CEJIL files complaint before the IACHR regarding violence against women in the Americas

Washington DC, October 28, 2013 – The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights (CLADEM), the Inter-American Platform for Human Rights, Development, and Democracy (PIDHDD), the Red de Mujeres Afrolatinoamericanas, Afrocaribeñas y de la Diáspora, Coordinadora del Enlace Continental de Mujeres Indígenas and the Observatorio Ciudadano Nacional de Femicidio de México denounced violence against women in a thematic hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).  Particular emphasis was placed on femicide, one of the gravest expressions of violence against women. Femicide/feminicide is considered to be the assassination of a woman for her gender.

According to the United Nations Report on the Regulation of the crime of Feminicide/Femicide in Latin America and the Caribbean, of the 25 States with the highest rates of murder in the world, 14 are from the region. Those with the highest rates are El Salvador, Jamaica, and Guatemala.

In spite of this alarming reality, to date regional States have not adopted measures effective for addressing this problem. Only 10 of the region’s nations have included femicide/feminicide as a criminal offense (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru, Honduras, Bolivia, and Panama). Furthermore, some of the adopted regulations present flaws; in their concept of femicide/feminicide, they exclude acts that should be considered as such, and others result in a definition that is too broad for effective application.

Guadalupe Ramos from CLADEM indicated that, “a separate criminal classification for femicide/feminicide is necessary as the criminal classification of homicide makes invisible the causes and the characteristics of the murder of women. In making them visible by means of a specific criminal offense, it is possible to identify the special necessities for the protection of women as well as the public policies that must be adopted by the State to do so.”

Furthermore, no effective public policy exists in the region that addresses, in an integral manner, the femicide/feminicide problem. CEJIL’s Gisela De León added that: “the criminal response should be accompanied by policies aimed at tackling causes of femicide/feminicide. This will only be achieved when reliable data is available that correlates with the magnitude, characteristics, and origins of the problem.”

The petitioners drew the attention of the IACHR to the severity of this problem, with the objective of ensuring that the Commission continues to contribute to the fight against violence against women, particularly in light of the anniversary of the Belém Do Pará Convention next year.  The petitioners asserted that the present challenge is to ensure the transition from the legislation to the adoption of effective public policies which can put an end this pandemic. This is a process where the Commission’s contribution is key.

Daniela Araya

Communications Officer

Tel: +506 22807473

E-mail: [email protected]