She Killed The Man Raping her. Now Mexican Woman Faces 6 Years In Prison

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – A Mexican woman sentenced to more than six years in prison for killing a man in self-defense after he attacked and raped her in 2021, a verdict her legal defense termed “discriminatory” and pledged to contest on Tuesday.

Experts and feminist groups were outraged by the verdict against Roxana Ruiz, saying it reflected the depth of gender-based violence and Mexico’s dismal track record of bringing perpetrators of sexual violence to justice.

“If this sentence stands, it will set a bad precedent.” It sends a message to women that, you know what, the law says you can protect yourself, but only to a degree,” said her defense attorney, ngel Carrera. “He raped you, but you don’t have the legal right to do anything.”

The Associated Press does not generally identify sexual assault victims, but Ruiz has permitted her to be identified and attends public protests staged by people supporting her.

While the Mexico State court ruled Ruiz was raped, it also found her guilty of homicide with “excessive use of legitimate defence,” noting that punching the man in the head would have been enough to defend herself. Ruiz was also forced to pay over $16,000 in restitution to the man who raped her.

Ruiz was selling french fries in Nezahualcoyotl in May 2021, one of 11 towns in Mexico State with an active gender alert for femicides and another for forced disappearances of women.

Ruiz, an Indigenous Mixteca lady and single mother from the state of Oaxaca, encountered a man she had seen around the neighborhood while drinking a beer with a friend. He offered to walk her home after hanging out and then wanted to stay the night because it was late and he was far from home.

Ruiz consented to let him sleep on the floor on a mattress. According to Ruiz’s legal defense, he climbed onto her bed, slapped her, tore her clothes off, and raped her while she slept. Ruiz retaliated by punching him in the nose. He threatened to kill her, and she killed him in self-defense in her fight for freedom.

Now Mexican Woman Faces 6 Years In Prison.

In a panic, Ruiz placed the man’s body in a bag and hauled it out to the street, where she was apprehended by passing police.

Despite reporting to authorities she had been raped, Carrera claims she was never subjected to a forensic examination, a critical stage in the prosecution of sexual abuse cases. Instead, an officer stated that she most likely wanted to have sex with the man at first but then changed her mind.

“I regret what I did, but if I hadn’t done it, I would be dead today,” Ruiz told the AP last year, adding, “It’s evident that the state wants to shut us up, wants us to be submissive, wants us closed up inside, wants us dead.”

Woman’s rights organizations have regularly accused Mexican authorities of victimizing survivors and failing to examine cases from a gender viewpoint.

Ruiz was imprisoned for nine months on charges of homicide over reasonable self-defense before being released to await trial.

According to government figures, nearly half of Mexican woman have experienced sexual violence.

In 2022, the Mexican government recorded 3,754 woman who were purposely slain, an average of ten per day, a considerable increase from the previous year. Only one-third of the cases were investigated as femicides.

Now Mexican Woman Faces 6 Years In Prison.

Due to increased disappearances and a lack of reporting of violence in the country, that figure is likely only a fraction of the true figure.

Angelica Ospina, a gender fellow for the International Crisis Group in Mexico, expressed concern that the sentence may embolden perpetrators while preventing woman from reporting or defending themselves against gender-based violence.

According to Ospina, the story demonstrates how “normalised” gender-based violence is in Mexico and other regions of Latin America.

“When a woman defends herself, the system is especially efficient in processing and sentencing her without taking into account the circumstances under which she killed the man,” Ospina explained.

Outside the courthouse, woman held banners and screamed, “justice!” A weeping Ruiz stepped in front of the audience, thanking feminist organizations and the woman who had supported her throughout the years-long legal process.

While speaking to the audience, she remembered her 4-year-old kid.

“I hope to see my son again.” “I’d like to stay with him and watch him grow up,” Ruiz said.

SOURCE – (AP)