Crime & Violence

It is almost 12 years since the Mexican government ‘declared war on violence’. Since then there have been thousands more homicides and people declared missing. Narcoculture and violence have become normalised in Mexican society. Everyone is affected, but none more so than children, who exhibit more aggressive behaviour and violent play.

Tatiana Huezo's Prayers for the Stolen (Noche de fuego, 2021) is a Mexican drama about female friendship and resilience in the face of violence in Guerrero, Mexico.

The failure to secure justice in cases of gender-based violence shows fundamental flaws in Guatemala’s democratic institutions.

Colombia’s security forces are in retreat. Human rights defenders are in bad shape. These are desperate times in the country. WOLA's Adam Isacson returns from his first visit to Colombia in nearly two years. Here are his reactions.

Whilst Brazil is deemed one of the most violent and dangerous countries in the world, the rate of violent deaths in the country has decreased over recent years. Despite this, women and other gender and sexual minorities remain at greater risk of experiencing violence. 

Alistair Clark reviews Damian Platt's book about organized crime in Rio de Janeiro and asks whether it reflects Brazil more widely.

The death in prison of 86 year-old Abimael Guzmán, the self-styled ‘President Gonzalo’ who was the leader of Peru’s Sendero Luminoso guerrilla group marks the end of the most violent chapter of that country’s recent history. LAB’s Nick Caistor looks back at Guzmán’s life and its impact on Peru.

The short film is intended as an expression of solidarity with the current strike and its title, Desolvido, translates as ‘unforgetting’; evoking a desire not to forget past moments of beauty even in the face of a violent present.

By comparing the discourse of a Colombian broadsheet and a pacifist feminist organisation, Isabelle Gribomont demonstrates how language can impact the ways victims are understood and treated in a (post-)conflict society.

The challenges of creating a collaborative mural in Bogota to represent the perspective of women forced into prostitution by the armed conflict.