Inspired by the term “femicide,” as popularized by Diana Russel and Jill Radford in the 1990s, Marcela Lagarde coined the term “feminicidio,” highlighting the gender-based reasons and broader social constructions contributing to the deaths of women and girls, specifically in Mexico. Prior to the term “feminicidio,” crimes against women were often classified as “crimes of passion.” 

Proposed by the Party of Democratic Revolution in 2007, the General Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence (Ley General de Acceso de las Mujeres a Una Vida Libre de Violencia), provided an influential legislative base for Mexico’s current Federal Penal Code by defining femicide and outlining which behaviours qualify as such. Any person(s) found guilty of femicide is to be fined and sentenced to forty to sixty years in prison. However, while this federal legislation exists, there is a disconnect between the federal government and Mexico’s 32 states. Such inconsistency between federal and state penal regulations can cause problems when both identifying femicide and punishing offenders.