The reported number of murders from “1993 to 2008 is up to 576” (Lezra). Teresa Rodriguez, author of the book “Daughters of Juarez” based on these femicides, researched the subject and she claims that “Mexican authorities file approximately one-eighth of all the reports- the actual number is closer to 5,000” (Lezra). According to the Organization of American State’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the victims were usually reported missing by their families “with their bodies found days or months later abandoned in vacant lots, outlying areas or in the desert. In most of these cases there were signs of sexual violence, abuse, torture, or in some cases mutilation” (Sarria). Most of the women targeted in these femicides worked at maquiladoras, “factories that import materials for assembly and then re-export the assembled product, to become a fixed aspect of the local and national economy” (Sarria). These factories are internationally owned and came about after the signing of NAFTA in which predominantly U.S. owned corporations were allowed to establish their factory corporations across the border in Mexico thus guaranteeing cheaper labor. As a result many families, especially women from poor towns flocked from small towns in the interior of Mexico to the border-city of Juarez in search for jobs in these factories which mostly hired women. These female maquila workers were the targeted victims for the homicides and most of the one’s killed fit a similar prototype: “most between the ages 12 and 23, slim, short, dark-haired and dark skinned” (Gaspar de Alba).
The indigenous population in Mexico has historically suffered the most discrimination and continues to be the poorest in the country, thus many of the women that went to work at the maquilas were of indigenous backgrounds because many were poor and needed jobs to maintain their families. Some think that these murders are explicit hate crimes since most of he women fit the same physical profile. A racial hierarchy continues to exist in Mexico although it is not explicitly in place, but there continues to be much discrimination that occurs towards the indigenous population, one of the biggest example is the taking away of their lands by the government. The only reason I could think of as to why these murder cases have not been solved and authorities have not put much emphasis on following through with these cases is because the victims have three factor working against them; they are: 1)women, 2) indigenous, and 3) come from poor backgrounds. Machismo is a mentality of male gender hierarchy which has prevailed in Mexican culture in which a man is given more value because he is seen as the head of the household. Many of the male authorities which rule Mexico such as the government and police continue to maintain this machista mentality which is another reason why these minority femicide crimes are not a priority. It is ridiculous to see that these crimes have not been stopped and that those responsible have not been caught yet after so many years of supposed investigation by big groups such as the Mexican government itself, Amnesty International, the United Nations, grassroot organization protests, and even some FBI involvement (Gaspar de Alba). It is obvious that the authorities and police department are all corrupt and are either in some way involved with the murders or are getting paid off to get rid of the evidence. Corruption in Mexico especially in the state of Chihuahua has lately been at an all time high. It all started with these femicides and now this border state is best known for its massive drug cartels that are are running things because the government cannot place order, but most likely the government/police may even be involved.
When looking into this topic of the femicides and why these women remain working in the maquiladoras regardless of horrible working conditions and risks on their life, it reminded me of the chapter in Cynthia Enloe’s book the Curious Feminist called “Daughters and Generals in the Politics of the Globalized Sneaker.” In that chapter Enloe spoke about how the corporations would exploit the Korean women working in their factories by using their culture to manipulate them such as dowry practices and “good daughter” responsibilities. The same happens in Mexico by the U.S. owned factories on the indigenous women who are usually submissive and continue to have the mentality that the male is the authority because many have not received an education and are extremely poor, thus the companies use this cultural mentality in their benefit to impose longer working hours and lower wages on these women because they know they will not retaliate. These woman are seen as mere forms of variable capital thus taking away from their humanity which is probably another reason why the government also does not put much focus into investigating the cases of their murders. It was said that many of the reporters that looked deep into these murder cases received death threats or were even killed themselves. Unfortunately, the investigations for these femicides became overshadowed by those of the drug trade and drug cartel investigations. Thus the femicides of Juarez remain a mystery.
Work Cited
Enloe, Cynthia. The Curious Feminist. California: University of California Press, 2004.
Gaspar de Alba, Alicia. “ About the Femicides- Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders.” DesertBlood.net.
Lezra, Amands. “Mexican Government Perpetuates Ongoing Femicides in Juarez.” DrewAcorn. com. April 30, 2010. December 1, 2010.
Sarria, Nidya. “Femicides of Juarez: Violence Against Women in Mexico.” CommonDreams.org. August 3, 2009. December 1, 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment