Violence against women in Central America constitutes ‘femicide’

Crime levels are extremely high in Mexico and Central America, but there is a particularly concerning amount of violence against women. Women’s groups have gone so far as to label the situation as ‘femicide,’ or female genocide, due to the extreme viciousness and frequency of incidents.

Guatemala City and Mexico’s border city of Ciudad Juarez have particular problems. Hundreds of women have suffered violent deaths in recent years, most of them young women between the ages of 17 and 22, and the majority of cases remain unsolved.

It is thought that a combination of drug and gang-related crimes, domestic violence, abuse of power by authorities, an extremely high level of impunity and a low regard for women has led to the increasing violence across the region.

To read a United Nations Population Fund factsheet on femicide, click here.