Only 10% of murders of women are considered femicides: Conavim

Carolina Gomez Mena

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday November 27, 2022, p. 8

In most states, only 10 percent of violent deaths of women are investigated as femicides.exposes Fabiola Alanís, head of the National Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence against Women (Conavim).

The official details the day that there are some exceptions, where these crimes they are adequately investigated, such as Mexico City and Chiapas, which has come a long way in that category.

In the context of the 16 days of activism against gender violence, it stands out that the Conavim’s daily endeavor is that in every violent death of a woman a femicide protocol be initiatedand ensures that in absolute terms there is a decrease of this crime.

From January to August 2021 there were 383 femicides, and from January to October of this year 327 have been registered; that is, there is a decrease of 16.7 percent. Meanwhile, between January and October 2022, 3,170 violent deaths of women have been registered, and they are 4 percent less than last year.

However, he points out that even if it were a single death, it is always unfortunate and must be avoided, so prevention is essential. When a femicide occurs we are already late, what we want is to arrive earlierand that is achieved identifying the crime of rape, intentional injuries, harassment and bullying in time to prevent a femicide from occurring.

He recognizes that many authorities still minimize complaints of gender assaults, allowing them to escalate and lead to homicide for these reasons. We have very close communication with most prosecutors, and with some it is more difficult for us, it is much more complicated to make them advance in the gender perspective.

Conavim carries out actions to raise awareness, we give them permanent training: we talk, we suggest and remind them of the protocols, we deal with cases, we put in writing the need for them to judge with a gender perspective, to abide by the protocols, international and national sentences, but in some cases it really seems coordination with some prosecutor’s offices impassable.

Regarding the need to standardize the criminal offense of femicide on a national scale, he comments that We are discussing the possibility of promoting this approval. There is an initiative prepared by Minister President Arturo Zaldívar, and we are in talks with the federal Congress to advance.

If this were to materialize, there would be various benefits, we would all speak the same language. It would allow all instances to know how these crimes have to be addressed with a gender perspective, and surely that would have an impact on the reduction of impunity, by better integrating the investigation folders. Surely there would be the possibility of prosecuting a greater number of cases.