Mexico's Gender Violence Alerts: Ambiguous, Under-Resourced, and Uneven Impacts on Women’s Human Rights

Mexico has some of the highest rates of violence against women and femicide in the world and these numbers continue to rise. Over the past few decades, Mexico has attempted to address this issue through a series of penal code reforms, social campaigns, and comprehensive legislation, but the impacts of such measures are undercut and unevenly felt due to a series of under looked contributing factors. Mexico is the first in the world to implement the Gender Violence Alert Mechanism (AVGM), which was established under the General Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free from Violence (LGAMVLV) of 200. Once declared, it aims to coordinate a set of emergency actions tasked with addressing and eradicating violence against women in a specific geographical region. Its impacts and scope is unevenly and inconsistently felt as there are varying interpretations of its use, the institutions needed in its follow through are not adequately funded, and AVGM fails to take a intersectional approach to tackling VAW for all women and girls. Mexico's Gender Violence Alerts are a first step in the country's journey to combat VAW, however, significant additional research, funding, and clarity is needed for it to reach its full potential effects.