Cristopher Prieto ‘21
Majors: Global Studies, Political Science, and Spanish
Minor: Latin American Studies
Affiliations: Honors College, TriO
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maureen Donaghy, Associate Professor of Political Science
Abstract
With at least 12 women murdered every day, Latin America has the highest femicide rate in the world. Femicide, or the violent killing of females due to their gender, affects most countries of the region, with 4555 cases reported in 2019 among 15 Latin American nations. However, despite the high number of cases occurring every year, a significant number of countries have been unable to deal with this issue. This project explores the government policies implemented to deal with femicide to understand why there has been little progress in the region after almost two decades of laws that try to address this issue. The study uses a comparative case study analysis of four Latin American countries (Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica) to assess the variables that influence the effectiveness of femicide laws in these countries. Moreover, the paper explores the history of the term femicide, the variation in definitions of femicide, and the theoretical frameworks that explain its prevalence.