Salvadorans raise their voices for state violence during emergency regime.

According to ECLAC, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, every day at least 12 women die from gender-based violence in the region. 

The Observatory for Gender Equality in Latin America and the Caribbean (OIG) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reported that at least 4,473 women were victims of femicide in 29 Latin American countries during 2021, this under the framework of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

ECLAC in its report states that at least 15 years ago the “States of Latin America and the Caribbean have recognized the seriousness of femicidal violence and violent deaths of women due to gender, which has been expressed in the approval of laws and protocols and in the construction of specific institutionality”

However, despite the initiatives that have been developed to reduce these cases, femicide continues to have high rates, particularly in the Latin American region.

The rate of daily deaths from femicide ranges from twelve cases. In 2021, of the 18 countries or territories in Latin America that provided information, 11 had a rate equal to or greater than one victim of femicide per 100,000 women.

More than 50% of women in this region have suffered from “gender-based violence in different areas of their lives”.

In the ranking of countries with the highest rate of femicides in Latin America are: Honduras with 4.6 cases per 100,000 women, followed by the Dominican Republic with 2.7 cases per 100,000 women. In third place is El Salvador with 2.4 cases per 100,000 women, Bolivia (1.8 cases per 100,000 women) and finally Brazil with 1.7 cases per 100,000 women.

For their part, Belize and Guyana had the highest rates of femicide in the Caribbean with 3.5 and 2 cases respectively per 100,000 women.

The report presented by ECLAC establishes that in 10 of the 18 countries surveyed, femicide rates remained equal to or higher than one case per 100,000 women. It also states that women between 15 and 29 years of age are the most common victims of femicide in the region between 2019 and 2021.  “More than 4% of all these crimes correspond to girls under 14 years of age,” ECLAC points out.

As a result of these deaths, at least 781 children and adolescents lost their mother or caregiver.

In addition, on average, one in four women has been a victim or experiences physical and/or sexual violence by a perpetrator who was or is their partner, which carries a risk of lethal violence.

Relevant agencies are adopting and implementing laws, policies and action plans to prevent and punish all forms of gender-based violence.

Source: EFE