Ni Una Mas: Uniting Against Femicide in Latin America
Eliza Wilson
Every hour at least five girls and women are killed around the world because of their gender.
UN Women define femicide as the ‘intentional killing with a gender-related motivation’. It is the most extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls. Often perpetrated by someone known to the woman or girl, it is linked to gender roles, social norms such as notions of ‘honour’, violence in crises, and accusations of witchcraft. Types of femicide include intimate femicide, lesbicide (homophobic femicide), serial femicide, as well as female infanticide and geronticide (killing of elderly women).
The term was popularised by feminist Diana Russell’s testimony at the first International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in 1976, where she expressed the need to ‘recognise the sexual politics of murder’. Definitions differ slightly, with some South Asian feminists expanding the definition to also include the intentional killing of females by ‘other females in the interests of men’, thereby including situations such as dowry-related murder perpetrated by women, usually family members.
Femicide is both used as a term and a legal charge in the criminal systems of some countries.
Femicide, both as a term and a legal charge, is prominent in Latin America. The term ‘femicide’, came to prominence in response to the lack of responsiveness of governments to act on the issue of killings of women. The widespread murders of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and the subsequent lack of action from the government generated widespread horror, spearheading Latin American women to organise anti-femicide groups. Perhaps the most influential is Ni Una Más (Not one more). They demanded the Mexican government take action to prevent the murders and sexual assaults, along with committing to conducting thorough investigations into the femicides. While this ongoing activism provides much-needed attention, they face an uphill battle with Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador calling 90% of domestic violence reports fake, despite femicide rates continuing to rise.
It is this relationship between the public and government that shapes the discourse and action of Latin American countries. Femicide - with its prefix ‘fem’ connoting female and ‘icide’ connoting killing - highlights the gendered aspect of the murders. By emphasising the gendered aspect of violence along with a government’s action or lack of action, it focuses on the state’s complicity in these killings and violence against women. This is not without legal grounding or precedent, human rights norms including the 1994 Inter-American Convention on the Prevention and the Eradication of Violence against Women states that gender violence is the state’s responsibility.
This thinking is referred to as a ‘feminist reconceptualisation’; that is, blaming the societal structure for the murder of women, rather than just the individual perpetrators. According to some international organisations, such as the Women’s Studies International Forum, these societal structural system failures constitute human rights violations, and therefore should be classified as ‘crimes against humanity’. It takes it from being an individual tragedy to a national or regional crisis.
In Latin America, femicide is tied to institutional violence that perpetuates gender norms and subsequent violence. This is tied to machismo, a form of toxic masculinity within the Latin American context. Machismo is exaggerated pride in male power and aggression, particularly concerning a male’s relationship with females in his life. Machismo is one of the root causes behind the high rates of femicide. In recent times, the increase in economic opportunities for women is perceived as a threat to masculinity by fathers, and partners, resulting in ego-based intimate partner and family femicides.
Machismo is championed by some prominent right wing male politicians. This aggressive form of masculinity lends itself to manifesting in gender-based violence. Such is the case in Argentina with President Javier Milei.
Argentina recorded almost one femicide a day in 2023. Despite this, President Milei eliminated the Women, Gender & Diversity Ministry in December 2023. Furthermore, he shut down the Undersecretary of Protection against Gender Violence, which was established to replace the Ministry. An open, self-proclaimed anti-feminist, Milei has also banned gender-inclusive language in the public sector and sees abortion as aggravated murder. This erosion of women’s rights by the state is a dangerous situation, with Milei himself spurring attacks against feminist figures and female journalists reporting on the state of feminist rights. The legitimisation of misogyny encourages other members of society to act on their shared views, heightening the threat of violence. Women are responding by protesting, with the strong feminist movements banding together to face the state-enabled violence and hate.
This prominence of femicide as well as growing awareness of the term has led to it becoming an offence in some states. Costa Rica was the first country in the world to legislate the crime of femicide in 2007. Since UN Resolution 68/191 Taking action against gender-related killing of women and girls in 2013, many countries, including 18 in Latin America, have incorporated provisions against femicide into their legal systems.
However, simply having a charge of femicide does not reduce the killings, or prove a state is taking action. Misclassification is a widespread issue, with many femicides being recorded only as homicides. Often femicide cases are not prosecuted due to a lack of access to the justice system, a lack of dedicated resources to investigate femicides, and general systematic impunity for gender-related crimes.
Despite the importance of the term and legal charge of femicide to help highlight and prevent the intentional killings of women and girls, for these killings to stop, change needs to come from all aspects of society, particularly from the state. There is no benefit in a charge of femicide if there is little emphasis on prosecuting perpetrators of these crimes or allowing misogyny to permeate throughout society. The roots of the violence, from machismo to misogyny, must be addressed if we are to see any meaningful reduction in these intentional killings of women and girls.
Eliza is currently completing a Bachelor of Asian Studies at The Australian National University and is studying abroad at Kansai University, Osaka. Within her studies, she focuses on Asia-Pacific Security Studies, Gender Security and Japanese language studies. Eliza is particularly interested in investigating international affairs through a gendered lens. Further, she focuses on intersectional studies such as gender security post-conflict, and gender issues that arise due to the impacts of climate change. She wants to raise awareness of these issues and promote effective ways for Australia to respond.
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