Quintana Roo, known to most Americans as the Mexican state that contains Cancun's beautiful beaches, has reported a surge in femicides. Seven women have been brutally murdered in the past three weeks, and the yearly total now lies at 18, reported The Guardian.
State officials have minimized the problem of gender-based violence for fear that large-scale investigations would stave off tourism, said Celina Izquierdo Sánchez, of the Quintana Roo Observatory of Social and Gender Violence. Because of this, said Sánchez, a "time bomb" of violence against women had exploded.
"Nothing was done due to the false belief that recognising and tackling gender violence would affect tourism. Justice will not reduce tourism," she said, reports The Guardian. Quintana Roo has the highest level of reported sexual violence in Mexico. The state does not have a DNA lab and has only one active women's refuge centre.
This particular wave of violence began on Oct. 18 when the body of Rebeca Rivera Neri, 24, was found in Cancun. She was beaten and strangled, according to the Guardian. In early November, the discovery of the body of Maria Carrasco Castilla, 19, sparked a protest march of thousands in Cancun, reported CTV News. Her body showed signs of sexual assault, and was found abandoned in a lot.
Dr. Monica Franco, expert on forensic criminology and gender violence, said that "femicides are not an isolated phenomenon. They are part of a chain of events beginning with a failure to tackle abuse and violence in the home, which eventually grows into murder," reports The Guardian.
In the first ten months of 2015, the homicide rate has shown an increase of 25.75 percent in Quintana Roo, reports The Yucatan Times. Ten million tourists and four million cruise ship passengers visited the state in 2014, and with the holidays approaching, millions are expected to visit this season, reports the Guardian.
