Femicide in Ciudad Juárez

The crosses represent the death of 8 mujeres in Ciudad Juárez

In my last post I talked about mujeres working in the maquiladoras, but I also brought up a link to the femicide that has been going on in the Ciudad Juárez.  Femicide is the killing of mujeres but definitions vary depending on the cultural context.  In Spanish feminicide is called feminicidio. Feminicide it can also be defines as “the misogynous murder of mujeres by men. “Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua is a border city located in northern part of México next to the Rio Grande from the United States of El Paso, Texas.

 Ciudad Juárez has an image problem known for the ongoing femicide. Since the year of 1993 they has been approximately 370 or more femicides of mujeres and young niñas killed and at least 400 missing mujeres.  About a third of mujeres suffered sexual violence and with authorities not taking proper measures to investigate and address the problem. There has been attention received from the international community due to the government not being able to prevent the violence against mujeres and niñas and bringing perpetrators to justice.

The writing on the wall says "Where are they?" on the mujeres who went missing.

There is strong evidence that a specific group of mujeres and niñas are being targeted in Ciudad Juárez.  The victims share common characteristics that most are young mujeres who work in maquiladoras as factory workers. They also come from impoverished backgrounds and have common physical attributes, including dark skin, slender physique, and dark hair. In terms of crime the similarities from cases are rape, torture, mutilation, and murder of the mujeres and niñas.

A mujer protesting against the femicide The cross says "No One More"

The question that one might ask is why is this happening in the first place, what are its contributing factors? One of the factors are the maquiladoras and North American Free Trade Agreement, because the exploited mujeres and violate basic human rights in order to get cheap labor from them. Since maquiladora employees are the many murder victims in Ciudad Juárez it could be expected that the company should try to prevent it.  They do not help out and instead they seem to encourage it as they left the mujeres walk dangerous roads by themselves and make them get out off work in the late hours. Another factor is the machismo and marianismo ideology, where in the marianismo ideology, mujeres are expected to fulfill domestic roles as wives and mothers and to refrain from paid labor outside of home. Since mujeres are working in the maquila industry it is challenging the ideology of marianismo.  Men might be challenged by the idea of mujeres working and taking their jobs, so they attack them to support their machismo. The last factors are organized crime and drug trafficking. Juárez is a city where the Mexican drug cartel takes place and the gangs create a high risk for mujeres. Misogyny can be a common trait of gang activity.

Ciudad Juárez’s image will improve when the violence toward mujeres ends and the corruption can be replaced by one of justice and fairness.

Resource:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/node/55339

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1MqELSsO8g