FEMICIDE IN GUATEMALA
Femicide is considered a crime against humanity and is the mass murder of women. Guatemala is one of the countries with the highest number of murders in Central America.
The high rate of violent deaths in women has led to the international community; through different ways and means to require the authorities to take preventive and corrective measures about it.
An overwhelming number of murders of women have not been clarified or resolved in our country, so that these offenses remain in impunity. Impunity of femicide in Guatemala is due to:
1) lack of access to justice, 2) the weakness of the criminal investigation, and 3) the low rate of effective sanction against the masterminds and perpetrators.
In 2010, the Judicial Organism registered 15 thousand 375 complaints of violence against women , of which 218 reached a judgment , also opened 278 files on economic violence , but only managed two judgments . This represents 1.47 percent of complaints.
At the same time, the authorities recorded 695 violent deaths of women in 2010, three thousand more occurred bet...
Femicide is violence and hate towards women due to the extreme aggressive machismo, gender inequalities and discrimination, and economic disempowerment embedded in Latino culture (Prieto-Carron, 26). To put differently, femicide is an epidemic that has occurred for years in Latino countries, but is more prevalent today due to the systematic corruption in society and media coverage. For instance, in the poem this issue is expressed when I assert “I watch for my sisters. I grieve for those who have been raped and killed, only to be forgotten and marginalized” (Line 15-16). To clarify, many women in Central America are killed due to this gender-based violence that is historically linked to the colonial period, when the Europeans categorized women inferior to men. This patriarchal mentality is instituted to many systems that it becomes normalize and ignored. According Mariana Prieto-Carron, who analyzes femicide in Central American countries, states, “those in power, both in the household and in state institutions, can exert greater control over women’s behavior and mobility” (Prieto-Carron, 30). In other words, this is a form of social-control from the elite in order to regulate women and keep them from going against hegemonic patriarchal society. These social constructs are restraining women from social mobility and freedom. Correspondingly, when I
National data gives us an indication of the severity of this issue. When 1 in 5-woman report being victims of severe physical violence (NISVS, 2010), we must ask ourselves if enough is being done to prevent this from occurring. From a historical point, there has always almost been a distinction from men on woman violence. Based on the disparity of cases reported, male inflicted violence on females is much higher and prevalent. When the perpetrators of DV, and IPV are predominately males, we can no longer dismissed this issue as a cultural, or
The most notable discovery or key concept behind intimate partner violence with women as victims, would be that the overall rates have seen a general decrease. As found in the National Trends in Intimate Partner Homicide report, "Spousal homicide rates for both women and men have declined between 1974 and 2000" (Bunge, 2002). Many of the authors discussed present different perspecti...
The statistics available on violence against women are startling. Domestic violence is the major cause of death and disability for European women ages 16 to 44 and accounts for more deaths and injuries than automobile accidents and cancer. The Russian government estimates that over 14,000 women were killed by family members in 1999, but there is still no legislation that specifically addresses domestic violence. In South Africa, more women are shot in the home by relatives than are shot on the streets or by intruders (web.amnesty.org).
According to Angelari, Marguerite (1997), “this is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. Similar to a hate crime, which it is sometimes considered, this type of violence targets a specific group with the victim's gender as a primary motive”. This means that these violence acts are specifically directed to women in our society. Examples of the types of violence against women are: financial, emotional, physical, social and sexual violence. According to Prugl, E (2013), “forms of violence perpetrated by individuals are rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, coercive use of contraceptives, female infanticide, prenatal sex selection, obstetric violence, harmful customary or traditional practices such as honor killings, dowry violence, female genital mutilation, marriage by abduction and forced marriage.”
Since 1970, there has been an increasing and alarming rise 138 percent of violent crimes committed by women. Still, while the equivalent percentage compared to male violence is small 15 percent to 85 percent the fact that the numbers have elevated so drastically points to something changing in society.
In the last year, more women’s rights movements have been occurring in the United States and all over the world. Several are advocating key issues regarding reproductive rights, physical abuse, and sexual violence. Women all over the world are faced with threats to their fundamental rights, which include access to contraceptives and a safe legal abortion. Jordana Timerman, an Argentine journalist and author of Misogyny, Femicide, and an Unexpected Abortion Debate addresses Argentina’s critical movement in stopping unsafe abortions, violence, and prejudice of Latin American women. In the article, Timerman discusses the powerful women’s rights movement happening in Argentina to stop innocent women from dying of femicides and illegal abortions.
Nicaragua is a country plagued by several important issues, such as poverty and the lack of sanitation and clean drinking water. However, discrimination against women has become increasingly prevalent in nations of Latin America and has manifested in outright violence against women. In Nicaragua, “femicides,” or the homicides of women at the hands of men, and violence against women are becoming increasingly significant issue as a result of the pervasive culture of “machismo”; the Integral Law Against Violence Against Women, passed in 2012, criminalized violence against women, but has recently been mediated after facing opposition from several groups.
During the 1980s and 1900s, domestic violence was one of the most unreported crimes that involve females and males getting hurt and dying. Kicking, choking, killing, and saying brutal or despise words that could hurt the victims physically or emotionally are considered domestic violence. In fact, many victims are afraid to seek for help. According to “The Domestic Violence Resource Center (DVRC), women account for approximately 85 percent of all intimate partner violence, with women aged 20-24 at greater risk” (Batten, par.16). Most pregnant women are at risk as well. “But underlying approach is still one that assumes the perpetrators are men and the victims are woman” (Haugen, par. 1). Moreover, both males and females believe that domestic violence is a solution to their issues.
middle of paper ... ... Although the inclusion of these appalling descriptions adds the extra emphasis needed to really send the message home that something needed to be done about the problem at hand. It is not until we face the brutal facts that we are able to fully understand an issue in its entirety. In 2009, “15,241 people were murdered; an estimated 88,097 were forcibly raped, and another estimated 806,843 were victims of aggravated assaults nationwide.”
Tjaden, P., Thoennes, N. (2000b). Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the Violence Against Women Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
Femicide can be described as unnecessary hate crimes toward women. Unfortunately, our world is no stranger to the idea of hatred and oppression toward women. Women have fought many fights to earn rights and be classified as citizens that can do what they need to do to be productive members of society. In America, women have much more sway in modern society than we did say 50 years ago. Although we are not equal yet, we are making progress. In sub-Saharan Africa, however, the opposite is true. Women are severely beleaguered and are seen as objects. It is a sorrowful reality and the effects of this are seen in the number of diseased and down trodden women.
Women are abused daily and sometimes, it gets so severe that they feel the only way to get out is to kill their abusers. In the past abuse was barely acknowledged. It was always kept in the home and not taken as seriously as today. It was not until the 1970’s that people started to realize what was going on behind closed doors. The pain and torture that these women endure, it’s no wonder that they may resort to such extreme measures. When women do come fourth, many times horrible things end up happening. If bruises and wounds aren’t bad enough, sometimes they are ignored. Unfortunately, it’s not taken very serious much of the time. Unless, the situation is severe, and even then sometimes, it’s still not enough to get the attention they so desperately need.
Violence against women appeared from a long time ago and happened in every country. It caused pain in both mental and physical for women. There were so many people trying to stop this problem but it was still not completely fixed. There are many reasons that lead to this issue all over the world. After many surveys and investigations, we realized that the main reason is Discrimination and Unequal power. Some legends and stories in the past made people think men’s role is more important than women’s role in society. And because men are stronger, more active than women so they can do more work. This also makes people think men deserve more rights than women. They soon forced on human’s mind that men are also...