Mexico Now Punishes Transfeminicide With 60 Years

Mexico City — The full chamber of the State of Mexico Congress approved this Wednesday, by a majority vote, reforms to the state's Penal Code to recognize the criminal offense of transfeminicide, which will be punished with a prison sentence of 40 to 60 years and a fine of up to 5,000 days' worth of wages.

Just over a year after the deputy, Luisa Esmeralda Navarro, proposed the addition of a Chapter 5 to the Penal Code and of Article 281 bis to classify transfeminicide, the proposal was finally endorsed today with the votes of Morena, PT, PVEM, MC, PRI, and PRD. The PAN was the only party that opposed the reform.

From the podium, Luisa Esmeralda Navarro stated that classifying transfeminicide is an act of justice, but above all, "a firm step towards the recognition and protection of trans women and all those people whose identity or gender expression identifies as woman."

Thus, Article 281 Bis of the Penal Code was written as follows: "The crime of transfeminicide is committed by a person who, for reasons of identity or gender expression, deprives of life a trans woman or a person whose identity or gender expression identifies as woman, in a context of discrimination."

In the debate, the PAN argued that legislation should not be driven by ideologies and stated that this type of crime was already contemplated in the Penal Code under Article 242, which addresses hate crimes. The PAN deputies maintained that proving transfeminicide will be difficult and that this will generate even more impunity for punishing these murders. They proposed modifying the wording to replace the concept of transfeminicide with "deprivation of life of a person by reason of gender identity," however, the proposal did not gain traction.

Luisa Esmeralda Navarro acknowledged the willingness of all parliamentary groups to support the initiative, which she said aims to guarantee justice, visibility, and protection for all women, including trans women, and to advance towards a society free of violence and without discrimination.

"This initiative is not just an addition to the Penal Code, but it is a firm step towards the recognition and protection of trans women and all those people whose identity or gender expression identifies as woman. Its objective is to ensure that crimes motivated by hate, discrimination, and prejudice do not remain in impunity, closing a historical gap existing in the legal system with this legislative action."

In the country, transfeminicide is already classified in the Penal Codes of Mexico City, Campeche, Nayarit, Baja California, and Baja California Sur; now the State of Mexico is the sixth entity to penalize it in its penal code.