According to a report from the Gender Equality Observatory of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in 2023 alone, 3,897 murders of women occurred in 27 countries in the region.
This painful and unacceptable number reminds us that, despite the advances in laws and protocols, the scourge is still present and is the extreme expression of patriarchal and violent patterns, warned the UN agency.
On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is commemorated every November 25, the executive secretary of ECLAC, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, considered that it is time to act with a sense of urgency.
Currently, all countries and territories in the area have laws to prevent and eradicate the problem; 14 have adopted comprehensive legislation that expands the scope of action against this “shadow pandemic” and 19 have approved protocols that penalize femicide.
Despite legislative progress, social awareness and improved institutional response, violence against women and girls continues to be a widespread reality in Latin America and the Caribbean and a serious violation of their human rights, ECLAC denounced.
According to national surveys, between 63 and 76 percent of women have experienced some type of aggression in various areas of their lives. The report also indicates that most gender-based deaths occurred in the context of current or terminated relationships.
More than 75 percent of the victims were between 15 and 59 years old; however, the phenomenon affects all age groups, and three percent were girls under 15 years old and 10 out of 100 were 60 years old or older.
ECLAC urges governments to redouble their efforts to improve registration and information systems, increase budgets to design public policies that respond comprehensively to victims and survivors, and invest in prevention.
Risk assessment and effective protection measures must be strengthened, as well as women’s access to medical, psychosocial and legal assistance services, and to educational, economic and employment opportunities, the report concludes.
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