Naisiin kohdistuva väkivalta on ollut jo pitkään sitkeä ongelma Meksikossa – etenkin väkivalta perheiden sisällä. Väkivaltaan syyllistyneitä ei onnistuta tuomaan oikeuden eteen eikä oikeusjärjestelmä tarjoa väkivallan uhriksi joutuneille naisille tehokkaita oikeussuojakeinoja, kuten mahdollisuutta tehdä rikosilmoitus tai saada suojelua väkivallalta.
Ensimmäinen askel kohti positiivista kehitystä otettiin kuitenkin vuonna 2007 kun Meksikossa hyväksyttiin laki, jonka tarkoitus on sekä ehkäistä naisiin kohdistuvaa väkivaltaa että turvata naisten oikeus saada rikoksiin syyllistyneet oikeuden eteen. Osavaltioiden hallitusten tehtävänä on huolehtia lainsäädännön voimaansaattamisesta ja täytäntöönpanosta oman osavaltion alueella kansainvälisten standardien mukaisesti.
Jotta lain tavoitteet toteutuisivat käytännössä, vaaditaan resurssien − kuten koulutuksen − kohdentamista poliisille, syyttäjälle, tuomareille ja asianajajille, että esimerkiksi tarvittavat todisteet ja dokumentit tulisivat oikein käsitellyiksi. Ennaltaehkäisyssä on tärkeää tarjota puolestaan kunnollista oikeudellista apua ja turvapaikkoja väkivallan uhassa eläville naisille.
Amnesty International vaatii, että kotiväkivaltaan syyllistyneitä syytetään tehokkaasti ja että väkivallan uhreilla on mahdollisuus saada suojelua.
Vetoa Meksikon presidenttiä varmistamaan, että uusi laki pannaan täytäntöön asianmukaisesti koko Meksikossa!
Letter to Mexican President
President of the Republic
Lic. Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa
Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Residencia Oficial de "Los Pinos", Casa Miguel Alemán
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec
México D.F., C.P. 11850
MÉXICO
Fax: + 52 55 55 22 34 26
E-mail: [email protected]
Salutation: Señor Presidente / Dear Mr President
Dear President
I am writing to express my deep concern at the situation faced by women survivors and victims of violence in Mexico, and to urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure the immediate nationwide implementation of the General Law on Women's Access to a life Free from Violence (Ley General de Acceso de las Mujeres a una Vida Libre de Violencia).
Amnesty International (AI) welcomes the 2007 Law and accompanying legislation as a positive advance. It is now vital that this is backed up with political commitment, resources, training and accountability to ensure gender perspectives are effectively integrated into the policies and activities of key institutions.
In August 2008 AI published a report, "Women's struggle for safety and justice. Violence in the Family in Mexico" (AMR 41/021/2008), giving a series of recommendations on this issue. Amnesty International's research in Morelos and Sonora has found that the rights of women who have suffered violence in the family are violated by their aggressors, but also, on many occasions, by the state authorities' failure to act.
I urge you to work with state authorities to remove the obstacles to women filing and pursuing complaints, in particular by:
- recording domestic violence complaints accurately;
- reviewing conciliation procedures to ensure women are not placed in increased danger or pressured to drop criminal prosecutions.
- abolishing the requirement that women must show evidence of serious physical injury, provide two witnesses, and deliver the summons to the perpetrator;
- developing gender-sensitive protocols to be adopted by police, prosecutors, courts, medical and forensic staff.
I call on you to improve protection measures for women living in violent situations, by working with state authorities to ensure that police agents respond immediately to emergency calls reporting violence in the family. I also ask that you take action to promote the extension of the network of shelters and the provision of an adequate budget to do so.
I urge the executive to work with state authorities to inform women of their rights, including how to seek restraining orders and effective protection. Authorities must also make sure that women who have suffered violence in the family receive legal assistance and information on the progress of judicial proceedings.
Finally, I ask that you finalize, publish and implement Directive (NOM-046-SSA2-2005) for health care providers attending to cases of violence against women, including sexual violence.
If the General Law on Women's Access to a life Free from Violence is to have a real effect on women's lives, the Mexican government must work with state authorities to ensure that regulatory legislation is introduced and implemented in consultation with civil society, to make sure that all of the recommendations in AI's report become a reality.
Thank you for your attention on such an important issue,
Yours faithfully,
