Feminicide in Guatemala

Feminicide is a word that doesn't oficially exist yet...a new word for a crime that has forever existed.

A lot has been said about Feminicide in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, a town near the border with the United States. Even a movie starring Jennifer López just came out, "Border Town" I believe is the name of it.

Yes, a lot has been said...but not much has been done. Certainly not enough-

My bringing Ciudad Juárez up has a reason: it is usually the place that comes to mind whenever feminicide is mentioned. Perharps not for long...maybe soon, Guatemala City, or Guatemala in general, will come to mind when people hear this "new" and "strange" word. And people will be hearing it a lot more in the time to come. That is, if things continue the way they're going.

A law just passed Congress last week: a law against Feminicide. This means a lot. Wasn't easy, nothing is easy when it comes to Congress...but especially not this. And the fact that it happened, worries me even more than it pleases me.

Woman=Victim. For years and years I've been hearing all about how Guatemalan Poverty has a female, indigenous, old face. And I trust that, I've seen enough to prove it. But now, women are again the face to put to another word: victim.

It is no secret Guatemalan society is male-chauvinist, and that goes both for urban and rural society/culture. Both "ladinos" and "mayas" share this tragedy- and yes, I mean TRAGEDY. Women have been kept from public life, and that has had a high price on our country's development. Discrimination is an every day meal, against mayas, against garífunas, against xinkas, against peasants, against poor people, against old people, against women...being "in" in the Guatemalan eyes isn't an easy thing at all.

But this isn't just about discrimination: this is about brutal violence against women because they are women. Women are being killed everyday because of their gender, because of the way they look (all women who wear skirts and make-up are prostitutes), because they're "weak" and "stupid" in their opressor's eyes...but above all, women are being killed because they can be killed. They're being killed because they're unprotected. The killer can not only abuse and kill any girl he chooses (of course it is a lot easier when it is a lower class girl/woman) but also get away with it without punishment or remorse. It is unbelievable.

Not long ago my aunt told me about a 13 year-old girl who got raped (as most girls that live in rural Guatemala do) and decided to go to Justice. She knew who had raped her (as most do) and accused him. Of course, nothing ever happened. She died a few months back submerged in a horrible depression. The guy who killed her (he did, in a way)worked for my dad as a cowboy. He wasn't even called to court, not once. I begged my dad to fire him, but to be honest...I don't know that he has.

I once said: "being a woman is tough". And now I add: "and dangerous".