Women reject normalisation of gender violence in Mexico

Summary of story from IPS, October 24, 2011

Nine out of ten women in Mexico who suffer human rights violations, including those inflicted by the military and police, do not report them to the authorities.

And “those who (do) report them are generally met with suspicion, apathy and disrespect”, according to the latest country report by Human Rights Watch.

Even though some legal measures have been put in place to prevent and punish gender-based violence, the implementation has been very limited and impunity remains the norm for murder or other crimes against women, according to human rights groups.

Journalist and women’s rights activist, Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, says there is a growing feminist movement in Mexico to empower women and to discuss gender violence.

Ten years ago, she founded a shelter for women and their children fleeing various kinds of gender violence, called the Women’s Assistance Centre (Centro Integral de Atención a la Mujer) in Cancún.

It started mainly as a refuge for victims of domestic violence, but it soon became clear that most of the women had been involved in trafficking, especially forced prostitution.

The centre now has high security, with a barbed wire fence and cameras everywhere to keep the women safe.

Ribeiro recounted how the shelter was attacked by police who came to retrieve the wife of a policeman, whom she had helped to flee an abusive situation.

The police didn’t get inside, and the attack was caught on film, but when Ribeiro sought accountability and showed the tape to the district attorney, she said he told her “that there isn’t much we can do, (and) the best thing you can do is just to close down”.