Sunday, February 10, 2019

Femicide in Brasil

Four women have been killed every day so far this year in Brazil.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the human rights arm of the 35-member Organization of American States, branded the death rate “alarming” and called for more to be done to stop femicides in Brazil.

“The commission notes with concern that in most cases, the murdered women had previously denounced their aggressors, faced serious acts of domestic violence, or suffered previous attacks or attempted homicides,” the IACHR said.

Brazil only has 74 shelters for victims of domestic violence despite having a population of more than 200 million, according to Human Rights Watch.

Brazil is among around 15 other countries in Latin America that has implemented laws against femicide in recent years.  Brazil passed a law in 2015 that criminalized femicide, the gender-motivated killing of women, and set tougher jail sentences of up to 30 years for those responsible for such crimes. According to the United Nations, the region has the world’s highest rates of femicide.

Femicides are not an “isolated problem” but reflect “sexist values deeply rooted in Brazilian society,” the IACHR said.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazil-women-killed-murder-death-femicide-human-rights-a8763791.html

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