Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 5-8-2022

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Public Policy Leadership

First Advisor

Melissa Bass

Second Advisor

Gregory Love

Third Advisor

Emily Fransee

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Femicide refers to the misogynistic killing of women by men. Globally, femicide is the leading cause of premature deaths for women. El Salvador notoriously has one of the highest femicide rates in the world. This thesis analyzes the effectiveness of current Salvadoran governmental responses to femicide using quantitative and qualitative analysis. This research found that, despite a lack of enforcement, there was a relative reduction in femicide rates following major governmental responses. Most notably, following the passage of VAW-focused laws from 2011 to 2012 and the appointment of a particular unit to investigate gender-based violence, femicides in El Salvador decreased dramatically. If implemented properly, the positive impact of these responses could be even more significant. Based on this research and the ecological framework in which it is rooted, El Salvador should enforce current laws much more fully and develop initiatives that counteract the risk factors women face on the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. These initiatives should include promoting use of the danger assessment in public resource centers, conducting a femicide census, and incorporating gender-equality education into the school curriculum.

Accessibility Status

Searchable text

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.