Thanks to Gordon for sending this one on attention to killings of women in
Mexico state.  Interestingly, during all the years that the murders of
women in Juarez was the main story (roughly 1993-2007), the percentage of
murder victims who were women was between 8 and 15 percent of the total
number of victims. During all of those years, the number of people killed
totaled about 3,500 and about 427 of those victims were women.  Also, the
study on homicide in Mexico, 1990-2007, by Fernando Escalante* compared
homicide statistics from all Mexican states and some cities. The ratio of
female to male victims was about the same in all regions. In fact, more
women were victimized in some fo the central Mexican states than in Juarez
and Chihuahua.

The characteristic that stood out in terms of Juarez victims
is that they were younger than those in other regions. I think this
probably correlates with the fact that Juarez (and other northern border
cities) at the time was an attractive place for young migrants in Mexico
due to the availability of factory jobs. That said, none of the existing
statistics indicate a significant increase in the numbers of female
homicides during those years. In 2008, when the hyperviolence began in
Juarez, more women were killed too, but the percentages went down–I
believe because by far the largest number of people involved in the gang
and drug-war-related violence were and are young men.

Averaged for all the years between 1993 and 2011, the percentage of women victims is about 9 percent in Juarez. It is probably on average a higher percentage in places where the drug violence is not so intense as the numbers of women killed in domestic and other “normal” kinds of violence will not be so out-numbered by the overwhelmingly male killings in other kinds of violent crime. When the killings of men increase, the killings of women increase also.++
FBI crime statistics for the US show that the percentage of murder victims
who are women is fairly constant at 20-22 percent. I looked at the
statistics from 1999-2009.

That said, any attention to the killings of women and all attempts to
change the reigning impunity for those who commit violent crimes against
women, children and men in Mexico is an improvement.

Below I posted a few references and also attached a graphic showing the
ratio of women’s homicides compared to total homicides in Juarez from
1993-2011.  molly molloy

Mexico Judge Orders Probe into Killings of Women

By Olga R. Rodriguez, AP

Statistics from the Attorney General of Chihuahua as reported in El Diario
and other sources:

YEAR TOTAL HOMICIDES FEMALE HOMICIDES PERCENT of TOTAL WHO ARE WOMEN
1993 123 19 15%  1994 234 19 8%  1995 294 36 12%  1996 253 37 15%  1997 260
32 12%  1998 242 36 15%  1999 176 18 10%  2000 250 32 13%  2001 247 37 15%
2002 276 36 13%  2003 205 28 14%  2004 202 19 9%  2005 207 33 16%  2006 253
20 8%  2007 316 25 8%  2008 1623 87 5%  2009 2754 164 6%  2010 3622 304 8%
2011 2086 196 9%  TOTALS 13623 1178 9%

A Statistical Evaluation of Femicide Rates in Mexican cities along the US-Mexico Border

by Pedro H. Albuquerque &  Prasad R. Vemala