Minister of Human Development and Families, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia speaks on femicide during Women’s month

Minister of Human Development and Families, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, says it is sad to witness extreme events of femicide during Women’s Month. March is recognized worldwide as International Women’s Month as a time to celebrate the remarkable contribution of women across the globe, and to raise our voices to advocate for gender equality and women’s rights. The recent killings of the Belize City administrator Stephanie Lindo- Garbutt and American mother, Breeann Kyle from Corozal, both by their husbands, have drawn the concern of Minister Dolores Balderamos Garcia who says there is much more work to be done in Belize to end gender-based violence.

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs:“We’ve had a situation where there is a lot of crimes against women, femicides. The sad thing about it is that sometimes some of these more high profile cases actually take place during Women’s Month. And so it just highlights how much more difficult our work is and just how much more work we need to do because when you have any kind of murder/suicide it is extremely sad for families. It is an extreme form of violence and we have actually had two murder suicides you know ? One in the north with an American couple but even more sadly the death of the City Administrator Ms. Lindo which is it’s sad beyond words. It seems to be, well it is I shouldn’t say seems, it is very sad and very tragic that many times it is during the Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence and during Women’s Month that we see some of these very extreme events of violence against women. Now it doesn’t mean to say that it doesn’t happen in other times of the year but when it happens in these special times like Women’s Month and the Sixteen Days of Activism it highlights just how much more work we have to do.”

In Latin America, International Women’s Month focuses heavily on issues related to femicide and gender-based violence. On International Women’s Day, women in Mexico marched to the seat of Government and the presidential residence in an act of solidarity against gender violence chanting “we fight today, so we don’t die tomorrow.”