DATACTION: Gender-Responsive analysis of citizen security in Guatemala from January to June 2022

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On Thursday, July 21, 2022, season five, episode six of DatAction, the digital community of practice and exchange of knowledge produced by the InfoSegura Regional Project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was aired.

This episode included the participation of Daniel Vargas, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Guatemala, Silvia Mendoza, Data Analyst of UNDP InfoSegura in Guatemala, who provided a multidimensional analysis of the state of citizen security in Guatemala during the first half of 2022, and Marcela Smutt, Regional Coordinator of UNDP InfoSegura, who offered concluding remarks.

"To a great extent, in recent years prior to the pandemic, as many of you surely know, the main indicators of crime and violence in the Central American sub-region exhibited a downward trend. What's more, during the first year of the pandemic, most of these indicators decreased even more, basically as a result of the lockdown and prevention measures. Nevertheless, a central issue, unfortunately, has been that women and girls have been exposed to greater violence," said Daniel Vargas, adding: "for the UNDP office and team in Guatemala it is very gratifying to have this space (DatAction) again, which of course reflects the already extensive experience of the digital community of practice and knowledge management of the InfoSegura Regional Project. It provides an opportunity for dialogue and to discuss a variety of issues on citizen security in the region.

Among the data presented by Silvia Mendoza, the following is worth noting:

  • Some 29.7% of the country's municipalities exhibited an increase greater than the total number of homicide victims registered in January to June 2021
  • More than half of the robberies and thefts registered in 2022 occurred in the department of Guatemala
  • Twenty-six women and girls per day have been reported as victims of rape in the first six months of 2022
  • Between January and June 2022, there were 1508 homicide victims, with an average of eight violent deaths per day, an increase of 10.9% compared to 2021

 

"At the end of all this analysis of the state of violence, its vulnerabilities and risk factors, we think that efforts should be directed towards basing public policies on evidence, using gender-responsive analysis, like what we have just presented, and this will have a greater impact in the territories that are in need of interventions," concluded Silvia Mendoza, data analyst of UNDP InfoSegura in Guatemala.

Later, Marcela Smutt, Regional Coordinator of InfoSegura, closed the episode with the following reflection: "The situational analysis of the state of citizen security we saw today, enabled us to examine the challenges involved in this post-COVID context, where we are also learning about the way many of these indicators are performing, the way the dynamics and challenges of citizen security are changing, but, so are the factors associated with vulnerabilities, and others that affect and transform the dynamics of violence. This analysis sheds a lot of light for us to reflect on and to inform public policies."