The shooting to death of Valeria Márquez, a 23-year-old Mexican beauty influencer, while live streaming on TikTok at her beauty salon in Zapopan, Jalisco, may well illustrate that Mexico continues to grapple with a deeply entrenched crisis of femicide-gender-based killings of women, that remains one of the highest in the world.
Despite some recent improvements, the scale and severity of violence against women in the country highlight ongoing challenges rooted in cultural, institutional, and social factors.
In 2024, Mexico recorded over 797 femicides nationwide, marking the third consecutive year of decline after a peak in 2021.
The national femicide rate stood at approximately 1.18 cases per 100,000 women, down from a high of over 1.5 per 100,000 in 2021.
However, the true number of femicides is widely believed to be higher due to significant underreporting and misclassification.
Only about 24% of female homicides are officially investigated as femicides, reflecting inconsistencies in legal definitions and investigative practices across states.
The total number of female homicides has also shown a downward trend since peaking in 2019, and femicides specifically peaked in 2021 before decreasing in subsequent years.
In January 2025 alone, 54 femicides were reported, the second-lowest monthly figure in seven years. Yet, the problem remains severe, with an average of about 10 women murdered daily in Mexico due to gender-based violence.
Femicide rates vary significantly across Mexican states. Colima recorded the highest femicide rate in 2024, with nearly five femicides per 100,000 women, followed by states like Morelos and Chihuahua, which also exceeded the national average.
In contrast, some states classify nearly all female murders as femicides, such as Campeche (100%), while others, like Guanajuato, classify very few (4.2%), complicating efforts to obtain accurate nationwide data.
The State of Mexico reports the highest absolute number of femicide victims, underscoring the geographic concentration of violence in certain regions.
The persistence of femicide in Mexico is linked to deep-rooted machismo culture, patriarchal norms, and systemic discrimination against women, compounded by the influence of organised crime and drug cartels, which often perpetuate violence against women.
Institutional responses remain inadequate. Impunity is rampant, with approximately 93% of sexual violence cases going unreported or uninvestigated.
Meanwhile, Mexico has enacted numerous laws aimed at combating gender-based violence, many named after femicide victims to honor their memory and raise awareness, including the Ingrid Law, which prohibits the distribution of graphic images of femicide victims, and the Olimpia Law, which criminalises digital violence and the unauthorised sharing of intimate content.
[…] Femicide in Mexico: Murder of TikToker Valeria Márquez Reveals Ugly Underbelly of Latin American Co… […]