WUNRN
Also via SVRI - Sexual Violence
Research Initiative
CENTRAL AMERICA - MORE WOMEN
CONTINUE TO BE KILLED
Canadian Women's Organization
Studies Femicide &
Serves Grassroots Women in Mexico
& Central America
January 03, 2010
Canada,
Coburg -- The rising number of women being murdered in
"It
shows a strong increase in the number of women being killed," said Bill
Fairbairn, Horizons of Friendship's Mesoamerican coordinator. "I was
shocked. You want to know why women are being targeted."
Horizons of Friendship, a Canadian charity working exclusively with grassroots groups in Mexico and Central America, works on promoting women's rights, food security, agricultural diversification and offering agricultural training for rural women's networks.
In December, Horizons' staff joined
with the Central American Feminist Network to End Violence Towards Women in
The
study, supported by Horizons and the United Nations Development Fund for Women,
focuses on six Central American countries -
Between
2000 and 2006, killings of men in
Many
of these slayings are accompanied by signs of brutal torture, mutilations and
rape.
"There's
increasing levels of cruelty. If men are killed, it's a bullet to the head.
Women are mutilated, raped. Pregnant women are targeted - one was shot four
times in the stomach," said Mr. Fairbairn.
Many
of the countries studied have a legacy of civil wars and a culture of impunity
for abuses committed, which could contribute to the violence. However, the report
found the dramatic increase in femicide is directly related to high levels of
poverty and growing inequities between men and women. Increasing poverty has
created a "shady" economy of sex trade trafficking and gang violence,
the report states.
"Women
are being used as pawns in territorial disputes between the gangs. They kill
women to send a message to the other gang," said Mr. Fairbairn.
"There's also increasing levels of sex trafficking, and women are quite
vulnerable."
The
report found more younger women are being killed than in the past. One in four
of the victims is between 10 and 19.
He
drew similarities between the femicide in Central America and the murders of
Aboriginal women in Canada, which are not fully investigated, and the Montreal
massacre at the Ã?cole Polytechnique 20 years ago. The yearly tradition of
naming the victims of the Montreal Massacre on Dec. 6 appealed to the Central
American feminists, Mr. Fairbairn said.
"A
lot of the women who have been killed in
The
study findings and recommendations were presented directly to the Council of
Ministers for Women in
The
report recommended gender equality training for law makers and police to
sensitize them to violence against women and femicide; new policies to
prosecute and investigate the people responsible; new legislation to include
violence against women as a hate crime; access to justice and legal
representation for families; a regional plan against trafficking; and a
regional reporting system to measure violence against women in Central America.
"There's
a real lack of access to justice," said Mr. Fairbairn. "The new
proposal for the next phase is focusing on access to justice."
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