Ninety percent of the non-governmental organizations in Mexico are founded and run by women, says journalist and women’s rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, even as crimes against women remain cloaked in impunity.

Cacho was recently in New York, where she was awarded the Civil Courage award from the Train Foundation, and also spoke at a special event hosted by Columbia University.

When Felipe Calderón became president in 2006, he deployed the military in a federal offensive against drug cartels and criminal groups, resulting in a virtual war in which more than 40,000 people have died. In 2010 alone, the death toll exceeded 15,000, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Human rights abuses and violence against women are widespread in Mexico, perpetrated by all actors in society, including the military and police.

Nine out of 10 women in Mexico who suffer human rights violations do not report it to the authorities, and “those who (do) report them are generally met with suspicion, apathy and disrespect”, according to Human Rights Watch’s latest country report.

“The normalization of gender violence is increasing incredibly,” Cacho said.

Even though some legal measures have been put in place to prevent and punish gender-based violence, the implementation has been very limited and impunity remains the norm for murder or other crimes against women, according to human rights groups.

However, Cacho stressed that there is a growing feminist movement in Mexico to empower women and to discuss gender violence, including that perpetrated by the military.

“The problem right now in Mexico, regarding this discussion, is that the Mexican government is so obsessed with the media, with the main media that is pretty much linked with war discourse, that everything has to do with the war against drugs. And they won’t talk about human rights (even) if we want to take back the ...