From Legislation to Everyday Practices in Guatemala's Violence against Women Courts. Issue 4 (14th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beck, Erin; Stephen, Lynn
• Is Part Of: Journal of Latin American studies. Volume 53:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 741
• Page End: 766
• Publication Date: 2021-11-14
• Subjects: violence against women -- Guatemala -- gender -- justice -- gender-equality reform -- ethnography; violencia contra las mujeres -- Guatemala -- género -- justicia -- reforma para la equidad de género -- etnografía; violência contra a mulher -- Guatemala -- gênero -- justiça -- reforma da igualdade de gênero -- etnografia; Latin America -- Periodicals; 980
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022216X21000511
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-216X

Abstract

Abstract: We explore how formal mandates associated with Guatemala's 2008 'Law against Femicide and Other Forms of Violence against Women' and with specialised violence against women (VAW) courts have encountered significant challenges due to state-imposed constraints. Drawing on courtroom observations, analyses of case files, and interviews, we find that while formal mandates incorporated feminist understandings of violence against women, which were often internalised among court officials, in daily practice specialised courts reproduced tendencies to depict violence as interpersonal, fragment people's experiences and enact narrow forms of justice that do not incorporate the full intent of the 2008 VAW Law and institutions intended to support it. This case study thus illuminates how and why legal solutions alone are not sufficient to reduce gender-based violence and feminicide, particularly in the face of uneven and openly hostile challenges posed by governments.