Marching the streets of Mexico City on International Women's Day 2022 a woman said "We fight today so we don't die tomorrow." Living in constant fear is the life of a woman in Mexico. Walking to your job, getting into a relationship, waiting to get picked up from school, riding the bus, or any standard activity are instances in which women face potential danger. On average, 10 women are killed daily in Mexico. The issue at hand is that nearly one out of five femicides occurred in the supposedly secure homes of women. Since 2015, there has been a 135% increase in femicides with roughly 1,004 women killed in 2021. The numbers bring about a few questions: Why are women in Mexico fighting for their lives? What factors are contributing to the high rates of femicide? What role does the Mexican government play? The institutionalized machismo and a discriminatory justice system are the main contributors to femicide in Mexico. In order to improve the lives of all women in Mexico, the government has to hold perpetrators accountable and ensure that women are seen as equals rather than inferior to men.
History and Scope of Femicide in Mexico
Mexico is ranked 13th in the countries with the most femicides per 100,000 women. Femicide in Mexico has been normalized for several years. However, it was not until the drastic number of disappearing women in Ciudad Juárez that the world started paying attention to the security of women in Mexico. In the 1990s and early 2000s, over 370 women had been killed and 137 of them were sexually assaulted before their deaths. This number is expected to be higher because of the missing and unaccounted women. In the city of Juárez, organized drug crime was rampant which many have speculated is correlated to the amount of femicides. The women work in U.S.-owned factories for $4-11 a day and rely on public transportation. This left them exposed. Those in extremely impoverished areas are more likely to become targets due to their vulnerability. These women were seen as disposable by law enforcement, employers, and the perpetrators. These women were at risk because of the circumstances they were in. Ecatepec de Morelos is known as the femicide capital of the nation. From 2012-2015, roughly 600 women have been killed in this town. Throughout the country, this is the standard. Mexico is one of the most dangerous places to be a woman. These crimes take place in broad daylight and every woman trying to go about their daily life is at risk.
Types of Perpetrators
Understanding the motivations and types of perpetrators is imperative to revealing the flaws within the Mexican system. There are two types of perpetrators of femicide. One is a random, fixated stranger and the other is a current or former partner.
While both types of perpetrators are disturbing, there is something to be said that current and former intimate partners are by far the most likely perpetrators of femicide, accounting for an average of 65 percent of all intimate partner and family-related killings. In the most personal relationship, women are at risk. The main reason why femicide happens between those closest to women is because of the opposition to women's autonomy. The intimacy of femicide reveals that women are vulnerable and in danger with the people meant to support and love them. When men feel threatened by a partner's independence, femicide is the result. The men who commit femicide cannot bear to be without their partner and refuse to see the woman as her own person. The femicides in Mexico carry the same motivations and warped senses of love. Unfortunately, this was the case for Ingrid Escamilla (2020), who was found in her home mutilated, missing organs, and skinned by her partner after an argument. Escamilla was a victim of partner violence. There is a vast disconnect if an argument can lead to murdering your partner. It is unfair to women that they can be in danger with someone they love. There are no spaces where women are complete, 100% safe. The idea that someone close to you can perform such heinous acts is alarming and disturbing.
What drives the random stranger to target a woman? These acts are typically done to uphold the gender norms of men's exertion over women. They desire power, and femicide is the most extreme display of power. Two days after Escamilla's death, seven-year-old Fatima Aldrighetti was found in a plastic bag with signs of sexual and physical abuse after being taken by two strangers. Aldrighetti was waiting to get picked up from school when these strangers targeted her. She did nothing to deserve this, the case for all femicides. When women are randomly picked to be killed and abused, there is something that needs to be addressed. The desire for power over women is so fierce that it cost a seven-year-old her life. These graphic deaths in such a brief time period caused an uproar from activists and resulted in protests that broke out throughout the country. These back-to-back publicized deaths demonstrate the two types of perpetrators: random and partner.
Institutionalized Machismo
Only 18% of Mexicans expressed a high level of trust in public security institutions in 2017, and only 7% in the case of municipal police. Machismo is a form of toxic masculinity in Latin American countries. Mexican culture is commonly known to be hyper-masculine, which surely plays a role in the motivations of the perpetrators. But when machismo is institutionalized in the government administration and police force, it is hopeless for women to be seen or treated as equal. When it starts from the institutions, these beliefs will permeate into the culture. Women in unsafe situations are forced to fend for themselves with no help from the government or authorities.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been openly against feminist activists protesting. He has claimed that the gender report from his own administration about 26,000 domestic violence calls, in March 2020 alone, was false and that the calls were 'fake.' When asked about his thoughts on the Ingrid Escamilla case mentioned previously, President López Obrador said "I do not want the femicides to overshadow the raffle [the sale of a presidential airplane], it is distortion and false information." This current administration has cut government programs such as the Gender Violence Alert Against Women. This program was meant to "implement a set of emergency governmental actions to confront and eradicate the femicide and/or the existence of comparative wrongdoing." This cut in funding has negatively impacted local shelters and safe housing for women. The quality and amount of these safety housing options decreased. This administration has continuously shown how little they prioritize the safety of women and it fuels perpetrators to murder women. Machismo has taken enough from these women and it will continue to do so under López Obrador's administration.
The authorities in Mexico are known for being corrupt, especially in drug relations. However, they are also corrupt in their own biases. Machismo has formed the way Hispanic men view women. A majority of the Hispanic male population sees women as inferior and as someone meant to cater to the needs of men. Unfortunately, several police officers and investigators are no exception. The case of Ariadna Lopez (2022) reflects the failures of the authorities to report femicides correctly. Lopez was found on the side of the highway and investigators claimed that she died from overconsumption of alcohol. However, her family demanded a second autopsy in which numerous blunt-force traumas were discovered. The public was outraged at the victim blaming that took place, but Lopez was not the only one. Levsy Berlin (2017) was found strangled in a phone box and it was ruled a suicide. It took the authorities two years to apologize for this clear display of ignorance. The authorities have routinely shown that their investigations are inaccurate of the true issue at hand. Machismo normalizes disregarding protocol and victim blaming. Without proper investigation, hundreds of cases are being tossed to the side. Women are being killed and those meant to help are blinded by misguided beliefs about women.
Impunity
Mexico is dealing with several conflicts in relation to gang violence, drug cartels, and corruption. "Only 5.2 percent of crimes committed in Mexico are solved, the nongovernmental group México Evalúa reports." If this is the normal rate as of 2022, it is no surprise that when it comes to convicting femicide, they fall short. However, these issues exacerbate the state of women's safety and security. If the system is known to fail, perpetrators will take advantage of the opportunity and women will pay the price. There is a lack of resources and support for women seeking justice.
Mexico Penal Code defines a homicide as a femicide when one or more of the following criteria is involved: "1) there are signs of sexual violence; 2) the victim suffered degrading wounds or was mutilated, be it pre- or posthumously; 3) there are records of any type of violence in family, work, or school settings involving the suspect and the victim; 4) the victim and the suspect had an emotional, physical, or particularly trusting relationship; 5) there is an indication that the suspect previously threatened to kill, harass/abuse, or cause bodily harm to the victim; 6) the victim was held incommunicado [without access to communication] prior to her assassination; or 7) the victim's body was publicly exposed or exhibited." Evidently, the government definition of femicide is broad, yet femicides in Mexico are rarely prosecuted. The definition is not the issue, but rather the execution of the nationwide penal code. Systemic impunity allows men to continue their cycles of violence toward women. It empowers them to know that they will most likely get away with these unspeakable acts of brutality. Impunidad Cero conducted a study over a period of six years in regard to femicide and prosecution in Mexico. They found the following:
"In six years only seven out of every 100 homicide cases have been clarified and in this same period of time less than half of the registered femicides have concluded with a conviction. Despite the fact that the SCJN (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación) ruled that every violent death of a woman must be investigated as a femicide, only 27% of the violent deaths of women were investigated as a femicide in 2021."
This extensive study shows how the justice system is faulted in practice. The government has implemented laws and even opened prosecutor offices meant to focus on femicide, but in reality, perpetrators go unconvicted. Another issue is that some of these deaths are not ruled as femicides. Instead, they can be ruled as murder or manslaughter, even if they meet the criteria for femicide stated in the Mexican Penal Code. The sentence for femicide is up to 60 years, but that means nothing if these deaths go unreported as femicides or unconvicted. These women deserve to feel safe and trust that their justice system holds offenders accountable. An inefficient justice system contributes to the insecurity that Mexican women feel daily.
Conclusion
Being a woman is difficult, there is no question about it. Women face danger because of their gender, something out of their control. They are targeted, sexually abused, and killed because they were born into a society that sees them as expendable and replaceable. Unfortunately, Mexico is not the only country with a femicide issue. This is a global-scale dilemma and it seems like no one is paying attention. The protests and marches that take place often in Mexico can only do so much. Those in places of power need to advocate for women. Furthermore, women need to be put in those places of power. The ten women that die daily in Mexico deserve better. There are many strides that need to be made in Mexico to make women feel secure.
By VG
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