VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #2486/01 3552200
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 212200Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1476
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 002486 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN AND DRL/AWH 
DOL FOR CROMERO, PCHURCH, AND LBUFFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KJUS EAID SNAR KCRM KDEM GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALAN WOMEN'S GROUP REPORTS DECLINE IN 
"FEMICIDE" SINCE 2004 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  According to a recent study by Grupo 
Guatemalteco de Mujeres (GGM), only 11 percent of the total 
number of murders of women in Guatemala should be labeled 
"femicide," which GGM considers the most extreme 
manifestation of violence against women.  Based on 
investigations conducted over a period of six years, GGM 
found a decline in the total number of such cases over the 
past two years, while National Civil Police data indicate an 
increase in the total number of homicides, including an 
increase in the total number of women murdered.  A regional 
report on "femicide," due out in May 2007, will incorporate 
GGM's findings and highlight the problem, which has generated 
much debate within the NGO community.  End summary. 
 
¶2. In a December 19 meeting with Poloff, Grupo Guatemalteco 
de Mujeres (GGM) Coordinator Giovana Lemus explained the 
mission of GGM and differentiated "femicide" from other types 
of female murders.  Founded in 1988 as one of the first 
women's organizations to combat all forms of violence and 
discrimination against women in Guatemalan society, GGM 
defends and promotes women's rights through public outreach, 
political lobbying, and investigation.  In recent years, with 
the availability of national murder statistics segregated by 
gender beginning in 2001, it has focused on what has become 
commonly known as "femicide," targeted killing of women based 
on their gender.  Since 2000, GGM has actively investigated 
cases of violent deaths of women in Guatemala, compiled 
statistics, published bulletins, and lobbied to criminalize 
femicide. 
 
¶3. A recent study conducted by GGM covering six years (from 
2000 to the first trimester of 2006) classified only 11 
percent of the total number of murders of women in Guatemala 
as "femicide."  Of the 2,318 cases reported during the six 
years, 266 were identified by women's organizations as 
"femicide."  The study revealed a decline in the number of 
such cases over the past two years, from 84 in 2004, to 48 in 
2005 to 26 in 2006.  (Note:  GGM is not certain at this point 
as to the reason for this dramatic decline during the 
two-year period.  End note.)  The majority of the victims 
were between 11 and 20 years of age.  Investigations 
conducted by GGM since 2000 indicate that 126 of the cases 
were connected to intra-family violence, while 62 were 
related to acts of sexual aggression. 
 
¶4. In comparison, National Civil Police data indicate an 
increase in the total number of homicides, including an 
increase in the total number of women murdered.  Data show a 
total of 5009 murders, including 485 female murders (9.68 
percent of total murders) in 2006 (January - October), with 
an estimated end-of-year figure of 6,000-6,200 for total 
murders and 580-600 for female murders.  In 2005, there were 
5,747 murders, including 552 female murders (9.60 percent of 
total murders), an increase from 4,519 murders in 2004, 
including 509 female murders (11.26 percent of total 
murders).  (Note:  In a January 2006 meeting with embassy 
officials, Mario Polanco, General Coordinator of Grupo de 
Apoyo Mutuo (GAM), reported that GAM had identified 50 
gender-based murders in 2005 as "femicide" under GAM 
criteria.  End note.) 
 
¶5. Lemus noted that GGM does not classify all female 
homicides as "femicide."  She described "femicide" as the 
specific, intentional violent killing of women, specific in 
terms of the circumstances in which the killings occur, the 
particulars of the perpetrators and their victims, and the 
relationship between them, including the causes or motives 
and manifestations of the brutality of the killings.  In 
cases identified by GGM as "femicide," evidence indicated 
mutilation, torture, strangulation, slashing, or other 
violence prior to the victim's death.  In addition, femicide 
victims were generally killed in the morning, while other 
female murder victims were attacked at night.  In many cases, 
investigators found a history of domestic violence between 
the victim and perpetrator and evidence that the victim had 
filed an accusation of sexual threat, harassment, or assault 
against the perpetrator, and had an intimate relationship 
with him. 
 
¶6. Not all femicide, however, occurs in the context of an 
intimate relationship.  According to Lemus, femicide can be 
categorized into three types:  "intimate femicide," when 
women are killed by men with whom they co-habitated or had a 
familial relationship; "non-intimate femicide," when women 
are killed by men with whom they did not have an intimate 
relationship but with whom there may have been prior 
incidents of sexual violence, and "femicide by connection," 
in which women are murdered in the line of fire while 
 
intervening in the murder of another woman. 
 
¶7. The suspected murderers were generally assumed to be gang 
members or involved in organized crime activities, and in 
many cases investigations were abandoned under the assumption 
that the female victim was murdered because she was a gang 
member, narcotrafficker, or trafficked person.  Lemus 
acknowledged that while some victims were linked to 
narcotrafficking or other criminal activity, they were not 
killed because of their illicit activity but by violent 
partners.  However, in Guatemala, according to Lemus, there 
is a tendency among some groups to view femicide as an 
environmental phenomenon with ties to narcotrafficking, 
gangs, and other forms of organized crime.  They separate it 
from its true origin -- sexual violence against women -- and 
attribute it to the generalized violence in the country.  In 
Lemus' view, such thinking contributes to the general 
perception that these killings are "normal" or less serious 
than other killings. 
 
¶8. Lemus explained that "femicide" reflects the inequality, 
oppression, and exclusion of women in society and manifests 
itself in the context of sexual violence against women.  It 
is a historic, sociological phenomenon that perpetuates power 
and control, particularly in patriarchal societies, and 
constitutes the most extreme form of violence against women. 
Women at greatest risk are those in violent relationships or 
those who seek to leave a relationship with a violent 
partner. 
 
¶9. Comment:  The concept of "femicide" is a relatively new 
and little understood sociological term in Guatemala.  Some 
equate "femicide" with female homicide and view it in the 
context of the pervasive culture of violence and impunity 
that threatens human rights in Guatemala.  Others, in 
particular women's organizations, regard it as the distinctly 
violent, targeted killing of women that reflect the power 
imbalance in Guatemala's patriarchal society.  Organizations, 
such as GGM, that are at the forefront of highlighting the 
problem of violence against women, are striving to educate 
the public and seeking ways to combat femicide through 
political and legal channels.  GGM's findings, which have not 
yet been published, will be incorporated into a Central 
American report on "femicide" due out in May 2007, which GGM 
hopes will shed more light on the issue.  Despite 
gender-segregated national crime statistics, the magnitude of 
violence perpetrated against women in Guatemala and the 
identification of female homicide cases as "femicide" remain 
difficult to determine due to definitional ambiguities and 
the lack of official, consistently reliable information. 
 
¶10.  Comment Continued:  The femicide issue should continue 
to be studied and addressed but it is only an element of a 
more basic and alarming problem: the overall increase in the 
rates of murder and violent crime in Guatemala. 
 
Derham