02/01/2011-02/02/2011– Alfredo Castillo, the attorney of the state of Mexico (Edomex) announced that the government of the state of Mexico will be giving all of the information relating to femicide, homocides against women, to the National Commission of Human Rights (La Comision Nacional de los Derechos Humanos). The information will be analyzed by this commission to see if the violence has been systematic, recurrent, or has followed specific trends. Castillo stated that he has fifteen days to deliver all of this information to the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) but he failed to mention any numeric figure of the amount of female homicides that have taken place in the state of Mexico.
The governor of the state of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, has also joined the discussion of femicide by launching a two day Forum of the Intergral Development and Full Participation of Women (Foro de Desarrollo Integral y Plena Participacion de la Mujer) to address the issue of violence against women in the state of Mexico. In an entry posted on Pena Nieto’s blog entitled “Contra la violencia de genero” (Against Gender Violence), he recognizes the importance of women in the collective community as well as the effects violence has on a woman’s pyscological and economic well being. While stating that there is a large amount of violence against women in the state of Mexico, he stresses that it is not just in the state of Mexico but in the whole country and that it should be an issue of concern and action. He makes clear that the protection of citizens is always a priority, not just in times of elections and that the government of the state of Mexico takes full responsibility in the “persecution and erradication of gender violence.”
The president of the Autonomous University of the state of Mexico (UAEM), Eduardo Gasca Pliego, took a different approach to femicide in trying to explain the causes of it. He said on the second of February that the reason for femicide is because of “machismo and a lack of education and culture.” At the Forum of Integral Development and Full Participation of Women, he said that it is because of men’s dislike and disapproval of women becoming more educated and economically independent. Pliego states that through education, the action of femicide can decrease by pointing out that “centrally located states had less violence against women.” He said the responsibility of both himself and the University is to publicize information about gender studies which can prevent and avoid femicide.
Sources:
Pena Nieto, Enrique. ” Contra la violencia de genero.” Blog de Enrique Pena Nieto. 02 Febrero, 2011.
