By Teresa Bo in Guatemala City

Gang-related violence has increased in recent years alongside a rise in drug-trafficking activity

A white sheet covers another victim of Guatemala City’s violence in District 16.

Jocelyn was shot dead while walking home. She was only 17-years-old.

Her family has no idea why she was killed. Her murder, like so many others in this country, will probably remain unpunished.

Guatemala’s shocking ‘femicide’ rate

Situations like this one have become regular in Guatemala as violence against women – termed “femicide” – continues to increase.

The savage methods being used by street gangs in their fight against each other are now being used against women.

Gang-related violence has increased sharply here in recent years, amid an increase in drug-trafficking activity.

But while the murder rate cuts evenly across both sexes, women’s groups point out that females are often killed simply because of their gender.

In 2007, more than 700 women and girls were murdered.

Assault and torture

The pattern of violence includes sexual assault and physical torture before the women are killed and their bodies dumped in public places.

Odilia Sanchez’s niece was raped and killed by three men hoping to rise through the ranks of their gang. She was only three-years-old.

Her father found her dead, naked and badly beaten after searching for hours.

Two of her killers were stoned to death by the community and then set on fire.

This is a common practice in poor communities where the justice imposed by the state is non-existent. Afraid of revenge, the little girl’s family fled town.

We found them hiding in a small house in the capital.

“I am afraid for my family so I brought them all here” Odilia Sanchez told Al Jazeera.

Those who dare challenge the power of men in Guatemalan society often pay with their lives and only two per cent of crimes against women are solved.

Adela Chacon Tax was tortured and stabbed to death by a man whom she refused to date.

Her body was thrown in a ditch in Escuintla, in the southern part of the country.

She left behind three children, who continue to visit the humble tomb where she is buried.

Catalina Fajarto Perez, her sister, told Al Jazeera: “There are other cases like her. After my sister was killed the bodies of two other women appeared. There is impunity and nobody really cares.”

Fighting for justice

The pattern of violence against women in Guatemala has been termed ‘femicide’

We went along with her family to see her accused killer face trial.

Her two young children could not stop crying.

The trial was being pushed by Norma Cruz, a lawyer who has become a champion for abused women across the country.

She leads the non-governmental organisation Survivors and helps abused women and the family members of those who were killed fight for justice.

“We are a society that has gotten used to death,” she said.

“We had the longest civil war in Latin America with thousands of people dead, so people here take it as something normal.

“Women are not seen as great contributors to the country, so violence against them seems to be acceptable.”

Others also blame much of the violence against women on the country’s 30-year civil war.

In a country ensnared by residual violence from Central America’s longest-running internal conflict, where many of the crimes committed by the state and anti-government fighters remain unpunished, murders are not front-page stories – especially when those killed are women in what is a predominantly paternalistic Guatemalan society, critics say.

No state protection

According to a Guatemalan Human Rights Commission report, femicide is often carried out with “shocking brutality”.

A contributing factor to the continued crime is the absence of state guarantees to protect the rights of women, the report says.

But the hard work of women’s rights groups has seemingly paid off.

In April 2008, Guatemala passed a law against femicide, which officially recognised it as a punishable crime.

However, much more is needed to fight this battle as the crimes against women continue and perpetrators remain unpunished.

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/08/200984134334229388.html

Justine Reports:

As a result of our questions at the U.S. Embassy on Monday, a team from USAID gave MIA a visit on Friday morning to discuss the U.S. funds that are provided as the “Foreign Assistance Strategy” to the Guatemalan government. Aware of the blatant corruption that occurs, we were curious as to what measures are taken to ensure the appropriate and responsible use of these funds by the government.

The goal of the assistance strategy, according to USAID, is “to help build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that respond to the needs of their people, reduce widespread poverty, and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system.” The main component has been the Rule of Law program, which had a five-year contract and will end this September. The program serves to seek accountability within the justice system, works with NGO’s and the public ministry and includes a budget for non-profit organizations, sports programs, and San Carlos University. However, noting the weakness of the public ministry, USAID acknowledged that this weakness is ever-prevailing and continues to facilitate impunity. Hearing this acknowledgement by USAID, and taking into account the continuously persistent injustice for women in Guatemala that we have spent the week learning about, USAID’s visit instilled little confidence among the delegates in the effectiveness of aid in dealing with femicide and violence against women.

In the afternoon, MIA visited one of Guatemala’s largest cemeteries, which is situated next to the country’s largest dump. As soon as we drove into the gates of the cemetery, our attention was diverted to a man holding two glass bottles, stumbling along the road. Yelling and mumbling to himself as he swerved from side to side, smashing the glass bottles against the lamp posts, we developed a deeper understanding of the unfortunate manifestations of the strife and angst of the country’s troublesome past.

A guide then walked us along the cliff of the cemetery, overlooking the massive dump. Even from a significant distance away, the stench was almost unbearable. We then drove to the neighborhood of slums next to it, where neighborhoods ironically named “Esperanza” (“Hope”) and “Libertad” (“Freedom”) are nestled around garbage and are accompanied by bugs, rats, and worms. These neighborhoods have neither running water nor electricity, and people breathe methane gas on a daily basis. Most children do not attend school, but rather work with their families in the dump every day to collect recyclables, usually about .70 cents worth a day.

After the walk around the neighborhood we got a tour of the Safe Passage [Camino Seguro], founded several years ago by Hanley Denning as a “reinforcement center” and essential shelter for the people occupying the neighborhood next to the dump. Relying on donations of about $2 million a year, the center contains daycare and activities for children of all ages, a library and computer center, a playground, medical office, and a women’s literacy center. While the Guatemalan government little concerns itself with developing extremely impoverished areas such as those next to the dump, it was valuable for us to be able to see at least one glimpse of light for these adults and children. Although all the people return to their own homes at night, it is essential for them – especially the children (who reportedly often suffer incest in their packed living proximities) – to get pleasant memories of love and compassion where they can.