Mexico and Romania Pass Landmark Femicide Laws as UN Gender Talks Expose Deep Divides

Mexico and Romania both passed landmark femicide legislation this week, part of a global push to strengthen legal protections for women even as sharp divisions over gender policy played out at the United Nations and in the US Congress. The moves come as UN Women warns that discriminatory laws and social norms will delay economic gender equality for nearly 300 years.

Mexico: Up to 70 Years for Femicide

Mexico has enacted a sweeping national law classifying femicide as a grave human rights violation, with prison sentences of up to 70 years. The reform, driven by an amendment to Article 73 of the Constitution, empowers Congress to create a unified legal framework coordinating action across federal, state, and municipal levels.

Attorney General Ernestina Godoy Ramos said the law outlines nine gender-based criteria for classifying femicide, including sexual violence, power or subordination dynamics, and public exposure of the victim's body. It eliminates statutes of limitations for criminal proceedings and strips perpetrators of inheritance rights, parental authority, and any financial benefits tied to the victim.

Mexico recorded 797 femicides in 2024 under official criteria. The national rate reached 1.43 per 100,000 women in 2022, after peaking above 1.5 in the two preceding years. Since 2015, the annual count has nearly doubled, rising from 413 to 827 in 2023. A UN Women and UNODC joint report estimates around 50,000 women worldwide were killed by partners or family members in 2024.

Romania Follows With Tougher Sentences

Romania's parliament on March 25 adopted a femicide prevention and prosecution law by an overwhelming 284-1 vote, with two abstentions. The legislation introduces for the first time a legal definition of femicide as the intentional killing of a woman regardless of the perpetrator's relationship to the victim. Sentences align with aggravated murder: 15 to 25 years, or life imprisonment.

The law requires nationwide data collection on femicide and related violence, an area long hampered by reporting gaps. Children of femicide victims are formally recognised as direct victims and granted immediate assistance. Stricter penalties apply when crimes are committed in the presence of minors.

Last year, 53 women in Romania were killed by current or former partners. Justice Ministry data show at least 14 women are assaulted every hour. Police responded to more than 130,000 domestic violence cases in 2025, nearly 5 percent more than the previous year.

"It is an important day for us. Women in Romania will now have more protection mechanisms if they become victims of violence," said the Centre for Legal Resources and Feminism in Romania, FILIA.

CSW70: Agreed Conclusions Adopted Over US Objections

The 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, held March 9-19 in New York, adopted Agreed Conclusions on access to justice for women and girls through a recorded vote of 37 in favour, none against, and six abstentions. The United States did not support the document, voting against a broader adoption motion over concerns about language on abortion and gender definitions.

The conclusions call on states to review and amend discriminatory laws related to child marriage, family law, and property rights, and to implement stronger measures protecting women and girls from violence both online and offline.

Washington also attempted to introduce a draft text redefining "gender" to mean exclusively men and women. Belgium, on behalf of 26 EU member states, proposed a "no action motion" that succeeded, blocking the text from reaching a vote. It marked the second consecutive year the US failed to narrow the UN's working definition of gender.

The Holy See, while opposing several elements of the conclusions, urged what it called a "holistic approach" to justice centred on human dignity. Several African nations abstained, citing concerns over cultural and religious provisions.

SAVE America Act and Women's Voting Access

In the US, the SAVE America Act continued to generate controversy over its potential impact on women's rights. The bill, reintroduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), requires all prospective voters to show documentary proof of citizenship such as birth certificates or passports to register.

An estimated 69 million women who took a spouse's last name after marriage would face mismatched records between their birth certificates and current legal names. The American Center for Progress found these women would need to take additional time-consuming steps to register.

A recently surfaced video showed Roy privately acknowledging that married women could face new restrictions under the bill, even as he publicly downplayed the issue. The current version of the bill does not include special carve-outs for name changes despite claims from supporters, according to Democracy Docket's analysis of the text.

Voting rights advocates have drawn parallels to abortion restrictions. "A six-week abortion ban doesn't eliminate the right to an abortion -- it eliminates the access. The SAVE America Act doesn't eliminate the right to vote -- it eliminates the access," said Rachana Desai Martin, who built one of the largest voter protection operations in US history.

The Economic Case

UN Women data presented at CSW70 show that only 4 percent of women worldwide live in countries offering near-full legal equality, according to the World Bank. The organisation projects that invisible barriers and discriminatory laws will stall economic gender parity for 286 years at the current pace.

In Latin America, 8.3 percent fewer women than men hold bank accounts (73 percent versus 81 percent), per the 2025 Global Findex. UNDP Assistant Secretary-General Michelle Muschett noted that nine out of ten people hold at least one gender-based bias, calling it a "vicious cycle that results in fewer opportunities, lower income, and the perpetuation of poverty."

California's Stronger California Advocates Network, a coalition of 70 organisations chaired by Equal Rights Advocates, announced a 2026 legislative agenda on March 19 responding to what it described as federal civil rights rollbacks, with new protections for immigrant workers, transgender patients, and sexual violence survivors.