Femicide is on the rise in AMLO's Mexico

Although murder rates in Mexico dropped by 3.6 percent in Mexico in 2021, femicides — the murder of women resulting from gender-based violence — rose across the country, according to government data released on Thursday.

According to Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez, last year’s decline in murders to 33,308 was the lowest total under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — who promised to bring down record levels of violence after taking office in 2018, Reuters reported.

Lopez Obrador argues that the violence is a product of historic inequality and corruption, but his opponents say his strategy of “hugs not bullets” — which has aimed to reduce direct confrontation with criminal gangs — has led to a rise in criminal impunity.

Yet while murder rates have generally fallen, femicides increased by 2.7 percent to 1,004 in 2021, official data showed.

This accounts for more than double the number registered in 2015, when there were 427 femicides in Mexico.

Lopez Obrador previously faced criticism for his handling of violence against women, and has frequently responded by attacking feminist movements in Mexico.

Murders reached a record of 34,690 in 2019, Lopez Obrador's first full year in office, and continued to trend up through early 2020 as Mexico imposed coronavirus-related curbs, despite some predictions that stay-at-home orders would reduce crime.

The numbers improved somewhat, and by the close of 2020, murders were down 0.4 percent to 34,554.