Amnesty International: Mexico failing to protect women from violence, discrimination

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Amnesty International issued a report today highlighting the "alarming" state of women's rights in Mexico and accused authorities of failing to protect women from increasing levels of violence and discrimination.

Nearly 2,500 women were murdered in 2010 alone – or nearly seven per day – while Mexican police solve only one out every 21 rapes, the London-based human rights group said in the report, which has been submitted to the United Nations.

“The state of women’s rights in Mexico is alarming,” Amnesty International researcher Rupert Knox said in a statement.

“In recent years we have witnessed not only an increase in killings of women but a continuing routine lack of effective investigations and justice.”

While Mexico had laws and institutions to protect the rights of women, “much of the problem… lies in the lack of effective implementation of these laws and the weakness of the institutions," Knox said.

The State of Mexico, where President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto was governor from 2005 to 2011, had one of the worst female murder rates in the country, Reuters said, citing the report.

Official figures show 277 women were murdered in 2010, down from 382 in 2005, Reuters said.

Amnesty said the report had been submitted to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which would evaluate Mexico’s compliance with the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

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