Violence against women in Mexico
Women, on the other hand, have been traditionally put into roles of subservience due to the culture of "marianismo" and have had less access to knowledge and power to discuss and change the current norms.
[28] Other scholars have also agreed with this point of view, arguing that when Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, landed in Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City) in 1519, he imposed Spains' gender norms and Christian evangelization beliefs on to the indigenous societies.
[29] Pre colonial indigenous groups such as the Mexica, Quechua and the Aztecs believed in a gender complementary and parallel society; men and women operated in two separate but equal, interdependent divisions.
[35] When the Spanish conquered Tenotchitlan in the 16th century, indigenous societies became male dominated as women could no longer hold positions in government or religion, nor have control over their own personal assets.
"[8] Femicide in Latin America, specifically, has persisted as an issue, due to factors such as organized crime, gender norms, and lack of effective legislature to address it.
[61] Elvia Arriola, professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law, has argued that the creation of jobs attracted over tens of thousands of poor women from all over Mexico and Central America to Juarez.
[58] Rosa Fregoso, professor and former Chair of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California-Santa Cruz, reported that women's dismembered bodies were found in the deserts of Juarez one year after NAFTA was signed.
[65] Katherine Pantaleo, professor at the Department of Criminology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, argued that women of Juarez became an easy target for men to kill as they were constantly being attracted by maquiladora worksites.
Elvia Arriola explains that employers prefer hiring women because they have smaller hands which are useful in assembling intricate goods, are considered to be more submissive than Mexican men, and are less likely to unionize against the factory.
[66] Jessica Livingston, scholar, explains that women continue to arrive at Juarez at a rate of forty to sixty thousand per year even with the maquiladoras performing intrusive acts.
[56] Reported by victims families, Mexican authorities blamed the disappearing young girls for living a "double life", suggesting they worked as prostitutes at night.
[69] Melissa Wright, scholar of social justice movements within Mexico at Penn State, reported that Chihuahuas Governor Francisco Barrio did not provide extensive resources to further investigate the murders of women.
[63] After the report was released, Suly Ponce was appointed as the official prosecutor for the women's deaths, and she testified to witnessing police's carelessness at crime scenes as they would ruin evidence with footprints.
Abril Pérez Sagaón, ex-wife of Amazon México CEO Juan Carlos García, was murdered on November 25, 2019, the same day a "violence against women" march took place.
Gladys Giovana Cruz Hernandez, who confessed to strangling the girl, and Mario Alberto Reyes Najara, who was looking for a young girlfriend, were arrested on February 19.
[4] It is reported that the main location of sexual harassment in Mexico is in the workplace, in which victims rarely file any complaints since there are no rules in place to address the problem and punish the aggressor.
[101] On May 15, 2020, Mexican president Andres Manual Lopez Obrador stated that 90% of calls made to domestic violence hotlines during the stay at home orders were false.
[102] Later that same month, the government previewed an anti domestic violence commercial, urging spouses to count to ten and to wave the "white flag of peace" when frustrated.
[95] After receiving criticism from the Mexican population, which urged the government to provide tangible resources for domestic violence victims, the collection of videos were removed from television commercials.
In July 2020 Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that the federal women's institute would receive a budget cut of 75%, an estimated 151 million pesos (US$7,537,752.92) after the pandemic crisis.
[103] The Mexican government is part of various international efforts and agreements that aim to enhance the living standards of women and lower gender inequality within the country.
The 2012 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women showed its concern with the raising levels of insecurity and gender-based violence in the country:“It is deeply concerned that the public security strategy to combat organized crime, combined with persistent impunity and corruption, have contributed to the intensification of already existing patterns of widespread discrimination and violence against women in the State party, rooted in patriarchal attitudes, and to the minimization and invisibility of this phenomenon.
[108] The GLWALFV in point IV, Article 5 in Chapter I defines 'Violence against women' as: Any act or omission, based on their gender, that causes them psychological, physical, patrimonial, economic, sexual damage, suffering or death, in the private and the public matter.
Title I, Chapter I: General Dispositions The first and foremost section of this law begins with the multiple definitions used throughout the bill and with establishing the focus and goal of eradicating gender violence in it its various, defined forms.
[111] Since then, alerts have been released in Morelos, Michoacán, Chiapas, Nuevo León, Veracruz, Sinaloa, Colima, San Luis Potosí, Guerrero, Quintana Roo, and Nayarit.
The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), revealed that women refuse to report their case to authorities due to their lack of trust in the government, it being a waste of time, not having sufficient evidence, or out of fear of their abuser.
The hashtag #NiUnaMás has served as a place to diffuse information, encourage dialogue, and bring awareness to the assault that women and girls experience in Latin America.
[123][127] President Andrés Manuel López Obrador(AMLO), had made promises to fix the issue, but has not respond to the increasing violence and deaths of women and girls.
[123] Female members in government such as Interior Minister Olga Sánchez Cordero, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City's mayor, and others showed their support for the protest by using the hashtag #UnDiaSinMujeres or #UnDiaSinNosotras on social media.
[10] A group in the city of Nezahualcoyotl called Nos Queremos Vivas has gathered for marches, and has also created self-defense workshops to help young girls protect themselves.
