LAWG - Resolution on Violence against Women (Guatamala)

Resolution on Violence against Women


In response to the alarming increase of murders of women in Guatemala, members of Congress Dan Burton (R-IN), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Tom Lantos (D-CA), introduced House Resolution 1081 to denounce the violence. The resolution, which was introduced on November 14, 2006, condemns the ongoing abductions and murders of women and girls in Guatemala, expresses condolences to the families of victims, and recommends specific actions on the part of the U.S. President, Secretary of State, and United States Ambassador to Guatemala, to encourage Guatemala to properly investigate, resolve, and prevent these crimes.

Thanks to your help, Resolution 1081 received 58 congressional co-sponsors in just one week. In the end, the resolution was not brought to the House floor before the closing of the 109th Congress, but it will be reintroduced in the 110th Congress. Learn if your members signed onto the letter.

The initiative for the House resolution came in response to the thousands of young women and girls have been killed in Guatemala in an epidemic of unsolved murders since 2001. The number of women slain has risen steadily from 383 in 2003, to 531 in 2004, to 665 in 2005. In the first seven months of 2006, nearly 400 women were killed. Although the number of murders is alarming, the killing of women is not just a question of statistics. A key characteristic in a large number of cases is the brutality with which the murders were committed. In many cases, the victims were raped, strangled, decapitated or otherwise mutilated. In the face of this growing wave of femicides, the Guatemalan government has failed to bring those responsible to justice.