The Congress of Mexico City unanimously approved the so-called Malena Law, which seeks to protect victims of acid violence. The reform, in addition to toughening the sanctions against those who commit this type of attacks, classifies acid injuries against women as attempted feminicide.
The opinion approved in the plenary session modifies the Law of Access for Women to a Life Free of Violence of the CDMX, to include the definition of violence due to attacks with acid, chemical or corrosive substances; It also instructs the local Health Secretariat to keep a record of the people treated in cases of acid violence.
Regarding the modifications to the Penal Code of the Federal District, the reform adds articles 135 Bis and 135 TER, so that acid injuries are punished with between eight to 12 years in prison and a fine of three hundred to seven hundred times the unit of measure. and current update.
When acid or similar attacks are committed against a woman because of her gender, the penalty will increase by up to half.
During the presentation of the opinion, Ana Francis López Bayghen, Morena representative, stated that in Mexico there are no official records for acid attacks; However, the Carmen Sánchez Foundation, which provides care for these attacks, has a count of 28 victims in the last 20 years, in which 85 percent of the cases were committed by men.
“The rights that are most violated after an acid attack are the right to health, because generally hospitals and health centers do not know how to care for these cases, which generates trauma and depth in the wounds; the right to protection, because victims are not guaranteed their safety and personal integrity when they report attacks prior to the acid attack; the right to work (…); and the right of access to justice,” he mentioned.
Marcela Fuente, one of the promoters of the reform, addressed the victims of acid violence present at the venue, among them the saxophonist María Elena Ríos, to thank them for their strength in changing the world.
Ana Villagrán, legislator from the National Action Party, stated that the women represented by the Malena Law are a sample of the “feminicidal Mexico in which we live.” In that sense, she highlighted that there are still many things that remain to be done in the matter, for example, the regulation of establishments that sell the acids used in the attacks, a proposal that was presented months ago by the PAN deputy, Federico Döring. .