MEXICO: Amnesty International releases a report which criticizes Mexican authorities for not doing enough to combat violence against women.

Record ID: 1403189

  • Title: MEXICO: Amnesty International releases a report which criticizes Mexican authorities for not doing enough to combat violence against women.
  • Date: 13th July 2012
  • Summary: (BN09) SHIFANG, SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA (RECENT - MAY 16, 2008) (REUTERS) DAMAGED BUILDING BY RAILWAY SOLDIERS REMOVING DEBRIS FROM DAMAGED BUILDING DAMAGED CHEMICAL PLANT DEBRIS AT CHEMICAL PLANT DAMAGED PLANT SULPHUR IN BROKEN BAGS THE LABEL OF SULPHUR DAMAGED FACTORY SMOKING SULPHUR BAGS OF SULPHUR ON THE ROADSIDE OF THE FACTORY RUINED RAILWAY WOMEN WITH MASKS ON STREET
  • Embargoed: 28th July 2012 00:43
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Crime,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2G0YMW27YZV2B592U67WB0LXA
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Human rights group Amnesty International released a report on Wednesday (July 12) criticizing Mexican authorities for failing to tackle violence against women and highlighting abuses in the state recently governed by president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto.
    The report by the London-based group alleged that Mexican police solve only one out of every 21 rapes. Mexican officers also have flawed procedures for documenting the murders of women, in many cases failing to carry out proper autopsies, the report said.
    In 2010 alone, there were 2,418 women murdered in Mexico, according to the report. The State of Mexico, where Pena Nieto governed from 2005 until 2011, was one of the states with the worst female murder rates.
    Daniel Zapico, a co-ordinator for Amnesty International in Mexico, said that Mexico has taken significant legislative steps, but that in practice the laws are not being enforced properly.
    "Mexico has taken significant material, legal and institutional steps in the last few years to be able to comply with these legal obligations, to guarantee an end to discrimination against women. Perhaps the most important step is a law guaranteeing a life free of violence. Without a doubt, we are saying that these legal advances are positive, but in practice aren't being followed. They are not complying with the testimony regulations established by law. We need that to be followed, so that there is not just a law passed without solving the problem," he said.
    Zapico added that in many instances officials have been reluctant to investigate crimes against women.
    "It's not possible for them to keep shutting their doors on women who are attempting to report cases of rape or cases of violence, and that officials do not investigate. It's necessary for these cases to be investigated when rapes or femicides are reported. They need justice. That's the main thing. As long as impunity continues to exist in cases of violence towards women, it will be very difficult to move towards equality and end discrimination," he said.
    Pena Nieto won the July 1 election to replace President Felipe Calderon and is due to take office in December.
    The Amnesty International report highlighted a case in 2006, when Mexico State police were alleged to have sexually abused 26 women arrested during protests in the town of San Salvador Atenco.
    Several police officers were charged over the incident but all were acquitted on the grounds of lack of evidence.
    Areceli Olivos Portugal. a lawyer from the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Centre for Human Rights, represented one of the victims in the San Salvador Atenco incident and said that the laws are pointless.
    "Laws already exist. We have the law that guarantees a life free of violence, which is a very well-intentioned law, but women continue not having access to real, efficient, fast resources to public ministries that are willing to deal with issues of violence and discrimination. As long as that doesn't exist, the laws serve no purpose," she said.
    In another high profile incident, anti-crime crusader Marisela Escobedo was shot and killed while holding a vigil outside the governor's office in the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua.
    In 2009, Escobedo's 17-year old daughter was found dead inside a trash bin in the violence-plagued city of Ciudad Juarez.
    Pena Nieto's July 1 election victory brought the Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI back to power after a 12-year hiatus. The party ran Mexico for most of the 20th century during which time it was accused of rigging elections and violently attacking protesters.
    A well-groomed and handsome 45-year-old, Pena Nieto did well with female voters in the election and women flocked to him during campaign events, sometimes throwing themselves at him.
    But many Mexican feminists criticize the former governor, who is married to a soap opera star and has children out of wedlock with two women, for being weak on female issues.
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