Amnesty International Report: At Least 10 Women, Girls Murdered in Mexico Daily

An Amnesty International report said at least 10 women and young girls are murdered daily in Mexico, adding that the victims' families are often left to do their own investigations.

The human rights group released the report on Monday amid the violence and lack of interest on the part of Mexican authorities to solve the crimes, The Guardian reported.

The Amnesty International report noted that Mexico continues to fail to do its duty to investigate, guarantee the rights to life and personal integrity of the victims, and prevent further violence against women.

In the 1990s, some 400 women in the border city Ciudad Juarez were killed. Femicide has been growing in Mexico for decades, prompting the rise of the feminist movement.

Advocates held massive street protests against the violence, but authorities continued to fail in stopping the killing. Maricruz Ocampo, a women's activist in the state of Querétaro, said it is always a question of political will.

Femicide in Mexico

According to its website, Amnesty's 47-page report titled "Justice on Trial" focused on the failures in criminal investigations of femicides preceded by the disappearance in the state of Mexico.

It tackled four cases of femicide that were followed by the disappearance and other significant failures by the authorities in the criminal investigations.

Just last year, 3,723 women were murdered in Mexico, and 940 of these cases were investigated as femicides.

The figure equates to at least 10 women being killed every day, with around one-third of the victims killed for reasons connected to their gender.

Ocampo said the officials refuse to acknowledge the problem that is growing in the country. She added that the governors are more concerned about their states' images and investments.

In addition, the state of Mexico Attorney General's Office does not have the needed framework to do such investigations, with staff's workload being already overcapacity.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had earlier branded the women protesting on International Women's Day as "conservatives" while claiming that there's a dark hand controlling the demonstrations.

When asked about the rising violence against women, Lopez Obrador said that women of Mexico are protected and represented. He noted that they are doing everything possible to ensure peace.

Citizens Conducting Investigations on Their Own

Families and advocacy groups are taking the matter into their own hands to investigate the murder of their loved ones.

One known individual and journalist, Frida Guerrera, hunts down men who kill women, according to another The Guardian report. Guerrera said she always believed that the girls tell her where to go, calling "it magic."

Meanwhile, many cases of crime scenes were contaminated by authorities. Officials, also at times, mishandled evidence.

Julia Sosa's children recounted their experience with the authorities when they reported what happened to their mother.

Sosa's children said they had to wait for hours for police to arrive and process the crime scene. One of her daughters noted that the police were falling asleep during the interview process.

Sosa was believed to have been killed by her partner, the alleged suspect. Her partner had hanged himself, which led the police to close the case.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

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