A report on violence against women’s human rights defenders in Mexico was submitted to the CEDAW Committee by three women’s NGOs this week. According to the report, eleven women human rights defenders were murdered in Mexico between December 2010 and December 2011. Most of these crimes occurred in the states of Chihuahua and Guerrero.
According to the report, women human rights defenders in Mexico face a greater risk of sexual violence, smear campaigns based on gender stereotypes, and violence against their families and communities. Research conducted in 2011 found that 76 percent of interviewed women human rights defenders had experienced gender-based violence as a result of the work they do. Of these, 40 percent identified sexual violence as the primary form of violence. In addition, 55 percent believe that the state is responsible for the threats and attacks carried out against them. Approximately 98.5 percent of these attacks have not yet been punished.
The three organizations that prepared the report are Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad Oaxaca, Red Mesa de Mujeres de Ciudad Juárez, and Just Associates.
Compiled from: A New Resource/Report: Information For The CEDAW Committee on the Situation Concerning Violence Against Women Human Rights Defenders, Association for Women’s Rights in Development (11 July 2012).