A woman is “found dead.” The headline ends there, but the story doesn’t—and neither does our responsibility. Ingrid sits with Vanessa and Yaneth to honor Lizzbeth by name, define femicide without euphemism, and follow the thread from a family’s search to a community’s demand for change. What emerges is both deeply personal and relentlessly systemic: a town that looked away, a police response that lagged, and a courtroom outcome negotiated on the killer’s terms.
Vanessa, founder of Vivan Las Autonomas, explains how a small group of young immigrant women stepped into the vacuum—pressuring investigators, guiding a family through pre-trial and trial twists, and partnering with media to cover Lizzbeth as a whole person, not a headline. We talk about why survivors often look “emotional” while abusers appear “credible,” how passive language like “woman found dead” erases intent, and why undercounted data distorts policy. The result is a cycle where agencies tally cases, police move on, and the public accepts femicide as an isolated tragedy rather than a pattern we can interrupt.
We go deeper into plea deals, the narrowness of legal charges, and what “justice” feels like when key harms—tampering with evidence, the presence of a child, the brutality of disposal—don’t show up on the charging sheet. Then we widen the lens to prevention: treating femicide as a public health crisis, funding multilingual rapid response, building cross-agency protocols for missing women, and using art and data together to change hearts, habits, and budgets. Vanessa shares details of an upcoming Connecticut femicide site that memorializes victims, tracks cases, and gives communities leverage with lawmakers.
Lizzbeth was a mother, a sister, and a bright, funny presence who deserved safety—and a system ready to act. If you’re ready to move beyond thoughts and prayers to concrete action, listen, share, and join the work. Subscribe for more stories, leave a review to boost visibility, and tell us: what would real accountability look like where you live?
Links:
https://www.1in3podcast.com/guests/vivan-las-autonomas/
https://www.instagram.com/vivanlasautonomas/
https://www.facebook.com/vivanlasautonomas/
1 in 3 is intended for mature audiences. Episodes contain explicit content and may be triggering to some.
If you are in the United States and need help right now, call the national domestic violence hotline at 800-799-7233 or text the word “start” to 88788.
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Thank you for listening!
Cover art by Laura Swift Dahlke
Music by Tim Crowe
