Jan
22
Guatemala could soon have a special office dedicated to the investigation of fatal crimes against women and girls, which would put it alongside a handful of other Latin American countries that have already launched specialized bodies to tackle the problem of femicide in the region.
The attorney general’s office in Guatemala discussed on Thursday the creation of a new prosecutor’s office specialized in femicide, which will be aimed at bringing down staggering levels of gender violence in the Central American country.
According to Attorney General Thelma Aldana, the new prosecutor’s office for femicide is expected to be up and running as early as March, local media reported.
Fiscal General,Thelma Aldana anunció la creación de Fiscalía Especial de Femicidio, será inaugurada el 8 de marzo. pic.twitter.com/eqpU2GpC8p
— Glenda Sánchez (@gsanchez_pl) January 20, 2016
“Attorney General Thelma Aldana announced creation of Special Prosecutor’s Office for Femicide, it will be inaugurated March 8.”
Plagued by a legacy of brutal civil war-era violence, especially violence against Indigenous women, Guatemala continues to suffer a gender violence crisis. Many women in Guatemala are still struggling for justice in decades-old cases, as femicide is again on the rise in recent years.
ANALYSIS: Femicide in Mesoamerica Persists as Systemic Gender Violence
According to official figures, over 5,000 women and girls were violently killed in Guatemala between 2008 and 2015. Over half of the victims were minors.
Last November, a group of 60 Guatemalan women’s organizations condemned the serious deterioration of women’s rights under former President Otto Perez Molina from 2012 to 2015.
Many activists expect that the government of newly-inaugurated President Jimmy Morales, backed by economic and military brass, will continue the status quo of the Perez Molina administration.
Localizan en #Mixco y #SanPedroAyampuc, #Guatemala los cuerpos mutilados de 4 personas, 3 mujeres y un hombre. pic.twitter.com/5PhF21RTPy
— Mynor Cortez (@mcortez_aldia) January 18, 2016
“Mutilated bodies of four people, three women and one man, found in Mixco and San Pedro Ayampuc, Guatemala.”
According to activists, militarization is one of the key factors behind criminalization of gender rights advocates, which often results in violence.
Progress on the potential creation of a femicide office comes after authorities found the dismembered remains of five murdered women on Sunday in three different locations—Sacoj Chiquito, Mixco, and San Pedro Ayampuc—in the capital city department of Guatemala, Prensa Latina reported.
INTERVIEW: Patriarchy, Capitalism, and Impunity Fuel Femicide
According to U.N. Women in Guatemala, at least two women are violently killed in the country everyday. Rampant impunity fuels the widespread crisis of femicide.
Guatemala—along with its neighboring countries El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico—has one of the highest rates of femicide in the world.
WATCH: Women Resist
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