AMLO will struggle to reduce Mexico gender violence

Outlook

With rates of feminicide and violence more broadly on upward trends, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO)’s promises to “work to make things better” will not inspire much public confidence. Regular, high-profile killings will perpetuate the momentum behind demonstrations, pressuring AMLO to deliver results quickly.

However, the complex and varied nature of the problem’s drivers will preclude him from doing so. Structural weaknesses in law enforcement and justice provision are already a struggle to address; breaking cycles of domestic violence and an ingrained culture of ‘machismo’ may prove more so.

Impacts

• Public anger will hit AMLO’s popularity and increasingly see opposition parties demand harsher security policies and punishments.
• Death penalty proposals will not prosper and probably would not deter would-be perpetrators of feminicide.
• Anger at perceived impunity will increasingly encourage members of the public to seek vengeance against alleged perpetrators illegally.
• Yesterday’s strike action could encourage similar events in other parts of Latin America that share Mexico’s gender violence problems.