Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum Sends Nationwide Feminicide Law to Congress

President Claudia Sheinbaum signed and transmitted to the Congress of the Union a General Law against feminicide that will apply uniformly across Mexico’s 32 states. The reform, enabled by a constitutional amendment approved in May, defines feminicide as the killing of a woman for gender‑related reasons and establishes a single penal code with prison terms of 50 to 70 years.

The bill includes 19 aggravating circumstances – such as the victim being a child, pregnant, disabled, a journalist, human‑rights defender or migrant, or the crime involving acid or other incendiary substances – which can increase the sentence by up to half. It also mandates mandatory investigative protocols, gender‑perspective training for prosecutors and police, the creation of a National Registry of children orphaned by feminicide, and guarantees comprehensive reparations for victims and their families. Sheinbaum emphasized “zero impunity” and stated the law will apply without exceptions, even to public officials.

If approved in the September legislative session, the law will standardise investigations, prevent misclassification of deaths as suicides or homicides, and aim to reduce feminicide rates nationwide.