Since the turn of the millennium, over 5,000 women have been murdered in Guatemala. To give a better idea of what this figure means, consider that if Guatemala, with its population of 14 million, were the size of the United States, this would add up to 110,000 women murdered in a decade. And conditions are only worsening with the passage of time. In 2000, 213 women met violent deaths in Guatemala, compared to 720 in 2009 and 675 in 2010. Worse still, only an estimated 2 percent of these cases have received legal action.
Two thirds (66%) of [women in prison] reported having been involved in at least one violent relationship.
45% of [imprisoned] women reported that a partner or spouse had engaged in at least one form of abuse or control in the year preceding their current incarceration.
In terms of demographic characteristics, after controlling
for other factors, … the odds of an Indigenous person
receiving a sentence of imprisonment were 1.46 times the
odds of a non-Indigenous person.
Factors which influence the sentencing of domestic violence offenders
• In NSW, in 2007, Indigenous people were five and a half times as likely to be a victim of domestic violence as non-Indigenous people (Indigenous women were 6.2 times as likely to be a victim of domestic violence as non-Indigenous women)
• In Victoria, in 2007-08, Indigenous people were 4.5 times as likely to be a victim of domestic violence related assault as non-Indigenous people (Indigenous women were five times as likely to be a victim of domestic violence as non-Indigenous women)
• In Queensland, in 2007-08, Indigenous people were 17.8 times as likely as non-Indigenous people to be a victim of domestic violence related assault (Indigenous women were 21.2 times as likely to be a victim of domestic violence as non-Indigenous women)
Indigenous females between 25 and 54 are between 9 and 23 times more likely to die from assault than non-Indigenous females of comparable age.
