Her tragic death and the events that followed have spotlighted the staggering femicide rates in Mexico. Marquez, a 23-year-old beauty influencer with more than 100,000 Instagram followers, had been live streaming from her salon in the state of Jalisco. Then the male intruder came in and very unfortunately shot her killed as well. By early March 2023, local authorities started looking into this case as a femicide. This tragic case serves as a painful reminder of the alarming increase in gender-based violence, with more women being murdered tragically within our country.
Over the last several years, Mexico has faced high levels of femicidio as well as general homicide. In 2020, one in four killings of women were deemed femicides, exposing the grave reality of the problem. According to GRITA Mexico Femicide, we have documented femicidios in the 32 states of Mexico. This underscores the pervasive and shocking nature of this violence. In 2022, almost 4,000 women were killed by homicide. That mind-boggling number accounted for 12% of all homicides in the entire country that year. Of these, 847 were reported as femicide.
In 2023, the situation is not looking any better. In just the first quarter of the year, there have been 162 officially registered femicides. Tania Reneaum, executive director of Amnesty International in Mexico, said the state’s response to homicides has been hypocritical, with investigations rarely going far enough to ensure prosecutions. “The rate of cases that lead to a verdict is around 67%,” stated Juanita Goebertus, shedding light on the challenges faced within the judicial system.
That’s why Marquez’s death hits so close to home. It points to a deadly and deeply disturbing convergence of violence against women and public life. Just days earlier, a mayoral candidate in Veracruz was shot dead during a livestream alongside three others, emphasizing the risks faced by individuals in public roles. In a world dealing with unprecedented violence, these incidents must give us pause to reflect about society’s responsibility for safety and accountability.
Even in the face of terrible statistics and alarming publicized cases, the authorities are still floundering on how best to tackle the crisis. In fact, critics contend that these systemic failures in investigating and prosecuting such crimes continue to allow a culture of impunity to thrive. The deaths of women such as Marquez sadly raise awareness of this need and urgency. We need to demand systemic change and take decisive action to safeguard the wellbeing of at-risk communities.
