The region holds among the worst records of violence against women in the world.
The Central American Integration System presented a plan Thursday seeking to strengthen “security and a life free of violence” in the region, trying to address the high rates of murders of women among others.
The action plan by the econimic and political organization of Central American states includes the following strategic measures to be implemented in all countries of the region by 2025:
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1. Strengthening the legal apparatus in the region to improve the services of protection for women victims of various forms of violence.
2. Promoting the realization of studies and investigations upon gender violence that girls and women face in Central America.
3. Implementing regional procedures approved by state members to condemn the crime of “femicide,” which is the crime of killing a woman based on her gender. This excludes general homicide, and mainly focuses on women killed in domestic settings as a result of partner or family violence.
4. Conceiving communication strategies that would make violence against women more visible in the region in order to raise awareness around the issue.
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The regional organization emphasized the achievements made so far, with the introduction of a gender perspective in the regional agenda and the implementation of various indicators allowing the visibility of the issue.
“With these measures,” said Secretary-General of the organization Victoria Marina Velsquez de Aviles, “we will contribute to the progress of the Central American region in this matter, in the building of democratic security, as erradicating violence against girls and women contributes to a culture of peace and to human development.”
The plan presented Thursday was initiated by other regional organizations like the Central American Court of Justice, the Central American Parliament, among others.
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Many Central American countries are battling a phenomenon of gender-motivated killings. U.N. Women reports that 14 of the 25 countries with the worst femicide rates are in Latin America, and especially the Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Femicide also accounts for seven deaths in any 24-hour period in Mexico, with just 10 people sentenced for the crime from 2012-2013. Morover, according to a WHO report, between 28 and 64 percent of the region’s women do not report the violence they experience.