Femicide in Latin America

From UBC Wiki

Overview 

Violence against women is made up of a wide range of acts, this can be seen in implicit and explicit acts of emotional. verbal, and physical abuse. On the more extreme side of this spectrum, we find Femicide, which is defined by the World Health Organization as the murder of a woman. [1]

Femicide is the intentional murder of women or girls because they are women or girls. Femicide differs from homicide since most cases are committed by partners or ex-partners of the opposite sex and rely on an imbalance of power between the man and the woman. Within a Latin American perspective, we can see that there is a rampant culture of gender inequality, oppression of women, and the violation of women’s rights. It furthers the belief that women are to be mastered as the “weaker sex.” Systems in place are formed with this belief and ensure that women are not guaranteed their rights and cannot find justice or peace. [1]

Gender Inequality in Latin America and Machismo 

In Latin America, a system of social structures and practices that enforce the patriarchy are applied to all spheres of life. This creates a gender gap rooted in the oppression of women, keeping them in an inferior position, and actively disempowering them. It can be said the patriarchy serves as a neutralizing tool that prevents an egalitarian experience for Latin American women, much research has been done to illustrate how women live at a disadvantage to men occurring from early in the lives. [2]

Sylvia Walby describes patriarchy as such; 

“A system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women. ….[with] the notion that every individual man is in a dominant position and every woman in a subordinate one.” [2]

It is important to understand how patriarchy plays into social structures within Latin America and the treatment of women, this will help with the understanding of Machismo. Machismo is a rampant issue among Latin American culture, it places the value of men over that of women in a way that not only surpasses the male gender over female gender but it normalizes the oppression of women. The social expectation of gender roles is thus normalized and creates a sense of entitlement of men to exert gendered power over women. [2]

The Creation of Femicide 

When speaking of femicide, it is important to acknowledge the difference between female homicide. Female homicide can be described as any murder of women or girls, while femicide focuses more on the murder of women or girls based on reasons of gender. [3]

According to a study done by Rodriguez, Latin America contributes to more than half the number of all femicides in the world, a 2012 study by Small Arms Survey uncovered that Latin America is the region that has the highest femicide rates. In the Friedman-NCLA report it identifies that there has been an increase of 50% of violence against women in the last decade.[2]

Latin American countries have laws in place to ensure gender equality, such as the Belem do Para Convention which aimed at increasing legislation and regulations on violence against women and protected the rights’ of women. In 2007, the second wave of the convention added in laws based on gender-based violence, it included the term “femicide” as a serious criminal offense.[3] The enforcement of such laws and legislature has been weak, the Human Development Report illustrates that social progress made on paper does not reflect the real lived experiences of women who face a constant violation of their rights. The report illustrates that women are at a disadvantage due to Latin American society and their subscription to harsh patriarchal ideology.[2] 

Types of femicide

Intimate femicide

Intimate femicide is known to be committed by a current or former husband or boyfriend, preliminary findings in a WHO study reveal that more than 35% of all global murders of women are reported to have been committed by an intimate partner. [1]

“Honour” killings

This type of femicide is related to “honour” and involves the murder of a girl or woman by a family member, usually, it is because of an actual or assumed sexual or behavioral transgression. This act of femicide is often seen as a way to protect the reputation of a family, rooted in deep traditions or religious views.[1]

Non-intimate femicide

This type of femicide is also known as sexual femicide, it is committed by someone without an intimate relationship with the victim. The majority of these killings are random acts of sexual aggression towards women, however, in Latin America, we see a systematic murder of women with the increase of these crimes against women.[1]

Legal Responses and Barriers

In 1994, the Inter-American Convention on the prevention, punishment, and eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belem do Para) was erected. This convention aims at the recognition and affirmation of violence against women as a violation of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. It concerns itself with the offense of violence against women as an impairment to their observance and enjoyment of their rights and freedoms and states that these offenses go against human dignity which further the manifestation of unequal power distribution based on gender. [4]

In the attempt to criminalize femicide in Latin America, regions such as Argentina, Chile, and Costa Rica have created laws based on femicide cases perpetrated in the context of relationships, involving relative or intimate partner violence. However, femicides occurring outside of such context, have been difficult to prosecute under these laws. [5] Many Latin American nations have furthered their femicide laws, labeling them as hate crimes, which emphasizes the severity and motive behind violence against women. Many nations have applied legislature and legal obligations of the states to prevent femicide, improve access to justice, and educate the public on this growing issue.[5]

While the new laws and legislature condemn femicide as an abhorrent act of violence against women, justice has still not been served to the victims and their families. Impunity trumps accountability within the courts of many Latin American countries, who function inside a dysfunctional judicial system. Latin American systems of power are still privy to different forms of coercion and corruption. The judicial system continues to display insensitivity towards these cases of violence against women, which express indifference towards the death of women. These high rates of impunity and the attitudes carried by those representing the judicial system make it increasingly difficult for those seeking justice to come forward and lead to the distrust of the judicial system. [5]

Collective Action #NiUnaMenos

The #NiUnaMenos movement sparked as an outcry to the increasing levels of violence against women in Latin America, it started as a hashtag to spread the word of violence against women and soon became a cause for millions of Latin American women to take a stand against gender violence. [6] This movement demands the end of femicide and increasing violence against women in Latin America. Demonstrations broke out all over Latin America of women, families of victims, and gender equality activists expressing their frustrations with the state of affairs. It served as a uniting cause for people from different backgrounds to speak up for the important cause.[7] 
#NiUnaMenos has transcended the advocacy for just femicide and now encompasses the wide range of issues facing women in Latin America, evolving into claims for women’s rights, including sexual and reproductive rights.[7] What this movement has created is a new political discourse and practice through a digital sphere, which connects people from all backgrounds and locations to unite for the cause. As an example, the first #NiUnaMenos rally took place in Buenos Aires with over 500,000 bodies gathered in support of the legalization of abortion, this was the catalyst for the mass mobilization we can see today. [8][9]


Statistics

  • In 2018 more than 3,800 women were violently murdered in Latin America [10]
  • Mexico ranks eighth in the list of 20 most dangerous Latin American nation to be a woman [10]
  • Only 13 Latin American nations have comprehensive legal standards that address the femicide phenomenon[10]
  • In 2012, seven out of the ten countries with the highest female murder rate in the world were in Latin America[10]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 [apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77421/WHO_RHR_12.38_eng.pdf;jsessionid=D03D5DBFAC7C331D6C5921690EBDABB1?sequence=1. "Understanding and Addressing Violence against Women"] Check |url= value (help). World Health Organization.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Burbano, Eliza (2016). "The Persistence of Patriarchy in Latin America: An Analysis of Negative and Positive Trends". Honors Theses.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Saccomano, Celeste (2020). [www.jstor.org/stable/resrep14204 "The Causes of Femicide in Latin America"] Check |url= value (help). Institut Barcelona D'Estudis Internacionals – via JSTOR.
  4. [www.oas.org/en/mesecvi/docs/BelemDoPara-ENGLISH.pdf. "Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women"] Check |url= value (help). Organization of American States. 1994.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Joseph, Janice (2017). "Victims of Femicide in Latin America: Legal and Criminal Justice Responses". Temida. 20: 3–21.
  6. McGowan, Charis (2020). [www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/04/niunamenos-five-years-on-latin-america-as-deadly-as-ever-for-women-say-activists. "#NiUnaMenos Five Years on: Latin America as Deadly as Ever for Women, Say Activists"] Check |url= value (help). The Guardian.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Medley, Magdalena (2016). [www.amnestyusa.org/5-things-i-learned-at-argentinas-niunamenos-march-against-femicide "5 Things I Learned at Argentina's #NiUnaMenos March against Femicide"] Check |url= value (help). Amnesty International USA.
  8. Caballero, Gerardo (2019). "Usos De Las Redes Sociales Digitales Para La Acción Colectiva: El Caso De Ni Una Menos". Anthropologica Del Departamento De Ciencias Sociales. 37: 105–128.
  9. Palmeiro, Cecilia (2020). [www.spheres-journal.org/contribution/ni-una-menos-and-the-politics-of-translation "Ni Una Menos and the Politics of Translation"] Check |url= value (help). Spheres.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Romero, Carolina (2020). [login.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?qurl=https://search.proquest.com%2fdocview%2f2377043890%2ffulltext%2fA955FF1E08EA43D4PQ%2f1%3faccountid%3d14656. "Broken Life: Stories of Femicide in Latin America"] Check |url= value (help). ProQuest.