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The article presents an examination of the severe impact of corrupt legal systems on women in Mexico and Bolivia, highlighting the alarming rise of femicides linked to systemic discrimination. Topics include the case of a serial predator benefitting from judicial corruption, the broader implications of gender-based violence in Latin America, and the protests advocating for justice and accountability for victims of femicide.

Individuals seeking accountability for enforced disappearances face significant evidentiary hurdles, due to an inherent information asymmetry between victims and the states that commit or enable abuse. The obstacles are even more profound in contexts of extreme violence and widespread impunity, like Mexico. In these situations, non-state actors such as drug cartels and other organized criminal groups often perpetrate enforced disappearances, acting alone or in collusion with the state. Cognizant of these challenges, in May 2023 the United Nations ("U.N.") Committee on Enforced Disappearances ("CED") promulgated a "Statement on non-State actors in the context of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances" (the "Statement"). Taking the ongoing crisis of disappearances in Mexico as its starting point, this Article evaluates the extent to which the newly released Statement will make a meaningful difference for victims and survivors before the CED. It considers how the CED has drawn from, and harmonized its approach with, other U.N. treaty bodies as well as international and regional courts to determine the boundaries of enforced disappearances under international law. The Article finds some promising developments from the perspective of victims. These advancements include the CED's understanding of state acquiescence and the role of structural impunity, as well as its willingness to shift the burden of proof given information asymmetries between states and victims. The CED's recognition that non-state actors can commit enforced disappearances, even when there is no link to the state, is also laudable. As the Statement explains, this may happen in situations of internal armed conflict, where non-state actors commit enforced disappearances as crimes against humanity, or where non-state actors exercise effective control or government-like functions over a territory. However, the Article also raises cause for concern. In particular, the Statement does not sufficiently close the divide between Articles 2 and 3 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (the "Convention"). It therefore perpetuates a troubling hierarchy in which only some victims will have access to the Convention's protections and remedies, including reparations. Through a multi-layered analysis, this Article contributes to an active scholarly debate about the modern contours of enforced disappearances under international law, while also seeking to advance the tireless work of survivors pursuing truth and justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]