Mexico Puts on First Ever ‘Gender Alert’

The Mexican federal government has enacted the first-ever “gender alert” due to the high rate of murdered and missing women. The Interior Department cited “systematic violence against women” and “an atmosphere of impunity and permissiveness” toward crimes targeting females. Since 2005, more than 1,700 women have been murdered and at least 4,281 have gone missing (1,544 were never found). “This is something historic that will set precedents for this mechanism to be more agile, and for guarantees for women’s life and access to justice,” said Maria de la Luz Estrada of the National Citizens’ Observatory on Femicide. “Now there has been a commitment. There is no turning back.”