2024-04-23 06:50:57
On April 16, María José, a 17-year-old girl, was the victim of femicide in the Iztacalco mayor’s office in Mexico City by a neighbor. Her mother, who witnessed the incident, tried to save her and as a result she was injured. The screams of the victims alerted the neighbors who arrested the criminal.
When they arrived at the femicide’s house, the authorities found skeletal remains of at least 7 women and identification of at least a dozen more. Everything indicates that among the possible victims is Frida Lima, who was the criminal’s romantic partner and who was considered missing since 2015.
This unfortunate case highlights (1) the profound violence that women experience both in our country and in the capital; (2) the institutional inability to investigate crimes; (3) that the official statistics are very deficient and that (4) the presidential candidate of Morena – the former head of Government, Claudia Sheinbaum – lies when she affirms that her government combated gender violence and no feminicide went unpunished.
(1) At the national level, this is the worst six-year period in terms of femicides, intentional homicides of women, disappearances of women, other crimes that threaten the lives of women, extortion of women, other crimes that threaten the freedom of women, human trafficking, sexual rape and family violence.
Similarly, the current six-year term of Sheinbaum and Batres at the head of the capital government is positioned as the worst in the history of Mexico City in terms of femicides and disappearances of women – it should be noted that at the national level the percentage of women who disappear is around 20% of the total number of missing persons, in the capital the missing women represent more than 40% of the victims -, other crimes that threaten the lives of women, extortion of women, other crimes that threaten the freedom of women, trafficking of people, sexual violations and family violence.
(2) If the serial feminicide was arrested and is now being investigated, it is thanks to the solidarity and courage of the neighbors and not as a result of institutional work. If the capital’s prosecutor’s office had investigated the disappearance of women, particularly that of Frida Lima, many lives might have been saved.
(3) In 2023, 59 femicides were recorded in the capital, that is, 5 per month – the mayor’s office with the highest number was Iztapalapa – in particular Iztacalco was ranked number 9 of the 16 mayor’s offices with 3 femicides.
From January to March of this year, the prosecutor’s office reported 18 femicides, the 7 victims that the Mexico City prosecutor’s office recognizes so far would skyrocket the numbers of this crime in a very relevant way. Victims, who were registered as missing and that no one was looking for, forgotten and made invisible victims due to institutional negligence.
(4) In the last presidential debate, Sheinbaum repeatedly insisted that his government had reduced feminicide and eliminated impunity, which according to official data, is false.
If the current administration is compared to the previous one, feminicide grew more than 30%. While if we analyze the records of missing persons, we can see that in the capital there are 2,744 women registered as missing in the period from 1964 to March 30, 2024. What is surprising is that 87% of them, 2,345 women victims of disappearance, are from the current administration. What decrease in violence? What zero impunity for feminicides?
The serial feminicide in Mexico City is a case that exhibits the terrible violence suffered by women, the outrageous impunity enjoyed by criminals and the regrettable institutional negligence..
Let us hope that from this case onwards the authorities will now start working to ensure that women live free of violence; that there be a serious fight once morest crimes; that missing people be searched; that victims be given the necessary access to justice; that criminals be punished; that the authorities stop manipulating data, under-reporting crimes and deceiving citizens with false statements.
Director of the National Citizen Observatory
@frarivasCoL
1713861022
#victims #feminicide #registered #missing
