Disappearing Women: The Rise of Gender Violence and Femicide in Latin America
By: Anonymous
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the KCL Latin American Society or El Cortao.
The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has hit populations hard worldwide. Death tolls have skyrocketed, hospitals have been full to the point of maximum capacity, and essential healthcare equipment has been limited. However, whilst this is at the forefront of everybody’s minds, the news, and the papers, the pandemic has devastated communities in other, very different ways. One of these is a fundamental increase in violence against women, and nowhere is this more prevalent than in Latin America.
Women across Latin America are disappearing: they are injured, they are dying, they are calling out for help. Nearly 1,200 women disappeared in Peru between March and June 2020, and in Brazil, 143 women were murdered between March and April — an increase of 22% from this time last year. Phone calls to domestic violence helplines rose 130% in Columbia and 70% in Chile during the first eighteen days and weekend of quarantine respectively. Gender violence reports to the police in São Paulo, Brazil in March 2020 were 45% higher than they were in March 2019. With increased restrictions and locked-down countries, gendered violence and femicide rates are increasing dramatically.
Whilst locking down countries and restricting movement and daily interactions may be reducing the risk of spreading or catching the virus, it serves to increase the risk of violence, injury and death to those who are trapped with abusive partners or family members. UN Secretary General António Guterres stated in April that, “violence is not confined to the battlefield. For many women and girls, the threat looms largest where they should be safest. In their own homes … We know lockdowns and quarantines are essential to suppressing Covid-19, but they can trap women with abusive partners”. With greater exposure to violent partners and mounting household tensions and economic strain, the pandemic is likely to cause a one-third reduction in progress towards ending gender-based violence by 2030. Whilst there is already limited action being taken, the virus has meant that help has only been minimised further.
Femicide and domestic violence are still widespread globally, and Latin America has some of the highest rates worldwide; fourteen of the twenty-five countries in the world with the highest femicide rates are in Latin America. Laws and regulations concerning this are beginning to emerge, however they are awfully limited, and somewhat problematic. Simply put, governments are not doing enough. Eighteen countries, including Mexico, have distinguished femicide from homicide, and laws have been created to specifically punish femicide, such as introducing longer prison sentences than are given for intentional homicide. Guatemala has created specific courts for the trial of men accused of gender violence, and statistical reports have highlighted the issue. However, there are still fundamental gaps in these measures. In some regions such as Chile and Costa Rica, laws regarding femicide are only applicable to women killed by current or former intimate partners and investigations are often feeble, not to mention the pressing issue of a linguistic and cultural gap preventing women going to court. These are issues that are not being considered and are harming the progression of reducing gendered violence in these countries. In Latin America, ninety-eight percent of gender-related killings go unprosecuted — this outrageously high figure is proof that current measures are simply not working.
Whilst Latin American countries may be putting formal laws in place, and increasing funding for places of refuge such as women’s shelters, the root of the issue is simply not being addressed. Measures taken thus far are to simply punish the act, not to prevent it from occurring, and this is where governments are going wrong. What is not being taken into account is why women are at much higher risk of violence than men; what is causing the normalisation of violence towards women in the first place? Whilst some may argue that it’s a direct result of the inherent patriarchy and machismo still present in society even today, others stand to believe it is stemming from the treatment of women in religion and war. Rape has been used as a weapon of war in numerous conflicts, and perhaps it is the legacy of raping and mutilating women in a wartime environment that has, to some extent, normalised the concept amongst civilian men today. Religion also has a history of exerting control over women, whether that be controlling a woman’s sexuality, or promotion of the idea that it’s a husband’s right to discipline his wife. These are all historic examples of female oppression, and it would be ignorant to believe that they do not still hold weight and influence in the views that men possess of women in the twenty-first century.
Protests have occurred this year across Latin America, from a large protest in Mexico on International Women’s Day in March, to recent protests on the 9th of November, demanding justice for the death of Bianca Alejandrina Lorenzena. On International Women’s Day, the protest held in Mexico was the largest in the country’s history, displaying the enormity of the issue, and the passion shown by women trying to gain the basic needs of safety and respect. Protesters flocked to capital cities in other countries, such as Chile, on this day in March too, and women in Columbia and Peru took part in demonstrations on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women this November. Women are calling out for reform and for change, so why is so little being done? Why, in 2020, are women still forced to demand such essential, basic rights so as to not be violated and murdered by men?
What is fundamentally missing from any action against gender violence is education reform. As much as countries may try to further punish aggressors, or aid those affected, they need to be steering their efforts towards educating the masses on why treating women this way is vitally unacceptable. This is a worldwide issue; rape culture is still rife, women are being taught how to ‘act safely’ rather than men being taught not to rape, not to assault, not to harm. In Latin America this problem is present on a much larger scale, and needs addressing urgently, with the pandemic and increased levels of violence only adding to this urgency. No woman deserves to die, deserves to experience such awful treatment simply because she is a woman. Further acknowledgement of the issue is needed. Better education is needed. A clear legal framework is needed. Above all, greater respect for women is needed.
Bibliography
The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/latin-american-women-are-disappearing-and-dying-under-lockdown-143791
Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1113975/gender-violence-growth-coronavirus-latin-america/
United Nations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXxnZKom6sg&feature=emb_title
Small Arms Survey: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-14.pdf
UNODC: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/gsh/Booklet_5.pdf (p. 47)
UN: https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/dsgsm1224.doc.htm
World Politics Review: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29278/in-mexico-protests-continue-against-a-historic-spike-in-femicides