And as they marched with merriment, we took a look at all the sobering reality of violence aimed at women and girls in the past 16 weeks, a period of August to November. The stories we've covered have been eye opening and Jomarie lanza put together a sampling of that data for us today:
It's been a grim year for reporting on violence against women and girls.
Just looking at the past three months since mid August - there have been 11 femicides, and countless cases of sexual assault and abuse:
And although it would appear that there has been a significant spike in the number of crimes against females for this year, the Belize Crime Observatory reports that domestic violence reports have decreased by 16% during July to September of 2025 in comparison to 2024 -driven mainly by a sharp decrease in Belize City.
But there's a cognitive dissonance there because in October alone we bore witness to 5 femicides, one of which claimed the life of a mother and her 2 children, all victims of an arson attack in San Felipe. And in November, another woman was fatally burned by her partner in Belize City.
And more than just arsons, we have seen a shocking spree of sexual violence against women and girls. The predators and perpetrators included trusted lawmen and educators, 3 of whom have been school principals charged for sexual offenses. Another being a 26 year old Police officer charged with rape, and a Coast Guard Officer currently detained for allegedly stabbing his partner, who is a female police officer. It seems that even those who are meant to protect others from harm often find themselves in the clutches of domestic violence.
That formed the background today's march for the launch of the 16 Days of Activism to end Gender Based Violence. Another year, another march but will it be followed by another parade of gender based violence, or can it create meaningful change?:
Thea Garcia Ramirez, Minister of Human Development, Family Support & Gender Affairs
"What happens after these 16 days are over to make sure the ball stays rolling so that we can reduce these numbers of violence against women?"
"Well I am hoping that all of this can continue the conversations where you shed light and it is not a secret people can't hide and these horrific acts remain at the forefront so I guess that means that we will have all the media houses continuing the advocacy and the education through their respective roles the ministry as well as the statutory body which would be the MCM the NWC and the council of aging work on these things year round as well as many many of the partners and civil society organizations so we need to keep it on the front burner so to speak and we are asking that as well as showing the cases because there are many and they are horrific that we also try to educate the public where they can get services and where they can call and who they can reach out to."
From July to September of 2025, 7 in 10 Domestic Violence reports were filed by females with only 33% filed by males. Notably, the Majority of the Domestic Violence female complainants were between the ages of 20 to 39 years. As for males, most of the complainants of Domestic Violence were between the ages of 20 to 44 years.
