MyNorthwest

News

Opinion

Sports

Tools

Connect

Femicides in Mexico: Little progress on longstanding issue

Lidia Florencio Guerrero touches a mural of her daughter Diana Velazquez at the site where her body was found in Chimalhuacán, state of Mexico, Mexico, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Velázquez, a 24-year-old candy vendor, was killed in Chimalhuacan, east of Mexico City, in 2017. She left home early one morning to make a phone call. Her body was found later that day dumped in front of a warehouse. She’d been beaten, raped and strangled. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Lidia Florencio Guerrero shouts slogans during a march in memory of her daughter Diana Velázquez in Chimalhuacán, state of Mexico, Mexico, Saturday, July 2, 2022. The 24-year-old candy vendor was killed in 2017 when she left home early one morning to make a phone call. Her body was found later that day dumped in front of a warehouse. She’d been beaten, raped and strangled. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A policewoman guards the Mayor's office door covered with photographs of Jesús Alejandro Montes Moreno, the convicted murderer of Diana Velazquez in Chimalhuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Saturday, July 2, 2022. The 24-year-old candy vendor was making a call outside her home in 2017 when she went missing. She was later found beaten, raped and strangled. Mont was sentenced to 93 years in prison for femicide. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Photographs of Diana Velazquez adorn a small altar in her honor at her home where her mother Lidia Florencio Guerrero gives an interview in Chimalhuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Velázquez, a 24-year-old candy vendor, was killed in Chimalhuacan, east of Mexico City, in 2017. She left home early one morning to make a phone call. Her body was found later that day dumped in front of a warehouse. She’d been beaten, raped and strangled. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman is accompanied by police to file a complaint at a station that attends to gender violence cases in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Saturday, July 2, 2022. The sign above reads in Spanish "Gender Violence Attention Center." (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman walks along a street at dusk as she looks at her cell phone in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Sunday, July 3, 2022. From January to October in the State of Mexico, there were 120 femicides, which are cases of women killed because of their gender. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman peers from a bus window late at night in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, Mexico, Sunday, July 22, 2022. The State of Mexico ranks 10th among the country’s 32 states in femicides per 100,000 women. Dilcya García, who leads the Mexico state prosecutor’s office on gender violence, said the issue is part of the cement of Mexico’s social structure. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

The sun sets in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Sunday, July 3, 2022. The State of Mexico ranks 10th among the country’s 32 states in femicides per 100,000 women. Dilcya García, who leads the Mexico state prosecutor’s office on gender violence, said the issue is part of the cement of Mexico’s social structure. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

The walls outside a courthouse are filled with messages against femicide and in favor of freedom Roxana Ruiz, 22, during her hearing where she is charged with killing her attacker in Chimalhuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Monday, Abril 4, 2022. Ruiz said she killed a man who attacked, raped and threatened to kill her in 2021. She faces a charge of homicide with excess of legitimate self-defense. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Roxana Ruiz, behind the gate, speaks from inside the court complex on the day of her court hearing where she is charged with killing her attacker in Chimalhuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Abril 18, 2022. Ruiz said she killed a man who attacked, raped and threatened to kill her in 2021. She faces a charge of homicide with excess of legitimate self-defense. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Roxana Ruiz, right, is hugged by Araceli Osorio Martinez, the mother of murdered Lesvy Berlin Osorio, outside a court on the day of Roxana's hearing where she is accused of killing a man in 2021 who she says raped her and threatened her life, in Chimalhuacán, State of Mexico, Mexico, Monday, Abril 18, 2022. Lesvy’s body was found on the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the autopsy determined she was strangled by a telephone cable. Her then-boyfriend Jorge Luis González Hernández was convicted of femicide and sentenced to 52 years in prison. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Activists paste photos of Roxana Ruiz that read in Spanish "Defending my life is not a crime" on a wall near the court building where the 22-year-old attends a hearing where she is charged with homicide with excess of legitimate self-defense in Chimalhuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Monday, Abril 18, 2022. Ruiz said she killed a man who attacked, raped and threatened to kill her in 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Roxana Ruiz shouts slogans during a march in memory of Diana Velazquez, who was making a call outside her home in 2017 when she was disappeared, raped and killed, in Chimalhuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Saturday, July 2, 2022. Ruiz said she became an activist after she was attacked and raped, and her life was threatened in 2021. She fought off and killed the attacker and faces a charge of homicide with excess of legitimate self-defense. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Police talk to a woman after neighbors called 911 in response to her screaming in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Saturday, July 2, 2022. The woman, who had blood on her face, said she was hit by her partner as she and their child traveled with him in a car after a party, where they started fighting. Both she her partner were questioned by police, and she filed a formal complaint, before they were both released. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Police talk to a woman who called 911 after her boyfriend threatened to stab her to death, and made a police report, in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Saturday, July 2, 2022. Mexican officials have recognized the femicide rate and violence against women in general as a major problem for decades, yet little progress is evident in the national data. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A state police officer patrols Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico, Sunday, July 3, 2022. The country saw more than 1,000 femicides last year -- second only to Brazil in Latin America -- and on average 10 women or girls are killed daily in Mexico. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Friends of slain Monica Citlalli Diaz shout "justice" as they hold up her photo during her funeral in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. The 30-year-old English teacher became the ninth apparent femicide during an 11-day spate of killings in and around Mexico City from late October to early November. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

The casket holding the remains Monica Citlalli Diaz stands before the altar during her funeral Mass in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. The 30-year-old English teacher became the ninth apparent femicide during an 11-day spate of killings in and around Mexico City from late October to early November. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A friend of Monica Citlalli Diaz carries her photo on the sidelines of her funeral at a cemetery in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. The 30-year-old English teacher became the ninth apparent femicide during an 11-day spate of killings in and around Mexico City from late October to early November. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Mariachi musicians play music during the funeral procession slain Monica Citlalli Diaz in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. The 30-year-old English teacher became the ninth apparent femicide during an 11-day spate of killings in and around Mexico City from late October to early November. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Photographs of Monica Citlalli Diaz are displayed during her wake inside her home in San Salvador Atenco, State of Mexico, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. The 30-year-old English teacher became the ninth apparent femicide during an 11-day spate of killings in and around Mexico City from late October to early November. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Femicides in Mexico: Little progress on longstanding issue