Mexico’s Femicide Problem: Is AMLO Doing Enough?

Femicide has been on the rise in Mexico. Source: Wikimedia Commons

25-year-old Ingrid Escamilla was found dead in her Mexico City apartment earlier this week. Her partner had killed her, removed her organs, skinned her, and then dumped some of her organs in a sewer drain to try to hide the evidence. Leaked images of her body, which were published online, sparked outrage over social media. A video showing the blood-spattered perpetrator confessing to a police officer also circulated the internet.

Claudia Sheinbaum, the left-wing mayor of Mexico City, guaranteed that prosecutors would demand the maximum sentence for Escamilla’s murderer, so Escamilla’s family and friends are likely to get some justice for her murder. However, thousands of other women and their families will never get the same kind of treatment. 

The past few years have seen a worrying rise in gender-based violence and gender-based killings of women, or femicides. There are more than 700 cases under investigation, but the true number is estimated to be much higher. 

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) laid out a broad plan for addressing violence in Mexico during his presidential campaign, but he has since faltered on the issue and faced increasing criticism, particularly with regard to femicides. 

Escamilla’s murder began circulating the internet just days after AMLO made an unpopular comment regarding femicides. Responding to a journalist’s question about prosecutor Alejandro Gertz’s plan to change the classification of femicides, AMLO claimed his administration’s treatment of femicides had been manipulated by overly critical media sources. He said that they “take advantage of any situation to generate defamation campaigns.” 

Protesters and activists have taken to the streets to demand that AMLO take greater and more significant measures to safeguard the lives of Mexican women. Women in the Mexican border city of Juarez don ski masks made out of black T-shirts with their mascara and lipstick peeking out. They chant, “Ni una más,” or “Not one more,” as well as “No nos maten,” or “Do not kill us.”

Some of the key organizations organizing these protests include Nuestros Hijas Regreso a Casa, Red Mesa de Mujeres, El Closet de Sor Juana, and Las Hijas de Violencia. Femicides have received little attention in the media, and many people are not even aware of the huge problem that exists, which is why marches drawing huge crowds of women in the streets of Mexico City are an important step in solving Mexico’s femicide problem.