RECOMMENDATIONS
1.- Set a reasonable deadline for a progress report on the investigations into killings
(femicides), attempted murders and/or attacks on women human rights defenders,
and if necessary investigate, charge and sentence those responsible in accordance
with the law. Investigations should always be performed properly, meaning: a)
carrying them out with due diligence and in an effective manner; b) performing all the
actions and enquiries needed in order to secure the desired result; c) not depending
upon the victim or their relatives to bring proceedings or offer proof.
2.- Guarantee access to justice and effective protection measures for women
defenders and families of women defenders who have suffered different types of
violence at the hands of the state (police, military, etc.) and/or non-state parties with
the tolerance or acquiescence of the authorities.
3.- Perform a full assessment of deficiencies in the application of national protection
mechanisms for human rights defenders and journalists, from a feminist perspective
and with the participation of women human rights defenders. Also, launch a farreaching public awareness campaign to spread awareness of the scope of the
mechanism among the population in general. And present the accounts for the
budget spent, with a breakdown of expenditure by item.
4.- Perform a full assessment of deficiencies in the application of the precautionary
measures granted by the competent national bodies, from a feminist perspective and
with the participation of women human rights defenders, in order to correct said
deficiencies.
5.- Ensure that women human rights defenders are protected and not subject to
defamation. Put an end to defamation where it occurs, carrying out a thorough and
impartial investigation.
6.- Perform a full assessment of the Mexican state’s compliance with the
precautionary measures granted to defenders by the IACHR, from a feminist
perspective and with the participation of women human rights defenders.
7.- Adopt the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in all
the states of the Mexican Republic, with the inclusion of a gender-based and feminist
perspective.
8.- Establish state protection mechanisms to guarantee the safety and integrity of
women human rights defenders, taking into consideration said defenders’ proposals
regarding the type of protection they require.
9.- Draw up and implement in all states across the country protocols of prevention,
protection and investigation, with a gender-based and feminist focus and to include
proposals by women human rights defenders themselves in order to fully guarantee
their human rights.
10.- The Mexican state should publicly recognise the important role played by women
human rights defenders and civil society organizations. To this end a campaign
should be launched to raise the visibility of the contribution made by these defenders
towards creating a society in which rights prevail and both the public’s sense of
solidarity and the institutional duty to ensure compliance with the highest human
rights standards are strengthened.
11.- The Mexican state should guarantee comprehensive public safety in the face of
a climate of growing violence, and should therefore comply with international
recommendations not to use the army and navy to perform duties which correspond
to police and civil bodies and which guarantee the right of everyone to life, freedom,
property and safety.
12.- Fully guarantee the right to the free expression of ideas and social protest. The
role of the armed forces should be to guarantee these rights and not criminalise
human rights defenders.
13.- Strengthen the role of non-judicial public human rights organizations by giving
them full autonomy to perform their duties, guaranteeing civil society participation
with a gender-based and feminist perspective in the recruitment process and activity
of the management of said organisations.
14.- Incorporate the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals,
Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms into national and local legal frameworks,
so that it provides legal certainty to the work performed by women defenders.
15.- Apply all measures that ensure women defenders receive reparations such as
justice, truth and guarantees of non-repetition. Guarantees of non-repetition are
actions, measures and processes designed to avoid repeat violations of women’s
human rights. They seek instead to strengthen the general policy of prevention of
feminicidal violence by generating changes in the way institutions work, tackling the
structural causes of violence, and influencing the political culture of both the public
and the authorities in a positive way.
To avoid the repetition of acts or behaviour that lead to the violation of women’s
human rights, the rule of law and citizen power at state level needs to be
strengthened, spaces of peaceful co-existence need to be created and the right of
women to a life free of violence should be respected. To achieve these goals the
state must take measures to ensure that justice prevails and that the violent deaths of
women do not continue to go unpunished. It thus follows that one guarantee of nonrepetition consists of implementing the Gender Violence Alert, as provided for in the
General Law On Women's Access to a Life Free from Violence. The state should
also promote good practice in the legal system in terms of fairness and consistency
would also help discourage actions which violate women’s human rights. It should
identify any legal mechanisms which serve to improve judicial processes such that
law enforcement is carried out within a framework of women’s rights and in particular
those rights aimed at reducing and ultimately eliminating violence. It should also
investigate and sanction any public officials, judges or magistrates who do not
enforce national and international laws which promote women’s rights.
16.- We recommend civil society organizations to recognise the role and contribution
of women human rights defenders, and to uphold a feminist human rights perspective
in order to prevent, combat and eradicate the violence which prevents them from fully
performing their role in society and in civil society organizations themselves.
17.- We recommend the media to adopt editorial positions and professional practices
based on international human rights conventions and treaties which fully guarantee
women’s rights. We also recommend the media to pay close attention to its use of
language, to avoid promoting stereotypes or sexism which devalue or discriminate
against women, and to avoid objectifying women’s bodies.