The influence of feminist mobilization on legal consciousness and the practices of femicide prosecutors in Mexico at the subnational level

Abstract

Over the last two decades, some feminist organizations in Mexico have applied principles of transnational women’s rights through the use of concepts such as femicide (feminicidio) and also promoted both the pretrial preventive detention for these crimes, and the implementation of “gender-based violence alerts” by the Mexican federal government. The article aims to understand how these federal policies have influenced the legal consciousness and practices of prosecutors in the state of Nuevo León, Mexico, from 2009 to 2021. I argue that feminist discourses have been inspired by federal-level policies based on penal populism and, although they have encouraged prosecutors to defend the rights of femicide victims, they have also promoted violations of defendants’ and victims’ rights. A qualitative methodology based on documental analysis and interviews with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and human rights defenders has been applied. The article compares narratives and practices of femicide prosecutors during two historical periods and claims that feminist discourses have helped to raise consciousness of women’s rights for prosecutors but have also helped to justify some probable violations of human rights.