The Senate of Mexico approved this Tuesday a constitutional reform to empower Congress to issue a general law on femicide, at the initiative of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, with the aim of standardizing the classification, investigation, and punishment of this crime throughout the country. The bill, approved unanimously, proposes to establish common bases for femicide, strengthen coordination between authorities, and guarantee access to justice for victims.
Femicide is the legal category that recognizes the murder of women for gender reasons, but not all violent deaths of women are investigated under this figure. Currently, the crime is investigated and punished differently in each state, so, according to the document, 'it is essential to have general legislation that establishes homogeneous bases for the classification, investigation, prosecution, and punishment of femicide throughout the country.' In Mexico, around 10 women are murdered every day and less than a quarter are investigated as femicides, which - according to NGOs - has shown failures in its classification and high levels of impunity.
Between 2018 and 2025, more than 26,600 murders of women were recorded in Mexico, of which only 6,781 were investigated as femicide, according to official figures. In this context, Sheinbaum's initiative seeks to standardize the penal type, unify investigation protocols, and establish prison sentences of 40 to 70 years, as well as investigate every violent death of women under the initial hypothesis of femicide.
The reform to article 73 of the Constitution seeks to empower Congress to 'establish a homogeneous penal type, sanctions and aggravating circumstances' and strengthen coordination between authorities, in addition to guaranteeing effective access to justice and reparation for damage, according to the Senate, in a statement. The project also contemplates attention to indirect victims of femicide, such as girls, boys, and adolescents in a situation of orphanhood. The bill was referred to the Chamber of Deputies for its analysis and eventual approval, as well as that of the state congresses.
The Secretary of Women of Mexico, Citlalli Hernández Mora, recognized the Senate for approving the bill that paves the way for the creation of the new General Law on Femicide. 'It is a historic step that recognizes the severity of this violence and strengthens the State's tools to investigate and sanction it by homologating femicide throughout the country,' she stated in a message on X.
The reform also occurs in a context in which the Mexican government has highlighted a decrease of 14.9 percent in femicides in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. However, organizations such as the National Citizen Observatory on Femicide (OCNF) have questioned the effectiveness of that decrease, warning that only a portion of violent deaths of women are investigated as femicide.
