission of preventing child abuse. The organization is dedicated to supporting and educating families, parents and the community in general about healthy and positive ways to relate, communicate and above all to raise, care for and protect children and adolescents from violence and abuse.

About the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

Data presented from the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico

Data presented from the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico

639 homicides and 215 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2021

The Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System (PRVDRS) of the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute), presented data from the Puerto Rico Violent Deaths Report for 2021. The report reports that in 2021, 816 incidents of violent deaths occurred, with a total of 880 fatalities. Of the total number of violent deaths, 97% were distributed as 639 by homicides and 215 by suicides, with the remaining 26 violent deaths (3%) due to other causes.

In 2021, 72.6% of victims of violent deaths were incidents of single or multiple homicides and 24.4% were incidents of suicide. Two homicide-suicide incidents were reported, resulting in 4 fatalities. In addition, during this period, 2 violent deaths attributed to legal intervention (0.2%), three violent deaths from unintentional self-inflicted firearms (0.3%) and 21 violent deaths with undetermined intent (2.4%) were documented. In 2021, approximately 9 out of 10 victims of violent deaths (92.0%) were men. The crude rate of violent deaths for Puerto Rico in 2021 was 27.0 per 100,000 inhabitants, 52.5 in men and 4.0 in women.

Of the 880 violent deaths recorded in 2021, 639 were homicides (72.6%). The majority of homicides occurred between the ages of 15 and 39. In these age groups, 73.1% of all homicides occur among men and 59.5% among women. The primary mechanism of the homicides was firearms. In Puerto Rico, according to the report, 91.5% of homicides were committed with firearms, more than double the global average of 47.0%.

In 2021, the majority of homicides occurred in an environment of collective violence. In 358 of the 639 homicides (56.0%) recorded in 2021, they occurred in a context related to criminal groups, involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs.

In 2021, 31 fatal victims of family violence were reported. Family violence (violence between family members) includes child or adult abuse and violence against an intimate partner. The majority of these cases were related to violence in an intimate or former partner environment (20 cases, 64.5%). There were 11 fatal incidents among family members (35.5%). The majority of victims of intimate partner violence were women (18 cases, 90.0%). More than half of these women were victims of their current spouse or partner (61.1%), while 38.9% were victims of their ex-spouse or ex-partner. In addition, a firearm was used in 11 of the 18 femicides/femicides (61.1%).

As for suicides in Puerto Rico, the report highlights that the frequency is lower than that of homicides. However, as in homicides, suicides are more frequent in men (86.5%). In 2021, the crude suicide rate was 6.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, 12.0 in men (1 of 124 men) and 1.7 in women (1 of 774 women). The main mechanism was asphyxiation (64.5% in men and 55.2% in women).

Mariluz Bezares Salinas, Manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute and co-principal investigator of the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico, explained that the collection of this type of data could involve fieldwork that takes more than two years, from the moment the incident occurs until the collection and review of the data is completed.

“This system for reporting violent deaths is a reliable, complete and unique reference source that helps describe the context of violent deaths in the victim-aggressor relationship and the magnitude, trend and characteristics of violent deaths in Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Diego Zavala, epidemiologist and co-principal investigator of the PRVDRS.

For the Executive Director of the Institute, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, these statistics are one of the main tools to combat the phenomenon of violence in Puerto Rico. “These data, among others, serve as the basis for establishing effective measures for the prevention of violence in Puerto Rico, from multiple social, health and economic approaches. Our commitment at the Institute is to continue strengthening this statistical and epidemiological system, to continue improving the quality of this type of data,” argued Dr. Disdier.

The PRVDRS is an epidemiological surveillance system affiliated with the Institute of Statistics and designed to obtain a complete and standardized census of violent deaths in Puerto Rico. The PRVDRS began its participation in the National Violent Death Notification System (National Violent Death Reporting System, NVDRS) in September 2016, through a collaborative agreement granted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

For more information you can visit the website: https://estadisticas.pr/en/prvdrs or write to preguntas@estadisticas.pr. They can also follow social networks through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), X (@EstadisticasPR), LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) and Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) accounts.