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Femicide: The scourge that kills 12 women a day in Latin America

Author: Lorena Arroyo

In: Univision News, 2017

Provides data on femicide in Latin America (up to 2016). It also provides links to individual cases that advanced the protection of women in Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay, and also reports on El Salvador, Argentina and Cuba. In almost all Latin America countries, violence against women is difficult to challenge due to the pervasiveness of patriarchal and macho culture. In general, it is acknowledged that tolerance of this type of violence is due to the belief that ‘having a woman’s body’ means ‘having a sexual body’, which places women in a subordinate and objectified position. Moreover, because in many Latin American countries murder of men is frequent due to gang-related crimes, deaths of women have appeared, in comparison, unimportant.

For a general overview of high-profile cases that have helped to stimulate a debate about femicide, rape, domestic violence and other forms of abuse, and led to protests for women’s rights and against femicide prior to 2017, see https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jun/03/brazil-argentina-unite-protest-sexual-violence-gender for Brazil and Argentina; https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/04/25/state-violence-against-women-mexico/83488114/ for Mexico; http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/30/bolivia-struggles-with-gender-based-violence.html for Bolivia; https://colombiareports.com/colombias-women-protest-against-gender-based-violence/ for Colombia; http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/08/peruvians-say-no-to-violence-against-women/ for Peru.
For factors behind the world’s highest number of female murder rates in Latin America, see https://www.opendemocracy.net/democraciaabierta/mimi-yagoub/why-does-latin-america-have-worlds-highest-female-murder-rates

Available online at:

https://www.univision.com/univision-news/latin-america/femicide-the-scourge-that-kills-12-women-a-day-in-latin-america