At least 11 women are victims of feminicide every day in Latin America and the Caribbean

In 2023, at least 3,897 women were victims of femicide or feminicide in 27 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean. This represents at least 11 violent deaths of women due to gender every day in the region, according to the latest data reported by official organizations to the Gender Equality Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean (OIG) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

He Bulletin N°3 – Feminicidal violence in figures. Latin America and the Caribbean: act with a sense of urgency to prevent and end femicides enrolls in the UNiTE Campaign to End Violence Against Women by 2030 promoted by the Secretary General of the United Nations.

“In 2023, at least 11 women were murdered every day for gender reasons in Latin America and the Caribbean. This painful and unacceptable number reminds us that, despite advances in laws and protocols, feminicide is still present in our region and is the extreme expression of patriarchal and violent patterns. “It is time to act with a sense of urgency,” said José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Womenwhich is commemorated every November 25 and begins 16 days of activism until December 10, Human Rights Day.

Currently, all countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean have laws aimed at preventing and eradicating violence against women; 14 countries have adopted comprehensive laws that expand the understanding and range of action in the face of this true “shadow pandemic,” and 19 countries have approved laws and protocols that criminalize femicide, feminicide, or the violent deaths of women due to gender. This, largely as a result of the adoption, 30 years ago, of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará, 1994), as well as the Regional Gender Agenda agreed upon at the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean over the last 47 years.

Despite legislative progress, growing visibility and social awareness, and improvements in the institutional response of States, violence against women and girls continues to be a persistent and widespread reality in Latin America and the Caribbean and a serious violation of human rights. their human rights, ECLAC emphasizes.

National surveys reveal that between 63% and 76% of women have experienced some type of gender-based violence in some area of ​​their lives and, according to World Health Organization estimates, 1 in 4 women in the region has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their partner at least once throughout their life. Girls and adolescents are also especially exposed to gender violence with early and forced child marriages and unions, which affect 1 in 5 girls in the region.

In 2023, of the 18 Latin American countries that provided information on feminicide or femicide, 11 recorded a rate greater than 1 victim per 100,000 women. Among the countries with the highest femicide rates are Honduras (7.2 cases per 100,000 women), the Dominican Republic (2.4) and Brazil (1.4). The lowest rates occur in Haiti (0.2 cases per 100,000 women), Chile (0.4) and Guatemala (0.5 cases). The horizon to which the region aspires is a rate of 0 feminicide.

In the Caribbean, at least 20 women were victims of gender-based violence resulting in death in 2023, according to information provided by nine countries and territories. Jamaica (13 femicides), Suriname (4), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2) and Belize (1) were the countries that recorded cases last year.

It is important to clarify, says ECLAC, that each country registers the victims of feminicide, femicide or violent deaths of women due to gender in accordance with their legal classification and produces the data at different times during the police or judicial investigation processes. Therefore, it is not possible to make a strict comparison of the indicator between countries.

On the other hand, as reported by 6 Latin American countries (Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay), 760 frustrated femicides or attempted femicides were recorded during 2023, a figure that increases the number of victims of extreme violence against women and girls.

The ECLAC report also indicates that the majority of deaths of women due to gender in the region occurred in the context of current or ended relationships.

Eight of the ten countries and territories of Latin America and the Caribbean with information available in this regard (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Uruguay) report that the crime was perpetrated by the partner or ex-partner in more than 60% of cases. In Puerto Rico, 100% of the reported femicides were perpetrated by the partner or ex-partner. At the same time, in Paraguay, Cuba, Chile and Uruguay, between 73.9% and 88.9% of the cases recorded this same link between victims and perpetrators.

It is urgent, ECLAC suggests, to develop policies and programs that address the barriers that women face in accessing services, and generate confidence so that victims report and seek support and protection in public bodies that must fulfill their duty to guarantee them a life free of violence.

The opinions collected in surveys in 8 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay), between 2019 and 2024, reveal that only between 20% and 30% of those who experience situations of violence actually use state services specially designed for them.

But increasing trust in institutions requires effective responses, especially in the face of risk situations. According to information from 4 countries (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay), between 22% and 35% of cases of femicide had antecedents at the time of their occurrence, either complaints of gender violence or precautionary measures against the perpetrator.

The ECLAC report also highlights that femicidal violence affects all ages: More than 75% of the victims were between 15 and 59 years old, however, 3% were girls under 15 years old and 10% were 60 years old. and more.

As has been indicated in previous years, femicides also have serious consequences for the victims’ dependents, understood as sons, daughters and other dependents. In the 7 countries that reported on this variable in 2023 (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Uruguay) 488 indirect victims are recorded.

Despite the above, only 8 Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay) have so far generated concrete reparation measures to support dependent people of victims of femicide, which constitute a fundamental response in the construction of a comprehensive approach.

Finally, ECLAC urges the governments of the region to redouble their efforts to improve registration and information systems, to increase budgetary resources to design public policies that respond comprehensively to victims and survivors, and to invest in effective prevention. of gender violence. It is necessary to strengthen risk assessment and effective protection measures for victims, as well as their access to medical, psychosocial and legal assistance services, among others, and educational, economic and employment opportunities, he concludes.