Argentina’s far-right president poised to shut down

‘Women at risk’ amid increasing number of femicides but assistance including emergency helpline will be cut

Javier Milei, Argentina’s far-right president, is poised to dissolve the government department responsible for tackling gender violence, prompting a furious backlash from human rights activists.

Claudia Barcia, the head of the undersecretariat for protection against gender violence, resigned on Thursday with a warning that the agency will soon be shuttered. “The Undersecretary of Protection against Gender Violence… will cease to exist,” Barcia wrote on Twitter, later confirming to the Guardian that she had received the news the previous day.