Femicide & Violence Against Women in Latin America

Femicide & Violence Against Women in Latin America

Beza Gebremariam, Emily Peraza, Lydia Johnson, & Raziya Hillery

Femicide, defined as gender-based murder of a woman or girl by a man, is a global human rights issue and a threat to peace and security. 18 On average, about 66 thousand women are killed violently each year around the world. 19 Femicide and general violence against women is not only a healthcare issue, but it is a human rights issue. Because violence can be systemic through policy or domestic and societal norms, it is a grand issue affecting the population, public health, education, and many other areas of one’s life. Examples of this include policies made about women’s bodies that put them in danger, work related policies that are insensitive to menstruation and breastfeeding, societal norms and systems that make women second-class citizens, societal rules that may not protect women’s rights, and much more. All forms of violence have a profound impact on women in the region, and it leads to numerous deaths.

Latin America has a growing problem of violence against women, including femicide. In Latin America, at least 4,091 women were victims of femicide in 2020. 20 Where about 12 women are murdered a day across the region. 21 There is an extensive history of what is called “ machismo” or a strong sense of masculine pride throughout the region, which relates to violence against women and inspires much of the policies and social norms that make women face violence systemically and domestically.

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In a world where women struggle to gain adequate rights, there comes a great need to assess how this issue spreads. This paper will briefly discuss modern human rights violations, specifically regarding femicide and violence against women in Latin America.The paper will share a case study of femicide in Latin America, assess government responses through policy, and provide an overview of activist groups that raise awareness about women’s rights to show that addressing violence against women, especially femicide, in Latin America is key to protecting human rights, peace, and security worldwide.

The patriarchal societal norms across Latin America have led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of women through femicide tendencies. Failed policy decisions reflect the

18 Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Femicide. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/femicide 19 Nowak, M. (2012). Femicide: A Global Problem. Small Arms Survey. https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/resource/femicide-global-problem-research-note-14 20 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. (2021, November 24). At Least 4,091 Women Were Victims of Femicide in 2020 in Latin America and the Caribbean, Despite Greater Visibility and Social Condemnation. ECLAC.https://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/eclac-least-4091-women-were-victims-femicide-2020-latin-america-a nd-caribbean-despite 21 Femicide and International Women’s Rights. (n.d.). In Global Americans. https://theglobalamericans.org/reports/femicide-international-womens-rights/ 22 Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Machismo. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved May 10, 2022 from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/machismo

incarceration rates of women for abortions or miscarriages and the lack of access to healthcare. Therefore, the need for women to be present and proactive at the center of policy decisions is crucial and required. For example, activism in El Salvador is increasingly growing as the country battles the highest rate of femicide in the world, with one woman being murdered by a man every 24 hours. 23 While the U.S. has been involved in El Salvador’s economic and social development, especially post-civil war, participation from female figures both domestically and internationally has significantly lacked on issues regarding femicide and violence against women. The approach and lackluster response to gender-based violence reinforces misogynistic ideals where machismo prevails. The normalization of domestic violence and gender violence only fuels the silence of victims and leads to the underreporting of similar crimes. 24A culture of silencing the families of femicide victims and letting perpetrators free without any repercussions is vastly normalized in Latin America. Therefore, the scattered data and absence of an accurate and standardized data base often leaves the testimonies of women untold.

Femicide rates in Latin America highlight the importance of women of color and their voices in public health and public policy. Reported in a 2016 publication, “A Gendered Analysis of Violent Deaths, ” “fourteen of the twenty-five countries with the highest femicide rates are Latin American”25 . Without the safety and protection of women, nation-states will not have the sustainability vital for a strong and stable country. A start to appropriately approaching femicide and gender violence would begin with the education of young women, task forces including women both from domestic and international organizations, and holding perpetrators of gendered violence. As a result of Latin America holding some of the highest rates of femicide, there are a variety of laws passed acknowledging this, sadly holding those accountable is where more issues arise, showcasing that, “the adoption of specific laws does not always facilitate the prosecution of these crimes as actual gender related killings of women and girls, or “femicides'' , because it may be challenging to identify the additional gender-related elements that constitute the crime”26 . Femicides are an international peace and conflict issue and if allowed to continue without interference will result in a broken justice system remaining to ignore the trauma of victims on the world stage.

Femicide, the gender-specific homicide of women, often stemming from other instances of violence against women, is an international human rights crisis. The increasing number of

23 Huttner, Sophie. “El Salvador's Femicide Crisis.” The Yale Review of International Studies, June 29, 2020. http://yris.yira.org/essays/3794 24 Huttner, Sophie. “El Salvador's Femicide Crisis.” The Yale Review of International Studies, June 29, 2020. http://yris.yira.org/essays/3794 25 Kennon, Isabel, and Grace Valdevitt. “Women Protest for Their Lives: Fighting Femicide in Latin America.” Atlantic Council, March 10, 2021. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/diversity-equity-inclusion/women-protest-for-their-lives-fighting-femici de-in-latin-america 26 “Global Study on Homicide - Gender-Related Killing of Women and Girls .” UNODC, 2019. https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/gsh/Booklet_5.pdf.

cases of femicide and violence against women in Latin America reflects a global institutional disregard for women. Latin America boasts some of the highest regional instances of femicide, many of which escalate from domestic violence cases that were either not properly documented, investigated, or prosecuted. The machismo culture of Latin America, a culture of overbearing male entitlement, aggression, and dominance, reinforces misogynistic attitudes about women and feminism. Regionally, women and girls are viewed as and encouraged to be submissive to men, who are considered dominant and the sole sources of protection. In many instances, femicide is the tragic conclusion to patterns of domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, and abuse --- examples of gender-based violence that disproportionately affect women, girls, and those within the LGBTQI community.

It is exacerbated by inaction and negligence by police, national security forces, and governments, which often contribute to further victimization of survivors. Femicide cases are frequently under or improperly reported, making the confirmation of actual case numbers difficult. Human rights organizations in the region have noted that local police forces often fail to recognize or document when a woman’s gender played a role in her murder, complicating efforts to capture the full scope of the crisis. 27 Survivors and families of victims are often discouraged from speaking out against perpetrators or pursuing justice through legal systems. Lack of strong policies, institutional protections, and supportive infrastructure, such as women’s shelters, coupled with high rates of impunity leave many women feeling unprotected in the face of violence.

The first large-scale movement against femicide, and the most well-known, started in Argentina in June 2015, united under the slogan “Ni una menos” (Not one less). The protest began in response to the death of pregnant fourteen-year-old Chiara Páez, found severely beaten and buried by her seventeen-year-old boyfriend in the Central Province of Santa Fe. 28The first Ni Una Menos march was held just weeks later in front of the Argentine National Congress. The start of the movement can be traced back to a tweet from Argentine radio journalist Marcela Ojeda in reaction to Páez’s death, “Actrices, políticas, artistas, empresarias, referentes sociales...mujeres, todas, bah...no vamos a levantar la voz? NOS ESTAN MATANDO” (Actresses, politicians, artists, business women, social references, women, everyone, bah...are we not going to lift up our voice? THEY ARE KILLING US). 29 After this tweet the hashtag #NiUnaMenos went viral providing a virtual town square for activists to organize and to spread their message throughout the region- in countries such as Mexico, Chile, and Brazil among many others.

Since 2015, Ni Una Menos has brought more attention to the issue of femicide in Latin America, as well as pushed for meaningful policy changes. This is particularly true in Argentina, where it is now a requirement of the government to collect and publish national femicide

27 https://www.milenio.com/policia/violencia-de-genero/fuera-de-radar-oficial-50-de-los-feminicidios 28 Piatti-Crocker, Adriana. "Diffusion of# NiUnaMenos in Latin America: Social Protests Amid a Pandemic." Journal of International Women's Studies 22, no. 12 (2021): 7-24. 29 Marcela Ojeda, Twitter post, May 11, 2015, 9:24 a.m., https://twitter.com/Marcelitaojeda/status/597799471368564736. A social referent is someone socially significant.

statistics30 . Also in Chile, activists were able to pressure politicians to ensure gender parity in the construction of Chile’s new constitution. 31 While these advancements show the power of a grassroots movement, femicide is still a persistent issue in the region- even more so due to COVID-19. Like the rest of the world, Ni Una Menos and its related movements were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, putting activists in a difficult position. Femicide rates during COVID were at an all time high due to victims of domestic abuse being stuck inside with their abusers with little outlets. In June 2020, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Colombia, and Peru had an increase in calls to domestic violence hotlines. 32 Normally this would lead to activists protesting in the streets however due to social distancing regulations, they were not able to. Initially when activists couldn’t meet in person, they moved to organizing virtually. For instance, Salvadorian women organized a virtual #NiUnaMenos protest33 . However as the pandemic continued and domestic violence cases continued to increase (with little action from governments) so protests returned to the streets.

Activist organizations have made significant efforts to amplify the realities of femicide and call for accountability from Latin American governments and political leaders. Though the Covid-19 pandemic complicated many on-the-ground initiatives, it is through the relentless work of movements such as Ni Una Más (the anti-gender based violence movement in Latin and Central America) and #NiUnaMenos (a similar movement in South American nations, like Argentina) that survivors have been able to pursue justice, and victims of femicide have been recognized. Growing outrage and organizing response from survivors, their communities, and human rights organizations has prompted many Latin American governments to address demands for state action and protections for victims of gender-based violence. These organizations seek to ultimately prevent murders of women by thoroughly prosecuting the crimes that lead to it and condemning femicide as a regional epidemic and human rights violation.

Increased media coverage and pressure from activist organizations against femicide has pushed many Latin American governments to finally acknowledge the femicide crisis, though in many cases these institutional responses have been incremental at best. As of 2020, seventeen Latin American nations have laws distinguishing the murder of a woman from the traditional definition of homicide, with some including parameters for domestic relationships -- murders committed by a woman’s partner or a family member. Some countries have become more

30 Piatti-Crocker, "Diffusion of# NiUnaMenos in Latin America” 31 Alcoba, Natalie, and Charis McGowan . “ This Article Is More than 1 Year Old #NiUnaMenos Five Years on: Latin America as Deadly as Ever for Women, Say Activists.” The Guardian, June 4, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/04/niunamenos-five-years-on-latin-america-as-deadly-a s-ever-for-women-say-activists. 32 Carreras, Enrique, and Santiago M. Perez-Vincent. Domestic Violence Reporting during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Latin America. No. 11716. Inter-American Development Bank, 2021. 33 Prusa, Anya, Beatriz Garcia Nice, and Olivia Soledad. “‘Not One Women Less, Not One More Death:’ Feminist Activism and Policy Responses to Gender-Based Violence in Latin America.” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs , August 12, 2020. https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2020/08/12/not-one-women-less-not-one-more-death-feminist-activism-and-policy-respo nses-to-gender-based-violence-in-latin-america/.

proactive in identifying femicide attempts by incentivizing victims to come forward by providing government-backed support and protection. Peru, for example, developed a national plan against gender-based violence34 , including specialized task forces and emergency centers for victims. Panama increased locations in its safe house network plan35 , and Mexico has incorporated longer sentences for perpetrators (40 to 60 years plus a fine)36 . Gender-based violence and feminism activist leaders know that these changes are far from sufficient, however. As outlined in this paper, in El Salvador, which holds the highest rate of femicide of any Latin American country, the continued normalization of domestic violence instances and general unawareness of the dangers of femicide by political leaders presents barriers to accurate reporting and tracking of cases, as well as limits activist efforts to provide resources to victims.

While femicide is far from a regionally isolated crisis, the growing number of cases and national responses in Latin America have global implications. Government inaction and police ineffectiveness equate to complicity in the perpetuation of femicide and contribute to the cycle of abuse faced by women globally. The machismo culture of the region both undermines the severity of gender-based violence and contributes to inaccurate reporting and protections for victims. Violence against women is a global peace and security issue; femicide is the consequence of this issue remaining unresolved. It is not solely a product of conflict or extenuating circumstances, but rather the inevitable reality fostered by a culture that encourages male dominance through harassment, abuse, and control of women and their bodies. Nonetheless, activist initiatives, increased global awareness, and international government responses have contributed to the fight to end femicide and the human rights violation of gender-based violence.

34 “Decreto Supremo Que Aprueba El ‘Plan Nacional Contra La Violencia De Género.’” Www.mimp.gob.pe, Ministerio De La Mujer y Poblaciones Vulnerables De Peru, 26 July 2016, https://www.mimp.gob.pe/files/programas_nacionales/pncvfs/procesos/DS-008-2016-mimp-PlanNacionalContraVio leciaGenero.pdf. 35 United Nations General Assembly. “Progress towards Gender Equality under Threat, World Leaders Warn as General Assembly Marks Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of Landmark Women's Rights Conference - World.” ReliefWeb, United Nations General Assembly, 2 Oct. 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/world/progress-towards-gender-equality-under-threat-world-leaders-warn-general-assemb ly-marks. 36 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. “Criminalization of Gender-Related Killing of Women and Girls.” Www.unodc.org, United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Sept. 2014, https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/IEGM_GRK_BKK/UNODC.CCPCJ.EG.8.2014.CRP.1.pdf.