Bolivia Declares Emergency Plan to End Gender Killings
Bolivia, which has one of South America's highest rates of women being killed because of their gender, has declared femicide a national priority and will step up efforts to tackle growing violence, a top government rights official said on Tuesday. Since January authorities have recorded 73 femicides - the killing of a woman by a man due to her gender - in the highest toll since 2013. The murders amount to one woman killed every two days. "In terms of the femicide rate, Bolivia is in the top rankings," said Tania Sanchez, head of the Plurinational Service for Women and Ending Patriarchy at Bolivia's justice ministry, despite legal protections being in place. A 2013 law defined femicide as a specific crime and provided tougher sentences for convicted offenders. "We are…