Femicide in Mexico
[5] While the number of women murdered in Mexico has grown substantially in recent years, the proportion of female victims of homicide has stayed constant over the last three decades.
[1] Notably, Indigenous women—who make up 15% of the population—are at a higher risk of gender-based violence like femicide due to economic marginalization and limited access to health and government protections.
[6] Additionally, with geographic isolation and gender inequality, there are minimal methods of effective intervention and victim support.
[9] These movements primarily focus their efforts on demonstrations, sharing their own experiences, and creating works of art to express their frustrations.
On average, ten girls or women and 100 boys and men are killed daily in Mexico; it is estimated three femicides take place each day.
[10] The high murder rate in the country has continued to make international news, while directing attention to the abilities of Mexican authorities to deter crime and violence.
The case led to the proposal of the Ingrid law, which criminalizes sharing images, audios, or videos of corpses or body parts, of the circumstances of death, injuries or state of health.
[12] Debanhi Susana Escobar Bazaldúa, 18, disappeared after attending a party with friends in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico on April 9, 2021.
The case generated outrage over the alleged complicity of the authorities, who failed to respond in time to the victim's distress calls.
[20][5] 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.
Indigenous women, despite comprising 15% of Mexico's population are overlooked in the discussion of femicide because of the factors that place them at a higher risk.
[22] Additionally, targeting the economic vulnerability of indigenous women have caused maquiladoras, clothing factories, to spread across Mexican cities.
This combination of economic vulnerability near cartels has resulted in an increased rate of indigenous women facing death, rape, trafficking, and other forms of gender violence.
[22]The government of Mexico has ultimately failed to create effective preventative measures and social structures that would deter gender based violence.
[24] Current sitting President Manuel López Obrador stated in a conference he did not want to discuss feminicide because it would distract from the raffle the government was holding, ultimately placing profit over security concerns.
[24] This is only a continuance of the 137% increase of gender based violence in Mexico from the last five years, as when the former President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006-2012) declared a war on drugs, a notable spike in femicides was noticed in the Chiapas, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Veracruz, and many more states.
[5] Additionally, actual investigations are often not conducted properly which compromises their integrity, ultimately making it more difficult for victims to get justice.
[26] Following the disappearance of Mónica Citlalli Díaz in a suburb of Mexico City in November 2022, Supreme Court President Arturo Zaldívar enacted a national protocol to investigate all femicides, as well as other homicides targeted towards women.
[27] 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.
It encompasses various actions, including protocols for the investigation of femicides and programs aimed at feticide prevention, as well as "reforms to eliminate inequality in legislation and public policy".
That same year, the MujerArte AC (2002-2006) collective, led by Yan María Castro, convened 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"[32] In 2017, the Museo Memoria y Tolerancia in Mexico City presented the temporary exhibition "Feminicidio en México.
