The federal government has issued a gender alert for Baja California due to high levels of violence against women in the northern border state.

Issued by the Interior Ministry via the National Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence against Women (Conavim), the alert applies to all six of the state’s municipalities: Tijuana, Mexicali, Tecate, Ensenada, Playas de Rosarito and San Quintín.

There were six femicides – the killing of women and girls on account of their gender – in Baja California in the first five months of 2021 and almost 5,000 reported cases of domestic violence.

The alert compels authorities to implement a total of 39 measures aimed at eradicating violence against women.

Speaking at an event on Tuesday at which the gender alert was officially declared, Conavim chief Fabiola Alanís Sámano said that all three levels of government as well as lawmakers and the court system will need to work together to implement the measures, which span violence prevention, women’s safety, justice and compensation.

Alejandro Encinas, deputy interior minister for human rights, said the federal government’s commitment is to implement policies across the country that help women live their lives free of violence.

“This is, without a doubt, one of the main guiding principles of federal government public policies,” he said.

Encinas said that violence against women is a “structural and systematic” problem that is prevalent across all aspects of life in Mexico.

There were 423 femicides between January and May, an increase of 7% compared to the same period of 2020. Almost 60% of the crimes occurred in just eight of Mexico’s 32 states: Morelos, Sonora, Quintana Roo, Colima, Jalisco, Sinaloa, San Luis Potosí and Chiapas.

With the declaration of the gender alert in Baja California, there are 22 active alerts in 18 states.

Mexico News Daily