Feminicide as a Determinant of Mexican Women's Life Expectancy in 21st Century

Yaneth Itzel Diaz Juarez, El Colegio de Mexico

Violence, particularly in Latin America, has intensified due to social and political changes, significantly impacting mortality. Homicide violence, linked to gender inequalities, has created a daily threat to women’s lives. Yet, the demographic effects of feminicide remain understudied. This research fills that gap by developing an operational definition of feminicide for Mexico and assessing its impact on women’s survival. Using civil registration data from INEGI and demographic conciliation from CONAPO, the study examines how eliminating gender-based violence could influence life expectancy and mortality disparities. Focusing on women aged 15 to 64, cause-deleted life tables and multiple decrement life tables are analyzed from 2000 to 2019 to estimate potential life expectancy gains if feminicide were eradicated. Results show that eliminating feminicide could increase women’s life expectancy at birth by up to 5 years. Additionally, there has been a decrease in the average age at death due to feminicide and an increase in the variability of death ages. This underscores the profound effect of gender-based violence on female mortality in Mexico. The study emphasizes the urgent need for policies that tackle gender inequality and violence, potentially reversing the negative trend in women’s life expectancy.

Keywords: Mortality and Longevity, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Gender Dynamics

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