The Cases of Femicide in Mexico #NiUnaMenos
- genztalkforchange
- Oct 12, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 29, 2020
[TRIGGER WARNING]: Before you read this article,please be aware that there are mentions of abuse, murder, and violence. If any of these themes make you sensitive or anxious by any means, don't read it. If you still want to help by signing the petitions, scroll down to the last section "Petitions About the Femicides to Sign"
In the last two years, Mexico has been dealing with an ongoing issue that has been frightening all the women in the country: the increasing number of femicide cases. These types of crimes against women has been growing to reach alarming numbers this year, and it seems like not much is being done to stop these numbers from growing.
First Things First: What is a Femicide?
The word femicide is constantly being used in the news and in the media, but what does it actually mean?
According to the World Health Organization, femicide is generally understood as the intentional murder of women because of their gender. Broader definitions include any killings of women or girls.
Femicides are usually perpetrated by men, but sometimes female family members may be involved. Femicide differs from male homicide in the sense that most cases of femicide are committed by partners or ex-partners of the victims, and involve ongoing abuse or situations where women have less power or fewer resources than their partner.
Statistics of Femicides in Mexico
The number of cases involving the murder of women have been constantly growing during the last couple of years in Mexico. It was estimated that 1,006 women were victims of femicide in 2019 - however, an even bigger number of cases were not officially registered.
Additionally, only 3 out of 100 cases are proceeded. The problem happens when the police doesn't investigate because they are being paid to remain silent and ignore the reports.
It has come to a point that the number of cases in Mexico have increased by 137% in the last five years. Around 11 women are being murdered every day in their homes and 155 calls are received hourly by the 911 reporting home abuse.
In January, feminist artists filled Mexico City's main square with red shoes to represent the missing and murdered women.
How the Coronavirus Affected this Reality
COVID-19 has been the main reason of so many problems currently happening around the globe, and it is no different when it comes to femicide. With no option but to stay at home, women have been suffering more abuse from their partners and family relatives. According to the National Net of Refugees, since the beginning of the pandemic the violence against women has increased by 81% regarding the 2019 data.
Between May and June, the files of research for alleged femicide have gone up by 40.3%. Also in June, 99 homicides were reported, adding to a total of 489 overall cases for the first half of 2020.
These numbers also go to their children. 46% of the women's kids who had asked for help were victims of domestic violence during quarantine, where 8% were victims of sexual assault while staying at home. In total, almost 1,000 Mexican women and girls were killed in the year of 2020.
The Government Keeps Neglecting the Issue
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was questioned a few times about the femicide issue in the country, but every time he appears to not care about the importance of the subject. He once said that "his government has been the one to protect Mexican women the most and that his opponents go as far as to call themselves feminists just so they have something new to criticize him on".
In another interview, when asked about the high number of killings of women, he said that it has "been manipulated a lot in the media". He also said that, regarding most of the emergency calls made against domestic violence, "ninety percent of those calls are fake". For him, it seems like these numbers are too absurd to be real, but the reality is far from peaceable.
The Protests in Mexico
It was already expected that people would not remain silent while seeing all these women being murdered and not receiving the justice they deserved. With that in mind, the people started protesting, and they are marching the streets in really high numbers.
On International Women's Day, an estimated of 80,000 to 120,000 protestors did a national strike against gender-based violence and posted on the social media under the hashtag #NiUnaMenos. A lot of these protests happened outside the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City. People have also found a way to protest in more artistic ways.
The fountain "La Diana", in Mexico City. It was tinted in red colorant to symbolize the blood of the dead women.
The "Angel de La Independencia", one of the biggest monuments in Mexico City, was filled with graffitis demanding justice. This became a huge fight on social media where men were complaining and saying they shouldn't have done that.
Genebit Godinez case #JusticiaParaGenebit
One of the most known cases of femicide in Mexico was the 20-year-old architecture student Genebit Livier Godínez Castañeda. She was murdered by her own boyfriend and her body was found inside the trunk of her car on July 31st. Luckily, the boyfriend is facing homicide charges. She was not an exception, many other similar cases keep happening while many of them will never have the justice they deserve.
How We Can Help: Petitions to Sign
Here are a list of petitions to sign to help with the situation in Mexico. A few of them are fully in Spanish, so here are a few informations about what to do in each petition:
Correo: Email Nombre: Name
Apellido: Last name
Telefono a 10 digitos: Phone number with 10 digits
País: Country
Here are the petition links:
There are many more petitions, but these were the ones I could find. It is enraging and heartbreaking to see that this is still the reality of so many women to this day, but hopefully the victims will get the justice they all need and demand.
Resources:
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