Friday, April 20, 2007

They keep on about it

The Guardian has published yet another article today about the femicide problem in Guatemala. As ever the explanations offered for the "root cause" of the surge in violence are fairly weak and derivative. This paragraph is interesting though:

"When discussing these crimes it is necessary to put them in context - Guatemala is seeing a general explosion of violence, and 10 times as many men as women are killed each year. The murder of women wouldn't be a specific area of concern, then, if activists were not convinced that they are dying in a very different way. They call it femicide, claiming that while male victims are much more likely to die because they get involved in disputes, or join violent groups, women are being targeted in unprovoked attacks. And, they add, even women who expose themselves to risk by joining the ultra-violent gangs known as "maras" tend to be killed with a sadism not usually suffered by men."

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