In an effort to deter violence directed at females, lawmakers in Colombia have this week passed a bill that would impose tough sentences for hate crimes against women.

As reported by the BBC, the bill, which was passed on Tuesday with 104 votes in support and three against, still requires a signature by President Juan Manuel Santos in order to become law.

When the bill -- which was named in honor of a woman named Rosa Elvira Cely who was attacked, raped and murdered by a man in Bogota back in 2012 -- becomes law, those found guilty of attacking women because of their gender could face up to 50 years in jail.

The goal of the law is to place longer sentences on crimes wherein women are specifically attacked (psychologically, physically, or sexually) due to their sex.

Addressing the frequency of female directed violence, Martha Ordonez, Santos' adviser for women's equality, has stated that in the South American country a woman becomes the victim of a violent act about every 13 minutes. And on average, every four days a female is killed by her partner.

The deadly attack on Cely led to thousands of people marching in a demonstration, calling for justice for the 35-year-old who died four days after her injuries.

The man who was eventually arrested for the crime was sentenced to 48 years in prison, a sentence that was added on to when he was later convicted of abusing his underage daughters and raping another woman.

As reported by Global Voices Online, Cely was described as a mother who worked as a street vendor in front of the Military Hospital. She was completing her high school studies and hoping to one day become a psychologist.

The World Health Organization reported in 2013 that around the globe more than one in three women have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence.

Colombia's news come as thousands in Argentina march against "femicide," or the murder of women because of their sex, after the brutal murder of 14-year-old Chiara Paez.