Mexico vows 'zero tolerance' for violence against women

Activists march during a commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Naucalpan, Mexico, November 25, 2016. /VCG Photo

Mexico on Monday vowed to crack down on gender-based violence as new figures showed killings of women rose more than 10 percent in the past year.

Marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Mexico detailed its efforts to combat the scourge including training police on issues of gender and promoting national awareness campaigns on gender-based violence.

"The issue (of violence against women) is a priority for the government without a doubt," said Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero, adding "We want to make a commitment today of zero tolerance as a priority issue."

Violence against women persists in Mexico, a conservative Catholic country where machismo reigns and traditional concepts of gender are deeply entrenched.

Women hold up placards during a vigil after prosecutors in the central state of Puebla said the body of Mara Fernanda Castilla, 19, was found near a motel in Puebla, September 16, 2017. /VCG Photo

Government figures released on Monday showed murders of women increased more than 10 percent in just the last year, with 809 women killed between January and October specifically because of their gender, compared with 726 in the same period last year.

Femicide, as the crime is known, has been a federal crime in Mexico since 2012.

A 2017 report by the National Institute for Statistics and Geography found about 66 percent of women over 15 in Mexico had experienced some form of violence at least once and 44 percent had been abused by a partner.

Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said on Monday almost 125,000 women had been victims of violence in Mexico this year.

Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman elected mayor of Mexico City, casts her vote during the general elections in Mexico City, July 1, 2018. /VCG Photo

Durazo noted that the government had ramped up gender training among the nation's security forces, including the national guard which is now comprised of nearly 17 percent women.

The Security Minister said he would be signing a memorandum with the women's advocacy agency United Nations Women promising to "strengthen actions against gender-based violence."

Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman elected mayor of Mexico City, noted that the capital declared a "gender violence alert" last week, a national program funding local governments to facilitate arrests and stem murder rates.

The alert system, launched in 2007, is typically activated during spikes in violence against women in order to mobilize law enforcement and judicial officials. Authorities in 18 Mexican states have also declared the alert.

(With input from Reuters)