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UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title #Ni Una Menos: Policy Approaches to Gender-Based Violence in Central America Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8nv9q8kv Author Kinzerska-Martinez, Luiza Publication Date 2020 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles #Ni Una Menos: Policy Approaches to Gender-Based Violence in Central America A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Latin American Studies by Luiza Kinzerska-Martinez 2020 ! © Copyright by Luiza Kinzerska-Martinez 2020 ! ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS #Ni Una Menos: Policy Approaches to Gender-Based Violence in Central America by Luiza Kinzerska-Martinez Master of Arts in Latin American Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2020 Professor Teresa Cecilia Menjivar, Chair The legacies of twentieth-century state violence in Central America continue to prosper in the region’s political, cultural, economic, and social life. Today, high levels of gender-based violence and feminicide in Central American countries, especially in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, can be traced, in part, to the historic effects of state violence. As a result, in recent decades, these countries have passed national laws to prevent, sanction, and eradicate gender-based violence. Despite legislative initiatives taken by governments, high levels of impunity in the legislative and judicial systems, hierarchical structures of gender, class, and race, heteropatriarchal national values, and corruption have obstructed progress toward a society where women can lead lives free of violence. Using the violence triangle and multisided violence theoretical frameworks, this work explores the multifaceted nature of violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, ii ! focusing on structural, cultural/symbolic, direct, state, everyday, political, gender/gendered, and legal violence. Drawing from eight in-depth, semi-structured interviews and public discourse analysis, this study ultimately investigates how these different forms of violence coalesce and affect the implementation and enforcement of laws on gender-based violence that are on the books in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. iii ! The thesis of Luiza Kinzerska-Martinez is approved. Bonnie Taub Katherine M. Marino Teresa Cecilia Menjivar, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2020 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! iv ! DEDICATION To all women everywhere who have faced or continue to face any violence in their lifetime! and To my parents, Lena and Luis, for their unconditional love and support throughout this journey and always ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! v ! TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... v List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1.! Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 Research Question .................................................................................................. 2 International Human Rights Conventions ............................................................... 4 National Policy Responses ...................................................................................... 5 Guatemala ................................................................................................... 5 El Salvador ................................................................................................. 7 Honduras .................................................................................................... 9 Efficacy of National Policies .................................................................... 10 Defining Gender-Based Violence and Violence Against Women ........................ 12 Research Objectives and Goals ............................................................................. 13 Historical Context ................................................................................................. 14 Guatemala ................................................................................................. 14 El Salvador ............................................................................................... 15 Honduras .................................................................................................. 16 State Violence and Legacies on Gender-Based Violence .......................... 18 2.! Literature Review ............................................................................................................. 19 Cultural and Symbolic Violence ........................................................................... 20 vi ! Political and Legal Violence ................................................................................ 21 Structural and Economic Violence ........................................................................ 23 Linking Multisided Violence with Gender-Based Violence ................................. 24 3.! Methodological Framework ............................................................................................. 25 Fieldwork Logistics .............................................................................................. 25 Research Epistemology ........................................................................................ 27 Research Methodology ......................................................................................... 29 Research Methods ................................................................................................. 29 Ethical Guidelines ................................................................................................. 32 4.! Data Analysis and Findings .............................................................................................. 32 Discourse Analysis ............................................................................................... 32 El Salvador ............................................................................................... 33 Guatemala ................................................................................................. 37 Honduras .................................................................................................. 41 Interviews ............................................................................................................. 45 Patrimonial and Economic Violence ......................................................... 45 Religion .................................................................................................... 47 Political Violence ..................................................................................... 51 5.! Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 53 Structural Violence ............................................................................................... 55 Structural, Economic, and Patrimonial Violence ...................................... 59 Cultural and Symbolic Violence ........................................................................... 60 Normative Gender Social Roles ................................................................ 62 vii ! Religion, Politics, and Women’s Reproductive Rights ............................. 64 Direct and State Violence ...................................................................................... 67 Everyday Violence ............................................................................................... 72 Neoliberal Multicriminalism .................................................................... 73 “Private” Violence and Statewide Impunity ............................................. 75 Political Violence ................................................................................................. 77 Gender and Gendered Violence ............................................................................ 81 Legal Violence ...................................................................................................... 85 6.! Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 90 Future Directions .................................................................................................. 92 Women’s Agency and Vulnerability ..................................................................... 93! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! viii ! LIST OF APPENDICES Tables 1.! Reported Cases of Intrafamily Violence in Guatemala, 2008-2017 ............................ 95 2.! Deaths of Women Registered as Homicides in Honduras, 2005-2018 ....................... 95 3.! Reported Cases of Sexual Violence Against Women in Honduras, 2005-2018 .......... 96 4.! Reported Cases of Intrafamily Violence in El Salvador, 2005-2018 .........................
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