Justice shortfall for Mexican women

By James Blears

During a meeting with Women Federal Deputies, Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero confirmed 2,327 investigations of serious crimes against women last year. But only 135, amounting to a meager 5.8 percent resulted in convictions and jail terms.  Concerning femicides or the murders of women,  less than one in five of the killers were imprisoned.  of the 966 investigations only 183 convictions and prison. That`s only 19 percent.

Attorney General Gertz Manero insists  that law and order officials,  Police and prosecutors need urgent and immediate retraining. He`s also recommending that femicide must be specifically codified and categorized as a specific crime in Mexico`s legislature and justice system.

Minister of the Interior Olga Sanchez concedes Government action to effectively combat crimes against women has been very slow and it must be given top priority.  Following recent femicides, activists are calling for a national strike involving Day without Women on March 9th.