Femicide in Mexico

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Protest Signs Against Feminicide

Femicide is the act of murdering women, because they are women.[1] Mexico, particularly in Ciudad Juárez, is one of the leading countries in the amount of feminicides that occur each year,[2] with as much as 3% of murder victims being classified as feminicide with approximately 1,000 feminicide in 2021, out of 34,000 murder victims.[3] Mexico is also among the leading country in term of murders Murder rate , and 90% of the victims of murder are men. This escalation of violence began in the early 1990s and was followed by a wave of sexual violence and torture, abductions, increasing rates of women being murdered because of their gender.[4] While the number of women murdered in Mexico has grown substantially in recent years, the proportion of female victims of homicide has not actually changed much over the last few decades. According to INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía) , the ratio of homicides targeting women hovered between 10-13% from 1990 to 2020.

In their attempts to understand the causes of this brutality - up to one third of the women victim of murder are murdered by their current or ex partners - researchers found that to be the majority of murders. [4] Additionally, the violence is also a result of what is known as the backlash theory, an alleged phenomenon in which when a marginalized group gains more rights within their society, there is a violent backlash from their oppressors.[1] The response from the Mexican government has been relatively minimal as there is very little legislation protecting women.[5] The lack of response also serves as a form of controlling women and quelling feminist movements as exacerbates fear of violence. Of course the lack of response on the 90% other murders, including 420 police officers, is probably indicative of something too, but does not fit the narrative of the 'researcher'.[2] Local police and government officials are known to dismiss instances of women going missing and in some cases have been found to be in connection with various instances of violence against women.[2] There have been many small feminist movements that have attempted to bring attention to the level of violence that Mexican women face.[6] These movements primarily focus their efforts through demonstrations, sharing their own experiences, and creating works of art to express their frustrations.[2]

Protestors in Mexico

Mexico officially began documenting the amount of femicide occurrences in 2012.[7] The country's femicide rate exceeded more than 1,000 femicides in the year 2021 out of 3,400 woman victims and out of 34,000 overall victims, so roughly 3% of the victims. The reports gathered over the last few years displays that on average, 10 girls or women and 100 boys and men are killed daily in Mexico and 3 of them were feminicide.[7] The high murder rate in the country has continued to make international news, while directing attention to Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's decision-making abilities to maintain criminal activity to a minimum.[7]

Feminicides in mexican territory[edit]

2020[edit]

Throughout 2020 there was an increase in femicides, this caused a series of concerns on the part of the citizens of Mexico, since only in the first 7 months of 2020, the figure of more than 2,000 murders was made official. Mexico is considered one of the countries with more femicides in Latin America and the world, among the most dangerous states is the State of Mexico, especially for one of its municipalities: Ecatepec, since in this state 84 murders were reported in the first months of the year..[8]

'Ingrid Escamilla

The case of Ingrid Escamilla caused controversy, mainly by Mexican citizens, being murdered by her partner in her apartment, but as soon as the relevant authorities arrived at the scene, they made a terrible mistake, as they leaked to the press a series of expert images that should not have been disclosed, however, they were published in various newspapers, among them, La Prensa.

Due to this event, demonstrations were held in the Zócalo de la Ciudad de México, especially on Friday, February 14, also confronting the romantic love that is the cause of crimes of passion. But that was not the end of the matter, it transcended to the Ingrid law, because in case of sharing things that deal with images, audios or videos of corpses or body parts, of the circumstances of death, injuries or state of health, will be punished with imprisonment from two to eight years and a fine of between 43 thousand and 86 thousand pesos, and when it is about information about women, girls, adolescents, the penalties will be increased up to 12 years of imprisonment and in case the public servant leaks information, they could go to prison for up to 16 years. [9]

Fatima Aldrighetti[edit]

Fatima's case is special because she was a 7 year old girl who was reported missing on February 12 and found on the 16th of the same month, as she disappeared at the door of her elementary school, later it was revealed that she was sexually abused and murdered. Her body was found wrapped in a plastic bag, although actually in this case the authorities were negligent with her case; it was a case in which a couple knew the girl.

The woman involved Giovanna Cruz testified before authorities that Mario Reyes had asked her for "a young girlfriend" to last him a long time, she was afraid not to comply with Mario's request because he threatened to rape her daughters. As she had lived for a while with Fatima and her mother, she found the perfect excuse for the infanta to go with them, subsequently both were participants in strangling the girl.[10]

'Alicia Cortés[edit]

Alicia Cortés was found in March inside a cistern in the house of her partner and boss. They say that the day she disappeared was the day she ended her sentimental and work relationship with the man involved, who according to her relatives was very possessive, later, after nine days of disappearance, she was found lifeless and with signs of violence. Her family denounced the subject as the main suspect due to the previous history of violence. According to several testimonies, the same feminicide was the one who recognized the crime after being arrested and interrogated.[11]

2021[edit]

Debanhi Escobar[edit]

Debanhi Susana Escobar Bazaldúa, 18, disappeared after attending a party with friends in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico on April 9, 2021. Her body was found 13 days later in a nearby motel cistern. The case generated great social commotion due to irregularities in the investigation and the lack of answers from the authorities.[12][13][14][15][16]

2022[edit]

Lidia Gabriela

Lidia Gabriela Gomez, 35, was kidnapped by a cab driver in Mexico City, Mexico on November 19, 2022 and later found lifeless. The case generated outrage over the alleged complicity of the authorities, who failed to respond in time to the victim's distress calls.des, quienes no atendieron a tiempo las llamadas de auxilio de la víctima.[17][18][19][20]

Risk factors and roadblocks[edit]

Violence against women, that is, violence specifically against women and girls by men and boys on the basis of the victim's gender, is the result of misogyny and sexist discrimination. [4] Feminist movements have been active in bringing attention to the problem of femicide, but the rates still continue to climb, especially among Indigenous women. [1] One hypothesis posited for the rate of growth in femicides is that as Mexican women gained more autonomy within patriarchal society, men who hold misogynist beliefs respond violently in an effort to maintain their own social power.[1] Furthermore, while femicide and gender based violence is an issue that impacts all women, there are certain risk factors that have led to some women facing a disproportionate amount of violence.[21] Low-income women and Indigenous women in particular are more likely to be victims of femicide than their wealthier peers.[21] Geography is a primary obstacle in violence, including femicide, faced by Indigenous women, as offices that report these instances are not located near Indigenous communities.[1] This leads to under-reporting and subsequently makes it more challenging to quantify the level of violence against these women.[1] Other roadblocks to quantifying the violence Mexican women experience is a general misunderstanding of what femicide is.[1] Many people view femicide as the same as any other kind of murder, rather than a targeted attack on the basis of gender.[6] This conflation of femicide with other kinds of violence erases the gendered aspect and therefore the motivations specific to femicide.[1]

Feminist movements[edit]

Until recent[when?] decades, feminism was treated as a dirty word.[6] As the violence rose in Mexico this sentiment faded.[6] As more women became victims to violence the general disdain towards feminism and its ideals became less common among women and many began fighting for justice of murdered women.[6] Mexican women began to take to the streets to march in large demonstrations.[2] These marches called for the acknowledgement of the gender based violence women face.[2] Mexican feminists created the term "feminicidio" (femicide) to describe the way some women are murdered because they are women.[6] They urged their community members to recognize this kind of violence deviates from other kinds of murder and see it as a different issue.[6] The main participants in this movement are the loved ones of those who have been victims of femicide.[21] Their loved ones use various forms of media to spread the stories of those who lost their lives in the violence.[21] Their efforts birthed many organizations that act to keep women in Mexico safe from violence as well as informed about it.[21] Social media and the #MeToo movement transformed the movement through changing the culture of shame and fear that came with coming forward about sexual violence.[6] Women naming their abusers publicly became normalized as a result.[6]

Police response[edit]

The response to the increase in violence from both the local police and Mexican government has been consistently inadequate.[according to whom?][4] Police officers are known to downplay instances of women going missing.[5] and to be slow to respond to reports of violence or missing people.[4] These sluggish responses result in death as time is of the essence in disappearance cases.[4] Additionally, actual investigations are often not conducted properly which compromises their integrity, ultimately making it more difficult for victims to get justice.[4] Crime scenes do not get sealed, autopsies are mishandled, and victims do not get identified.[4] In the case of prosecution, people are tortured into giving false confessions to take accountability for more murders than they are responsible for.[4] Falsification of evidence also contributes to innocent people being arrested.[4] In many places in Mexico, police officers themselves have been found to be in connection with the murders.[2] Furthermore, victims are frequently blamed for their deaths and families perspectives of their deceased loved ones are treated with skepticism.[4]

Femicides as well as other kinds of gender based violence are allowed to occur by the Mexican government to because it makes women afraid, with the intention of preventing feminist movements as well as any kind of further liberation for Mexican women.[2] Police officers turn a blind eye and politicians do not create regulations to protect women because letting the violence occur reinforces patriarchal standards.[2] When women are more focused on fearing for their lives, activist circles are more difficult to sustain.

Activists in Mexico as well as other human rights organizations have criticized the Mexican government for its conduct and claimed these actions are human rights violations.[5]

Law and National protocols[edit]

Following the disappearance of Mónica Citlalli Díaz in a suburb of Mexico City in November, 2022, the Supreme Court President Arturo Zaldívar placed a national protocol to investigate all femicides along with all other homicides targeted towards women under any circumstance.[7] Efforts have been previously made by certain states in Mexico to create prosecutor's offices specifically for gender-based crimes given the increasing numbers of homicides. Since 2015, the federal government declared multiple gender violence alerts in order to urge local, state and federal authorities to take the necessary emergency action in particular regions so that they could provide the public with vital security measures and justice for victims and affected communities.[7]

Feminicide in the Penal Codes in Mexican states[edit]

NO. Federal Entity Date of publication Typical figure Bien jurídico tutelado]
1. Aguascalientes

Article 97A

August 21, 2017

amended on June 11, 2018. amended on DECEMBER 23, 2019.

Autonomous figure Life
2. Baja California

Article 129

April 5, 2013

reformed on March 20, 2015. reformed March 24, 2021

[Baja California]] Autonomous figure Life
3. Baja California Sur

Article 389

Approved on November 29, 2013.

Vetoed by the Governor of the State on January 28, 2014, voted by the Congress in February 2014 and published on November 30, 2014.

Homicide offender No
4. Campeche

Article 160

July 20, 2012

reformed on March 10, 2013.

[Campeche]] Autonomous figure Life
5. Chiapas

Article 164 Bis

February 8, 2012. [Chiapas]] Autonomous figure Life
6. Chihuahua

Article 126 Bis

September 14, 2017 Self-governing figure Life
7. Coahuila

Article 336 Bis 1

October 24, 2012

reformed on September 15, 2015.

Coahuila]] Article 336 Bis 1 Life
8. Colima

Article 191 Bis 5

August 27, 2011

reformed on July 4, 2015.

[Colima]] Autonomous figure Life
9. Mexico City

Article 148 bis

July 26, 2011. Autonomous figure Life, bodily integrity, dignity and access to a life free of violence.

General Law on Women's Access to a Life Free from Violence[edit]

The Women's Access Law defines femicide violence as: "The extreme form of gender violence against women, product of the violation of their human rights, in the public and private spheres, formed by the set of misogynist behaviors that can lead to social and State impunity and can culminate in homicide and other forms of violent death of women.

In cases of femicide, the penalties set forth in Article 325 of the Federal Criminal Code will be applied."

And it establishes the gender violence alert: "It is the set of emergency governmental actions to confront and eradicate feminicidal violence in a given territory, whether exercised by individuals or by the community itself." and has been considered as a defense mechanism [22].

It is activated to alert people belonging to governmental bodies and the population in general about the urgency of stopping femicides, street, work, school or domestic harassment, discrimination and violence experienced by Mexican women, with the purpose of guaranteeing a good quality of life free of inequalities. [23].

Alerta de Violencia de Género contra las Mujeres[edit]

It is a mechanism of the government of Mexico that aims to "confront and eradicate feminicidal violence in a given territory". It encompasses various actions, such as femicides investigation protocols and programs aimed at prevention, as well as "reforms to eliminate inequality in legislation and public policy"

Activism[edit]

Art[edit]

The denunciation of feminicide has been present since the early 2000s in the work of numerous artists. Activists and artists have gone hand in hand to denounce the murder of women points out the artist and feminist theorist Monica Mayer. The first exhibitions denouncing feminicide were carried out by Chicana artists in the United States in collaboration with Mexican artists, according to Mayer. In addition to exhibitions they carry out marches to Ciudad Juarez to denounce the situation. In 2000, Maritza Morillas paints "Paisaje cotidiano en Ciudad Juárez" and invited by Yan María Castro to participate in an exhibition against violence against women, she creates the series "CAroDAtaVERnibus" (2001) dedicated to the women murdered in Ciudad Juárez. .[24]

In 2002 Claudia Bernal organizes a performance in the Zócalo to denounce violence against women. Also Lorena Wolffer makes the work Mientras dormíamos: el caso Juárez or the Guatemalan Regina José Galindo in El dolor en un pañuelo from 1999 or Perra, from 2005 deal with gender violence and feminicide.[25]

Also Coco Fuscó from New York in a performance with artist and hactivist Ricardo Domínguez, 'Dolores from 10 to 10 (2002) denounces the situation of women in the maquilas and the violence they face. María Ezcurra in 2003 presents the sculpture "Ni una más". It is also the year in which the MujerArte AC (2002-2006) collective led by Yan María Castro convenes the First Meeting on Feminicide through the Arts. In 2005 the collective La Ira del Silencio led by Ana María Iturbe presented "Feminicidios, en el país de no pasa nada"[26]

In 2017 the Museo Memoria y Tolerancia in Mexico City presented the temporary exhibition "Feminicidio en México. Enough is enough! curated by Linda Atach and works by Teresa Margolles, Mayra Martell, Iván Castaneira, Cintia Bolio, Teresa Serrano and Elina Chauvet also made in the last decade,[citation needed] También Lorena Wolffer[27]

Antimonumenta[edit]

Antimonumenta are antimonumentos|antimonumentos erected to demand justice for the victims of gender violence and femicides in different states of Mexico such as the CDMX, the State of Mexico, Jalisco, Quintana Roo and Chiapas. #8M2019; they install antimonumenta.[28][29][30]

Soccer[edit]

On October 28, 2017, the Los de Arriba supporters' club Los de Arriba displayed a hundred posters with the legend "Ni una menos" (Not one less), at the match played between León|León and Veracruz. In addition, a statement was published on social networks, denouncing violence against women.[31].[32]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Frías, Sonia (2021). "Femicide and Feminicide in Mexico: Patterns and Trends in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Regions". Feminist Criminology. 18: 3–23. doi:10.1177/15570851211029377. S2CID 237766778.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Driver, Alice (2016-12-01). ""We Want to Stay Alive"". World Policy Journal. 33 (4): 39–46. doi:10.1215/07402775-3812949. ISSN 0740-2775. S2CID 157721799.
  3. ^ "Homicides in Mexico – Statistics". 6 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ensalaco, Mark (May 2006). "Murder in Ciudad Juárez". Violence Against Women. 12 (5): 417–440. doi:10.1177/1077801206287963. ISSN 1077-8012. PMID 16617169. S2CID 19975572.
  5. ^ a b c ANGULO LOPEZ, GEOFREDO (2019-06-13). "Femicide and Gender Violence in Mexico: Elements for a Systemic Approach". The Age of Human Rights Journal (12): 158–183. doi:10.17561/tahrj.n12.9. ISSN 2340-9592. S2CID 198747541.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Garza, Cristina Rivera (2020). "On Our Toes: Women against the Femicide Machine in Mexico". World Literature Today. 94 (1): 50–54. doi:10.1353/wlt.2020.0044. ISSN 1945-8134. S2CID 245660960.
  7. ^ a b c d e Sanchez, Fabiola; Pesce, Fernanda (27 December 2022). "Femicides in Mexico: Little Progress on Longstanding Issue". AP NEWS. Associated Press.
  8. ^ Navarro, María Fernanda (2020-07-21). "El feminicidio aumenta en 2020 mientras AMLO apunta al neoliberalismo • Forbes Política • Forbes México". Forbes México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  9. ^ "Presentan la ley "Ingrid", contra filtración de imágenes". El Universal (in Spanish). 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  10. ^ H, Ciudad de México Creada 23-02-2020 | 16:46 H/Última actualización 23-02-2020 | 21:22 (2020-02-23). "Crudo relato del crimen de Fátima Aldrighetti: "Mario quería una novia joven"". La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Encuentran en Ecatepec el cuerpo de Alicia Cortez, reportada como desaparecida en la CDMX". El Financiero (in Spanish). 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  12. ^ PAÍS, Ediciones EL (2023-04-21). "Debanhi Escobar in EL PAÍS English". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  13. ^ "Investigan como feminicidio muerte de Debanhi Escobar". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  14. ^ "BBC Scotland - Killing Escobar". BBC. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  15. ^ "Debanhi Escobar - Proceso". www.proceso.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  16. ^ "Debanhi Escobar". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  17. ^ Guillén, Beatriz (2022-11-16). "La Fiscalía apunta a que Lidia Gabriela no se lanzó del taxi sino que se cayó por la ventanilla al estar pidiendo auxilio". El País México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  18. ^ "Feminicidio de Lidia Gabriela: detuvieron a Pedro "N", presunto conductor del taxi del que se arrojó la joven". infobae (in European Spanish). 2022-11-15. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  19. ^ Guillén, Beatriz (2022-11-16). "La Fiscalía apunta a que Lidia Gabriela no se lanzó del taxi sino que se cayó por la ventanilla al estar pidiendo auxilio". El País México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  20. ^ Guillén, Beatriz (2022-11-16). "La Fiscalía apunta a que Lidia Gabriela no se lanzó del taxi sino que se cayó por la ventanilla al estar pidiendo auxilio". El País México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  21. ^ a b c d e Castañeda Salgado, Martha Patricia (2016-07-08). "Feminicide in Mexico: An approach through academic, activist and artistic work". Current Sociology. 64 (7): 1054–1070. doi:10.1177/0011392116637894. ISSN 0011-3921. S2CID 220706598.
  22. ^ Comisión Nacional para prevenir y erradicar la Violencia contra las Mujeres. "Alerta de Violencia de Género contra las Mujeres. Ficha informativa". www.conavim.gob.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  23. ^ Martínez, Diana (8 March 2016). "Alerta de género: una esperanza aún lejana para las mujeres". Expansión (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  24. ^ Mónica Mayer. "Arte frente al feminicidio". Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  25. ^ "Realista, fuerte, directa: Maritza Morillas (México)". ArT-facto. 15 March 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  26. ^ Alicia Bustamante Mouriño. "El arte feminista latinoamericano y la denuncia de la violencia de género". Feminicidio. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  27. ^ "Lorena Wolffer: Imágenes extremas del feminicidio". Feminicidio. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  28. ^ García, Paula (2019-03-06). "Este es el origen de los símbolos feministas". Hipertextual (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  29. ^ "La Antimonumenta: la escultura más importante para no olvidar". local.mx (in Mexican Spanish). 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  30. ^ "Marcha #8M2019; instalan antimonumenta por feminicidios". sdpnoticias. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  31. ^ Template:Webquote
  32. ^ "Protesta porra del León contra feminicidio". am.com.mx (in Spanish). 28 October 2017. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
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