Feminicides and the State: An Analysis of Gender Based Violence within Mexican Justice Institutions

After 2007, and under the framework of the war on drugs, there has been a growing number of female deaths, particularly presumed murders, in Mexico. In 2015, out of 2,383 women who were allegedly murdered, only 323 cases had a preliminary feminicide investigation, and 79 of these (3.31%) ended with a conviction. This illustrates a structural issue within the justice institutions in the country: institutional violence. In the case of feminicides, institutional violence contributes, on the one hand, to deepen gender gaps regarding the prosecution and administration of justice, and on the other, develops negative incentives that perpetuate the crime, thus contributing to an increase in impunity. Therefore, the objective of this article is to determine how gender based violence is reproduced within the institutions in charge of prosecuting and administrating justice in Mexico, especially after the New Criminal Justice System was implemented. To do this I performed a statistic analysis of the Survey on the Pursuit of Justice at the State-Level, the Survey on the Administration of Justice at the State-Level, as well as deaths through alleged murder. These were all obtained from INEGI and through this I built a panorama of feminicides in Mexico. Additionally, I performed a comparative analysis of national feminicide research protocols with international protocols and recommendations. I also held semistructured interviews with public officials across different hierarchical levels and justice offices. Finally, I followed up on a case of alleged feminicide where a conviction has still not been officially made. Results show that mechanisms that reproduce violence within the justice system include: a lack of coordination between institutions; ignored or unknown protocols; and the omission of international recommendations. In conclusion, public policy recommendations are presented to reduce inequality gaps and gender based violence.