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Situation and Analysis of Femicide in the Central American Region

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I Regional Report: Situation and Analysis of Femicide in the Central American Region August, 2006 SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION DANIDA AGENCY © 2007 First Edition in English Central American Council of Human Rights Ombudsman All rights reserved. © 2006 First Edition in Spanish Central American Council of Human Rights Ombudsman All rights reserved. 346.013.4 I59 r Inter-American Institute of Human Rights I Regional Report Situation and Analysis of Femicide in the Central American Region : August 2006 / Inter-American Institute of Human Rights. -- San José, C.R. : IIHR, 2007. 260 p. ; 8.5 x 5.5 cm. ISBN: 978-9968-917-59-9 1. VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 2. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 3. CENTRAL AMERICA I. Títle. The ideas expressed in this book are the sole responsibility of CCPDH, and they do not necessarily correspond to those of the IIHR or its donors. Total or partial reproduction of the materials herein published is allowed, provided that they are not altered, corresponding credits are assigned, and a copy of the publication or reproduction is sent to the editor. Publishing Team: Lorena González Volio Academic Coordination Ana Elena Badilla Investigation Coordinator Isabel Torres and Saskia Salas Academic Support CCPDH Author Ana Marcela Herrera Translation to English Margarita Molestina Comparison and revision in English Information and Editorial Service Unit of the IIHR Design, Diagramming, and Final Artwork Mundo Gráfico, S.A. Printing Central American Council of Human Rights Ombudsman IIHR Technical Secretariat P.O. Box 10.081-1000 San José, Costa Rica Tel: (506) 234-0404 Fax: (506) 234-0955 e-mail: [email protected] www.iidh.ed.cr Index Acknowledgement ............................................................7 Acronyms .........................................................................9 Foreword ..........................................................................11 Introduction ......................................................................13 1. Violence against Women and Femicide: Conceptual Framework ...............................................15 1.1 Gender Violence against Women .....................15 1.2 Diverse Forms of Violence ...............................23 1.3 Violence against Women: A Violation to Human Rights ..............................................29 1.4 Violence against Women: A Problem of Public Safety ................................................30 1.5 The Concept of Femicide .................................32 1.6 Typology of Femicide.......................................39 2. Characteristics of Gender Violence against Women in the Countries of the Central American Region .......41 3. Study and Analysis of Femicide in the Central American Countries .......................................58 4. Situation of Femicide in the Central American Region ...........................................92 4.1 Magnitude of the Problem ................................93 4.2 Profile of the Victims .......................................105 4.3 Type of Relationship between the Victim and the Perpetrator ...........................................106 5 Situation and Analysis of Femicide 5. Regulatory Framework that Safeguards the Right of Women to Life and to Live Free of Violence ..............111 5.1 International Conventions ................................112 5.2 National Legislation .........................................116 5.3 Jurisprudence of the Universal System of Human Rights ..............................................136 5.4 Jurisprudence of the Inter-American System of Human Rights ..............................................148 5.5 National Jurisprudence .....................................162 6. Public Policies Adopted and Implemented by the States to Eradicate Femicide .................................165 6.1 Existent Policies ...............................................165 6.2 Programs on Violence against Women ............185 6.3 Specific Programs or Actions against Femicide ..............................................210 7. Actions Undertaken by the Ombudsman Institutions to Prevent and Fight Femicide.....................................214 7.1 Competence of Ombudsman Institutions in the Field ........................................................215 7.2 Actions Undertaken on Femicide .....................216 8. General Conclusions and Difficulties Identified in the Approach of Femicide in the Central American Countries .......................................222 9. Recommendations .......................................................240 Works Cited ......................................................................247 Appendix: Studies and Articles on Femicide in the Central American Countries .......................................259 6 Acknowledgement We wish to express our most sincere gratitude to the staff and consultants of the Ombudsman Institutions that undertook the task of gathering the core information for this study in each of the Central American countries: Carol Fonseca in Belize; Carla Villagrán and Stephanie Rudeke in Guatemala; Yanira Díaz, Irene Cuellar, and Emma Castro de Pinzón in El Salvador; Indhira Mejía in Honduras; Deborah Grandison in Nicaragua; Ligia Martín and Mariana Arand in Costa Rica, and Dayanara Salazar in Panama. We also want to thank the experts who in different countries attended consultation meetings and the regional workshop on femicide held in August 2006 in the city of Guatemala, contributing with their knowledge and expertise in the investigation process. Also, we thank the IIHR team formed by Lorena González Volio, Human Rights and Ombudsman Program Officer who was in charge of the development of the investigation; Isabel Torres, Women’s Human Rights Program Officer, and Saskia Salas, for their valuable contributions. Our special acknowledgement to Ana Elena Badilla, IIHR consultant, who was in charge of coordinating this investigation and preparing the final report. We also want to thank the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) for the support provided for this investigation. 7 Acronyms AI Amnesty International AMS The Salvadoran Women’s Association for Self- Determination and Development ACHR American Convention of Human Rights CALDH Center for Human Rights Legal Action CCPDH Central American Council of Human Rights Ombudsman CDM Center for Women’s Rights, Honduras CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, United Nations CENADOJ National Center for Judicial Analysis and Documentation, Guatemala CEMUJER Norma Guirola Women´s Studies Center, El Salvador I-ACHR Inter-American Commission on Human Rights DGM Migration Authority, El Salvador FESAL National Family Health Survey, from the Salvadoran Demographic Association FGR Attorney General’s Office, El Salvador GAM Mutual Support Group, Guatemala GGM Guatemalan Women’s Group IIHR Inter-American Institute of Human Rights 9 Situation and Analysis of Femicide IMU Women’s Institute for Research, Training and Development, El Salvador INAM National Women’s Institute, Honduras INAMU National Women’s Institute, Costa Rica INECIP Institute for Comparative Studies in Criminal Sciences, Guatemala IPEC International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour ISDEMU Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women ISNA Salvadoran Institute for the Integral Development of Children and Adolescents OAS Organization of American States ILO International Labour Organization NGO Nongovernmental Organization PAHO Pan-American Health Organization PNC National Civil Police, El Salvador UNDP United Nations Development Programme SEPREM Presidential Secretariat for Women, Guatemala EU European Union UNFPA United Nations Population Fund URNG Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit IFV Intrafamily Violence 10 Foreword The Central American Council of Human Rights Ombudsman (CCPDH) is profoundly concerned for the growing increase of intentional and violent killings of women (murders, homicides, and parricides) simply because they are women. In this study, these killings will be referred to as femicides, which are acquiring the characteristics of an epidemic in some countries of the Central American region. The Special Rapporteur on Women’s Rights of the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights (I-ACHR) stated in her 2004 report that the incidence and consequences of these murders “have produced an enormous damage to democracy and its institutions, affecting the credibility and efficiency of the States that have demonstrated to be unable of exercising justice, providing security to women, and facing phenomena such as the internal armed conflicts, immigration and trafficking in human beings, prostitution, drug trade, and the use and abuse of firearms that nourish femicide and that attempt against the peaceful coexistence”. Several studies and reports from the United Nations System and the Inter-American System, as well as from nongovernmental organizations establish that the seriousness of femicide does not only reflect in numbers, due to the increase of cases year by year, but also in the degree of violence and cruelty exercised against victims, which includes rape and sexual assault, torture, and in some cases mutilations. Due to the seriousness of this situation and the slow pace of the national justice systems to give attention and solve femicides, the CCPDH and its Technical Secretariat, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (IIHR), undertook 11 Situation and Analysis of Femicide the task of conducting
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