Photo: Ernestina Oropeza/Facebook / Courtesy
This Tuesday, International Women’s Day was celebrated with various events and recognitions, those who called for justice for those women who have died at the hands of their partners were also present.
Such is the case of Ernestina Oropeza, whose family still cannot believe that she is no longer in this world after being stabbed last week by a man with whom he apparently had a relationship. The victim was 48 years old.
Ernestina’s relatives said that she was very cheerful and a fighter. Her niece, Ruby Méndez, told this newspaper in an interview that before her aunt had her daughters, she often traveled to Washington state to visit them. “When she arrived you saw her and she transferred her happiness to you. She was always very happy”, she recalled.
Once Ernestina had her little ones, they became the whole world of her. As a single mother, she tried to give them the best she could, Ruby added. , but in the middle of last year they came back to Washington to visit with the girls.
Ruby said that it was her mother who interacted the most with the couple and apparently Ernestina felt happy in the relationship.
“My aunt even told my mother: ‘He’s a great person, he doesn’t take , it’s not vicious, it’s very cool’”, she said.
“We never imagined that my aunt would lose her life in such a cruel way by that man.”
Palm Springs authorities indicated that Toscano was arrested on March 1 around 9: 50 pm, charged with stabbing.
The incident occurred in the block 1700 of Arenas Road. Ernestina, who was from Oaxaca, Mexico, died at the scene. Today she is survived by her daughters, 9, 8 and 5 years old.
The brother of the deceased, Eloy Oropeza, said that he did not feel well for speak to the media but through a message on a fundraising page said her sister was a victim of domestic violence. He described her as a hard-working woman who loved her three daughters and her mother, who was 88 years old.
“My sister loved serving her community. She was an employee of the Agua Caliente casino and served the communities of Palm Springs and the city of Cathedral,” Eloy said on the GoFundMe page.
Tying up the dots
Ruby said that after the cruel incident, her mother began to remember that the last time Ernestina and her alleged attacker came to visit, he was very distracted. He did not interact in conversations and did not spend much time with the family.
“My mother said that he seemed very isolated but they only spent about a week with us”, said the young woman.
The organization Salud América, focused on equitable health care for Latinos and other families, indicated that there are several problems and/or beliefs that impact abused Latinas.
These include the cultural role of wife and mother, religious beliefs, the concept of ideal woman (“marianismo”) and the lack of support and resources in Spanish.
Ruby agrees with this concept and believed that in the Latino community It is unfortunate that there is so much machismo and that it is normalized.
“We don’t know what her situation was like because we didn’t see it and we don’t know if asked for help or not, ”said his niece. “One has to lose the fear of speaking up at all costs in order to avoid these situations.”
In the US, more than 1 of every 3, or 34.4%, of Latina women said they had been victims of harassment or violence sexual or physical by an intimate partner, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published in the 1700 .
At the national level the cup is very similar to the 37.3% of women in general. In addition, 23.2% of women have suffered serious physical violence from a partner intimate at some point in his life.
The suspect Miguel Hernández Toscano of 50 years old, appeared at the Riverside County Larson Justice Center on Monday where he pleaded not guilty to one felony count of murder and three counts of willful child cruelty.
You have a felony resolution conference scheduled for 15 of April. He remains being held at the John Benoit Detention Center in Riverside County on $1 million bond.
Find help resources
In an event to present the week of Action and Comprehensive Protection for Women, the consul general of the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles said yesterday that they are offering services to provide information and resources to women women.
“At the consulate we not only give license plates and passports, we already saw it in the pandemic we almost became a hospital by having a center of covid-23 and one of vaccination”, said the consul during a press conference.
From 8 to 12 in March, the consulate will offer women a series of virtual workshops, as well as in-person resources, on legal assistance, psychological therapy, and information on shelters for victims of domestic violence, among others. For information visit HERE