A 66-year-old Peruvian woman was allegedly burned by her partner and a nurse was the victim of a rape, which made both have to be hospitalized urgently, according to the Ombudsman's Office, two attacks that add to a wave of sexist violence in the country that the NGO Save The Children considers "alarming".

On the case of the nurse, the Ombudsman's Office explained that the 32-year-old woman was the victim of a rape and that the attacker allegedly tried to kill her, so she remains in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Hospital III de Juliaca, in the southern region of Puno (border with Bolivia).

She was sent to that town for specialized care after the attack, which took place in the nearby town of Ayaviri. The Ombudsman's Office asked the Prosecutor's Office to investigate what happened quickly and requested the preventive detention of the two alleged perpetrators.

The other attack was allegedly perpetrated by the partner of a 66-year-old woman, whom he doused in gasoline and set on fire. The victim has burns on her face and arms and is admitted to the Carlos Monge Medrano Hospital in Juliaca, where she receives care from the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations.

The Ombudsman's Office asked the National Police and the Prosecutor's Office to speed up the investigations and request preventive detention for the person responsible. "This attack adds to the 24 attempted femicides so far in 2023. The event also occurs less than two weeks after the femicide of the 18-year-old in Lima, who suffered burns on 60% of her body," the institution said on Twitter.

On Thursday, Save the Children warned that gender violence in Peru "has reached alarming levels of cruelty and normality" and urged the State to implement "more decisive actions" to guarantee a life free of violence for girls and women in the Andean country.

"Gender-based violence in Peru has reached alarming levels of cruelty and normality, so it is not possible to remain indifferent to the various dangers that girls, adolescents and women face throughout their life cycle," the organization said in a statement released on its social networks.

The organization recalled that, in the month in which International Women's Day is commemorated, the Andean country has witnessed notorious acts of sexist violence, as was the case of an 11-year-old girl from the jungle region of Ucayali who remains hospitalized after being attacked in an attempted rape and when the "influencer" Einer Gilbert Alva León, known as "Makanaky," he confessed to a gang rape allegedly committed years ago against a minor.

Faced with these cases, "condemnable and sadly frequent," Save the Children said that "the State is required to implement more decisive actions with a real sense of urgency" because, he said, "it is evident" that Peru "is far from guaranteeing a life free of violence for girls and women."

In the Andean country, the Women's Emergency Centers (CEM) and the 100 line serve all victims of sexist violence 24 hours a day, as well as the so-called Chat 100, a personalized and confidential service online and in real time, which serves people affected by family or sexual violence.

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