Justice in a Girl’s Voice: Femicide and Justice Mini-Series #3
Let us pause for a moment:
🍃 🌎 🌱
People celebrated Earth Day during this week: on
Wednesday April 22, 2026.
Let’s keep the celebration going throughout the year by making every day Earth Day!
“We come into being in and through the Earth. Simply put, we are Earthlings. The Earth is our origin, our nourishment, our educator, our healer, our fulfillment.”
—Thomas Berry “The Spirituality of the Earth,” in The Sacred Universe, 69
Now, we continue with: Girls’ Voices on the Look of Justice.
This post continues the presentations of teen girls
who were presenters on a panel co-sponsored by
The Grail (1) and United for Equity and Ending Racism (UFER) (2).
The panel was a parallel event for the
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70 2026),
entitled
GIRLS’ VOICES: WITHOUT US, NO JUSTICE
Introduction: Next Panelist
by co-moderator Amelia
Emiliana is 16 years old and is originally from Cuernavaca, Mexico. Currently a high school student, she is dedicated to raising her voice on behalf of underprivileged girls who need someone to speak up for their rights.
Her parents are a great inspiration to her, as they have participated in art workshops for the community. From an early age, Emiliana has participated in marches and protests, gaining a strong awareness of the current issues that affect women and girls in the world today.
Emiliana strongly believes that girls’ participation and action are fundamental to generate a positive impact on society. She is invested in channeling her efforts to build and achieve social change.
She will now explain that in Mexico, corruption, violence, and weak institutions make justice very difficult to access, especially for girls, who are often not taken seriously and face dangers like femicide and unsafe public spaces.
Emiliana, you can take the stage!
Emiliana
Grail Girls Parallel Event Presentation:
English Translation
(Emiliana’s Original Presentation in Spanish is Below*)
First, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak out on behalf of the girls in my community. For me, justice means that everyone is treated equally, that they have the same opportunities, and that they are not treated differently regardless of where they come from, who they are, or what they do.
In Mexico, we have a judicial system that is supposed to help the entire country achieve a certain stability among all people. However, because it is run by various individuals, it becomes complex since we do not all think alike. In fact, not long ago, people in the judicial system began to be elected by the population, since previously many people in the system were there more because someone higher up had chosen them.
Mexico has a complex situation with regard to corruption, drug trafficking, and violence, which makes it more difficult for justice to be carried out since many times the people who have access to power to do something about justice are also associated with corruption, drug trafficking, and cases of violence.
Now, with all that in perspective and knowing that it is difficult for an adult to seek justice, it is even MORE complex for a girl, since often if they do come forward to report an injustice, they are not taken seriously, just because they are girls!
Furthermore, most of the time when people in general approach the justice system, all that is done is to open an investigation file and archive it; unfortunately, there is a lack of follow-up. There are times when girls dare to approach the justice system to escape, for example, a violent home where they are beaten or otherwise hurt, and what they achieve is to put them in contact with the people responsible for the aggression, which in the long run can lead to increasing violence and even femicide.
In fact, in 2025, there were 721 cases of femicide, of which 63 were girls and adolescents. This tells us that every five and a half days, there was a femicide of girls and adolescents in Mexico. It should be remembered that many cases of femicide are not reported, so we cannot know for sure the exact number of femicides in the country.
The Mexico City transportation system allocates two train cars for women, children under 12, and seniors. But even so, situations of violence continue to occur. In my community of Morelos in Cuernavaca, the safety of girls is seriously threatened by the poor conditions of public transportation and infrastructure on the streets. Our means of transportation are trucks, buses, or taxis, and harassment and theft occur on all of them.
The lack of safety is worse on the streets, as many are not well lit and at night they become dangerous even inside and outside educational institutions because there is not enough security. So I would say that in order to feel safer and more equal, it should be ensured that public places and transportation are safe at all times, both at night and during the day.
In my community, I have participated in many marches, such as the March 8 march. This has helped me expand my knowledge about the violence that occurs against girls and women in my community. When the march ends, we gather around a small stage outside the government palace, and there some girls decide to share their experiences so that other girls do not suffer the same fate and can take care of themselves.
Personally, I think this is a great opportunity to find out what women and girls think and to hear some of their own proposals for improving access to justice. During the march, there are girls who are already marching to be respected, listened to, and to not die or disappear.
Thank you!
In her presentation, Emiliana referred to FEMICIDE.
It is extremely important that we look at what this is.
NOTE: I covered FEMICIDE in great depth in my post of September 26, 2025.
https://cwed.org/blog/patriarchyhow-did-it-arise-and-why-does-it-persist
I recommend checking out my post!
And here is something for now:
What is FEMICIDE?
FEMICIDE is the killing of a woman because she is a woman.
UN WOMEN
Five essential facts to know about femicide
25 November 2025
Following are some excepts from the report above.
To expand on each of the topics, click on the link in the title above;
—or—
copy and paste the URL below into the search bar of a browser of your choice (Safari, Google Chrome, etc.):
https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/five-essential-facts-to-know-about-femicide
Femicide: definition and causes
Femicide (or feminicide, as it is referred to in some contexts) is defined as an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation.
It is different from homicide, where the motivation may not be gender-related.
Femicide is driven by discrimination against women and girls, unequal power relations, gender stereotypes or harmful social norms.
It is the most extreme and brutal manifestation of violence against women and girls which occurs on a continuum of multiple and related forms of violence, at home, in workplaces, schools or public and online spaces, including intimate partner violence, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence, harmful practices and trafficking.
1. Women and girls are most likely to be killed by those closest to them
In 2024, around 50,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members (including fathers, mothers, uncles and brothers)…
2. Femicide is a universal problem
Femicide is a global crisis that affects women and girls in every country and territory…
3. The true scale of femicide is likely much higher
While the numbers presented in the report are alarmingly high, they are the tip of the iceberg. Too many victims of femicide still go uncounted…
4. Some groups of women and girls face greater risk
Women in the public eye, including those in politics, women human rights defenders, and journalists are often targets of deliberate acts of violence both online and offline…
5. Femicide can and must be prevented
Gender-related killings and other forms of violence against women and girls are not inevitable. Often, femicide/feminicide is a culmination of repeated and escalating episodes of gender-based violence, which means it can and must be prevented if the early signs of violence are addressed effectively.
Initiatives that focus on primary prevention, changing social norms, and engaging whole communities to create zero tolerance for violence against women, work best in preventing gender-related killings….
REPORT WITHIN A REPORT
Below is a direct link to the 2024 statistical report that is within the 2025 report above.
This United Nations 2024 report below has valuable explanatory graphs and information.
A UNITED NATIONS REPORT
Femicides in 2024:
Global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides
© 2025 United Nations, November 2025. All rights reserved worldwide.
Contact: UNODC Research and Trend Analysis Branch: unodc- research@un.org
Enquiries may be addressed to unodc- research@un.org.
This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non- profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made.
To open the report:
Copy and paste the link below into a browser (Safari, Google Chrome, etc.) of your choice,
—or—
Click on the link below or the link above the report.
Excerpt From the Report:
Definition of FEMICIDE:
Femicide represents the most extreme manifestation of gender- based violence against women and girls.
Very often such killings are not isolated incidents but rather the culmination of pre-existing forms of gender- based violence that affect all regions and countries worldwide.
In broad terms, femicides or gender- related killings of women and girls are perpetrated in a variety of settings, within the private sphere and beyond, for gender- related motives.
The motives behind such crimes are rooted in societal norms and stereotypes that consider women to be subordinate to men, as well as in discrimination towards women and girls, inequality and unequal power relations between women and men in society.
*Here is Emiliana’s Original Talk
in Her Native Language:
Grail Girls Parallel Event Presentation
(Spanish)
Primero, quiero agradecerles por el espacio que se me está dando para poder alzar la voz por las niñas de mi comunidad. Para mí la justicia es que todas las personas sean tratadas igual, que tengan las mismas áreas de oportunidad y que no sean tratadas distinto sin importar de donde vengan, como sean o que hagan.
En México tenemos el sistema judicial, el cual se supone que debería ayudar a todo el país a estar en cierta estabilidad entre todas y todos, sin embargo, al ser llevado por varias personas se vuelve complejo ya que no todos pensamos igual, de hecho, hace no mucho se logró que las personas del sistema judicial sean elegidas por la población, ya que antes muchas personas que estaban en el sistema, estaban ahí más porque alguien de mayor rango las elegía.
México tiene una situación compleja con respecto a la corrupción, el narcotráfico y la violencia, lo que hace que sea más difícil que la justicia se lleve a cabo ya que muchas veces las personas que tienen un acceso a poder hacer algo respecto a la justicia también están asociadas con la corrupción, el narco y casos de violencia.
Ahora con todo eso en perspectiva y sabiendo que para una persona adulta es complicado llegar a acercarse a la justicia, para una niña es aún MÁS complejo, ya que muchas veces si llegan a acercarse para denunciar una injusticia, no se les toma en serio, ¡solo por ser niñas!
Además, la mayoría de veces que las personas en general, se acercan a la justicia, lo único que se hace, es abrir una carpeta de investigación y archivarla, desafortunadamente hay falta seguimiento.Siendo niñas exigiendo justicia, más archivan las carpetas de casos que exigen la acción de las autoridades. Aparte, la manera que tienen el sistema para “resolver” las problemáticas que tienen las niñas, muchas veces suelen ser cosas que las regresan al problema del que vienen. Es decir que hay ocasiones en las que las niñas se atreven a acercarse a la justicia para escapar de, por ejemplo, un hogar violento en donde las golpean o lastiman de otra manera, y lo que logran es contactarlas con las personas responsables de la agresión, lo que a la larga puede llevar a una violencia que va en aumento y llegue a un feminicidio.
De hecho, en 2025 se registraron 721 casos de feminicidio, de los cuales 63 fueron de niñas y adolescentes. Lo que nos dice que cada cinco días y medio, hubo un feminicidio de niñas y adolescentes en México. Hay que recordar que muchos casos de feminicidios, no se llegan a denunciar por lo que no podemos saber a ciencia cierta las cantidades exactas de feminicidios en el país.
El sistema de transporte de la ciudad de México asigna 2 vagones del tren para mujeres, niños menores de 12 años y adultos mayores. Pero aun así, siguen sucediendo situaciones de violencia. En mi comunidad de Morelos en Cuernavaca, la seguridad de las niñas se ve fuertemente amenazada por las malas condiciones de transporte público e infraestructura en las calles. Nuestros medios de transporte son camiones, autobuses, o taxis, y en todos pasan situaciones de acoso y robos.
La falta de seguridad es peor en las calles, ya que muchas no están bien iluminadas y por las noches se vuelven peligrosas incluso dentro y fuera de las instituciones de enseñanza porque no hay suficiente seguridad.
Por lo que yo diría que para sentirnos más seguras e igualesse debería garantizar que en todo momento los lugares y transportes públicos sean seguros de todas las maneras posibles tanto en la noche como en el día.
En mi comunidad he participado en muchas marchas como la marcha del 8 M. Esto me ha ayudado a expandir mis conocimientos respecto a la violencia que ocurre hacia las niñas y mujeres en mí comunidad. Cuando la marcha concluye nos reunimos alrededor de un pequeño escenario que está afuera del palacio de gobierno, y ahí algunas chicas deciden compartir sus experiencias para que a otras chicas no les ocurra lo mismo y que se cuiden.
En lo personal pienso que ahí ya es una gran oportunidad para saber que piensan tanto las mujeres como las niñas y poder escuchar tal vez algunas propuestas que ellas mismas tienen para poder mejorar en el tema de acceso a la justicia. Durante la marcha sí hay niñas, niñas que ya marchan por ser respetadas, escuchadas y por no morir ni desaparecer.
!Gracias!
Notes:
The Grail is an international movement of women founded in 1921 in Holland by a Jesuit priest and five Catholic lay women. Its mission is focused on social transformation, spiritual search, environmental sustainability, women's empowerment, and global solidarity.
The International Grail has been a registered non-governmental organization (NGO) at the United Nations since 1953, with Special Consultative status through ECOSOC since 1998. It works on issues such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), anti-racism, and sustainable development.
Headquartered at Granville in Loveland, Ohio, the Grail operates in roughly 22 countries, with a significant presence in the USA.
Grail in the USA:https://www.grail-us.org/
International Grail Movement:https://grailmovement.net/
2. United for Equity and Ending Racism (UFER) has worked to eliminate all forms of racism, xenophobia, discrimination and related intolerance since its founding in 1952.Through representation as a non-governmental organization (NGO) at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, UFER collaborates with other international actors to promote policies for racial equity at the global level, while condemning the transatlantic slave trade and colonial genocide of indigenous peoples as flagrant crimes against humanity.
UFER’s mission is to build a peaceful world free of all forms of racism, casteism, inequity and injustice where all members of one human race enjoy full health, dignity and well-being in a context of freedom, equality and justice protected by universal human rights principles.
UFER International: https://ufer.international/
IN YOUR OWN WORDS:
Previous Post: “Girls’ Voices on Justice—Mini-Series #2” Written by Anne Andersson, April 17, 2026
—”Terrific post and good kickoff to the series! It’s great that you recreated the event for us with the full intro by the girls.” —CA
Prayers Needed!
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World events are extremely serious.
They do, however, cause media distraction.
Remember the survivors of Epstein’s human trafficking.
Pray for them and also for the perpetrators.
Pray for JUSTICE to occur in both directions!
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