CGRS Conducts Fact-Finding Trip to Guatemala:
Results Guide Efforts to Address Violence Against Women
In January 2007, CGRS conducted a week-long fact-finding trip to Guatemala focused on the issue of violence against women, as well as the growing number of gender-motivated killings or “femicides” taking place in that country. “We need this support,” said Norma Cruz, Director of the Fundación Sobrevivientes (Survivors Foundation), one of the few shelters in the entire country serving women fleeing violence. This sentiment was echoed by activist Jorge Velásquez, the father of Claudina Isabel Velásquez, a 19 year-old law student who was brutally murdered in 2005. “International pressure is fundamental,” Velásquez told CGRS, “it is the only thing that will bring Guatemala’s femicides to an end.”
 The delegates included CGRS’s Director Karen Musalo, Advocacy Coordinator/Director of Development & Communications Felecia Bartow, and Program Coordinator Diana Rodriguez-Wong. The main objectives of the trip were to deepen CGRS’s understanding of the femicides, and to strengthen the Center’s partnerships with Guatemalan groups working on this issue in order to inform ongoing efforts to address the murders of women with virtual impunity.
Human rights groups have documented a sharp increase in the rate of femicide in Guatemala since the beginning of 2000. As of August 2006, 2,300 Guatemalan women had been murdered, and only 17 cases had been resolved, including both convictions and acquittals. In fact, so few cases have been brought to trial that there is almost complete impunity for those who murder women in Guatemala. Investigators mishandle crime scenes and officials blame the victims themselves, often deciding that their murders are not worth investigating.
For several years, CGRS has sought to increase public awareness about Guatemala’s femicides, and to pressure policy makers to take action that will protect Guatemalan women and girls. In 2005, CGRS launched the U.S.-Guatemala Partnership to End Violence Again Women to examine and address the roots of the violence that are forcing Guatemalan women to flee for their lives.
 CGRS has also led a sustained advocacy campaign around the case of Rodi Alvarado, a Guatemalan woman who suffered ten years of brutal domestic battering and who eventually sought asylum in the U.S. after the police and the courts refused to protect her. Rodi’s case has been pending for over a decade, the result of a stalemate between government officials who favor granting relief in cases such as Rodi’s, and those who fear that accepting such women as refugees will open the so-called “floodgates” to others. CGRS has taken a position that the solution is not to deny asylum to these women, but rather to address the root causes of the violence they are fleeing.
While in Guatemala, CGRS met with a wide range of groups and individuals working on issues related to women’s human rights, violence against women, and the femicides. They included representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic institutions and government offices, as well as grassroots activists, human rights lawyers, and congressmembers. With few exceptions, interviewees agreed about the causes and conditions that have given rise to—and are perpetuating—Guatemala’s epidemic of brutal violence against women.
There are many possible explanations for the growing rate of femicide in Guatemala, but there is no one, clear answer to the question: Who is killing Guatemala’s women and girls? Guatemala is a deeply patriarchal society in which gender-related violence is widely tolerated, including in the justice system itself. Guatemalan lawmakers have consistently failed to criminalize domestic and sexual violence, perpetuating a judicial system that devalues women.
Without a doubt, the legacy of Guatemala’s brutal 36-year civil conflict provides historical context to the current situation. Rape, torture, and killing of women were common military strategies used during the conflict, and most of the perpetrators were never brought to justice. The same state of impunity now exists for those who murder women and girls in Guatemala, as revealed by abysmally low prosecution rates for the femicides. Those interviewed by CGRS repeatedly cited Guatemala’s inept, corrupt, and under-resourced institutions—including the National Civil Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office—as serious obstacles that lie in the way of addressing the impunity that exists for those who murder women and girls.
Other factors—including gang violence, drug trafficking, organized crime, and the presence of “maquilas” or foreign-owned factories—were also cited as contributing to the increased vulnerability of Guatemalan women. It is within this context that the police and other officials often attempt to justify their failure to investigate the femicides by characterizing the victims as gang members or sex workers, whose deaths do not merit further investigation.
 While there are any number of overlapping causes contributing to the high rate of femicide in Guatemala, interviewees identified a key role that U.S. activists can play in helping to solve the problem of deadly violence against Guatemalan women and girls.
U.S. activists must voice concern about individual cases of women who have been murdered, as well as growing instances of Guatemalan human rights advocates being threatened and intimidated. They must demand accountability for the millions of dollars the U.S. government has invested to strengthen the rule of law and to promote judicial reform in Guatemala, including bringing pressure to bear on the Guatemalan government for its failure to investigate and prosecute those who are responsible for the femicides. And they must also urge the Guatemalan government to fully fund and staff the office of the National Institute of Forensic Science (INACIF). INACIF was established in 2006 to improve criminal investigations and prosecute those who commit crimes, including the murders of women. The Guatemalan Congress has yet to appoint any personnel to INACIF or to provide it with a budget, despite the fact that the U.S. State Department has allocated half a million dollars to this institution.
The U.S. Congress has recently focused attention on this issue. House Resolution 100 (H.Res. 100), introduced by Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), condemns Guatemala’s femicides and expresses sympathy to the families of the victims. H.Res. 100 was passed by the House of Representatives on May 1, 2007 with a total of 100 cosponsors. A similar resolution (S.Res. 178) was introduced in the Senate by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) on the same day, and cosponsors are currently being sought. CGRS continues to work closely with NGO allies and grassroots partners to encourage broad support not only for congressional action, but also for other measures that will help bring an end to the femicides and to violence against women in Guatemala.
Photos taken by CGRS staff during the January 2007 fact-finding trip: (top) Office of the Public Prosecutor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Guatemala City; (middle) woman on the street in Guatemala City; (bottom) CGRS Director Karen Musalo speaks with Giovanna Lemus, the Director of Grupo Guatemalteco de Mujeres, a nonprofit organization that seeks to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against women. |
