Mexico News Daily: More than 12,000 women in Mexico live in conditions that are substandard and dangerous, where widespread sexual abuse, inadequate services and outright neglect are a part of everyday life.
Thee women are those housed in 77 of the country’s 102 prisons, and were the subjects of a study released this week by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
Showing posts with label Mexican women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexican women. Show all posts
Apr 7, 2015
Jul 30, 2013
The State of Mexico, the other Ciudad Juarez
El País - Vanguardia
July 21, 2013
Original Americas Program Translation
Mexico – You don’t always learn from your mistakes. A decade ago, Mexico was terrorized with the almost daily appearance of female corpses in Ciudad Juarez.
At that time, the Mexican state was not able to guarantee a woman's right to life, stated the American Court of Human Rights in 2009.
And now, 20 years after the beginning of femicide that has left more than 800 dead in the border city began, Mexico faces a new crisis and it is not Ciudad Juarez in the 90s, but the State of Mexico in 2013.
Civil associations argue that in 2011 and 2012, 563 women were killed in the State of Mexico for the sole reason of being a woman.
This last week is a clear example of the tragedy: the bodies of five young women, all with signs of brutal violence, have appeared in the Valle de Chalco, a town of about 350,000 inhabitants located precisely in the State of Mexico.
A gender violence alert mechanism that was created five years ago has now become a dumb bell. Neither these five dead nor the 563 from the last two years have convinced the National System to Prevent, Treat, Punish and Eradicate Violence to activate it.
This Friday they again refused to implement an alert, which so far remains unused even though the number of deaths in the country increased by 68% between 2007 and 2009, according to UN Women. The figure, for example, tripled in the State of Baja California.
July 21, 2013
Original Americas Program Translation
Mexico – You don’t always learn from your mistakes. A decade ago, Mexico was terrorized with the almost daily appearance of female corpses in Ciudad Juarez.
At that time, the Mexican state was not able to guarantee a woman's right to life, stated the American Court of Human Rights in 2009.
And now, 20 years after the beginning of femicide that has left more than 800 dead in the border city began, Mexico faces a new crisis and it is not Ciudad Juarez in the 90s, but the State of Mexico in 2013.
Civil associations argue that in 2011 and 2012, 563 women were killed in the State of Mexico for the sole reason of being a woman.
This last week is a clear example of the tragedy: the bodies of five young women, all with signs of brutal violence, have appeared in the Valle de Chalco, a town of about 350,000 inhabitants located precisely in the State of Mexico.
A gender violence alert mechanism that was created five years ago has now become a dumb bell. Neither these five dead nor the 563 from the last two years have convinced the National System to Prevent, Treat, Punish and Eradicate Violence to activate it.
This Friday they again refused to implement an alert, which so far remains unused even though the number of deaths in the country increased by 68% between 2007 and 2009, according to UN Women. The figure, for example, tripled in the State of Baja California.
Jul 23, 2013
Femicide increases in the State of Mexico and other states; Amnesty calls for gender alert but the PRI resists
By Sin Embargo
Published July 17, 2013
Original Americas Program Translation
Mexico City, July 17 (Sin Embargo). - Just earlier this month, deputies and senators of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) prevented the First Permanent Commission from issuing an appeal to the Government of the State of Mexico to stop resisting and implement a "gender alert" in the state.
Yesterday, Amnesty International drew attention to this request and asked to include other states like Oaxaca, Guanajuato, and Nuevo Leon. According to the organization, the Federal Government has ignored multiple requests that have been made to make the warning statement, due to the "alarming levels of violence against women."
Daniel Zapico, AI representative in Mexico, said that the refusal of the authorities seemed like an "attempt to minimize a situation that has claimed epidemic dimension."
According to the results of the National Study on Sources, Origins and Factors that produce and reproduce the Violence Against Women, the nine states that show an increasing trend of female homicides are Chiapas, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Durango, Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Sinaloa and Sonora.
Published July 17, 2013
Original Americas Program Translation
Mexico City, July 17 (Sin Embargo). - Just earlier this month, deputies and senators of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) prevented the First Permanent Commission from issuing an appeal to the Government of the State of Mexico to stop resisting and implement a "gender alert" in the state.
Yesterday, Amnesty International drew attention to this request and asked to include other states like Oaxaca, Guanajuato, and Nuevo Leon. According to the organization, the Federal Government has ignored multiple requests that have been made to make the warning statement, due to the "alarming levels of violence against women."
Daniel Zapico, AI representative in Mexico, said that the refusal of the authorities seemed like an "attempt to minimize a situation that has claimed epidemic dimension."
According to the results of the National Study on Sources, Origins and Factors that produce and reproduce the Violence Against Women, the nine states that show an increasing trend of female homicides are Chiapas, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Durango, Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Sinaloa and Sonora.
Jun 20, 2013
Mexico arrests many over slaying of 11 women
Aljazeera
June 13, 2013
Mexican prosecutors have arrested 12 people in connection with the killings of 11 young women whose skeletal remains were found near the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez early last year.
The suspects include alleged drug dealers, pimps and small store owners.
They allegedly belonged to a gang that forced young women into prostitution and drug dealing and then killed them when they were "no longer of use," the prosecutors' office for the northern state of Chihuahua, said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The 10 men and two women face charges of human trafficking and homicide.
Six were already in local jails for other offenses, and six other were detained early on Tuesday.
Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, was the scene of a series of killings of more than 100 women beginning in 1993. Read more.
June 13, 2013
Mexican prosecutors have arrested 12 people in connection with the killings of 11 young women whose skeletal remains were found near the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez early last year.
The suspects include alleged drug dealers, pimps and small store owners.
They allegedly belonged to a gang that forced young women into prostitution and drug dealing and then killed them when they were "no longer of use," the prosecutors' office for the northern state of Chihuahua, said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The 10 men and two women face charges of human trafficking and homicide.
Six were already in local jails for other offenses, and six other were detained early on Tuesday.
Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, was the scene of a series of killings of more than 100 women beginning in 1993. Read more.
Jun 13, 2013
Mexico arrests 12 in prostitution ring in connection with women’s border slayings
Washington Post
Associated Press, Published: June 12
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Mexican prosecutors have arrested 12 people in connection with the slayings of 11 young women whose skeletal remains were found near the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez early last year.
The suspects include alleged drug dealers, pimps and small store owners. They allegedly belonged to a gang that forced young women into prostitution and drug dealing and then killed them when they were “no longer of use,” the prosecutors’ office for the northern state of Chihuahua said in a statement late Tuesday. The 10 men and two women face charges of human trafficking and homicide. Six were already in local jails for other offenses, and six other were detained early Tuesday. Read more.
Associated Press, Published: June 12
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Mexican prosecutors have arrested 12 people in connection with the slayings of 11 young women whose skeletal remains were found near the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez early last year.
The suspects include alleged drug dealers, pimps and small store owners. They allegedly belonged to a gang that forced young women into prostitution and drug dealing and then killed them when they were “no longer of use,” the prosecutors’ office for the northern state of Chihuahua said in a statement late Tuesday. The 10 men and two women face charges of human trafficking and homicide. Six were already in local jails for other offenses, and six other were detained early Tuesday. Read more.
Dec 3, 2012
Juarez Pronouncement
Original Americas Program Translation
To the citizens of Juarez,
To the social organizations of Juarez,
To the social organizations of Mexico,
To the free citizens,
On the eve of the end of his term - one of the darkest in the history of the country and particularly fatal for our city – the social organizations signatories testify the social, political, and moral debt with which Felipe Calderon ends his term.
Over the past six years, as organizations, we supported various community processes and found the trail of terror, death and impunity that this regime planted in every corner of our city. The dimensions of the devastation, product of the "war on drugs", are only comparable with the pain of loosing our loved ones.
In the context of barbarism, the numbers do not quite capture the magnitude of the horror in which Felipe Calderon plunged the country with the pretext of eradicating the drug cartels, whose operations and structures - by the way - remains untouched. The "collateral damage", as he euphemistically called the country's thousands dead, the missing, orphaned, and displaced have names. For each of them we will seek justice.
From working daily with people on the streets, in neighborhoods, in schools, in churches, in universities, in community spaces we have witnessed how each of those lives taken away - a corollary of militarization and the establishment of a unprecedented police state - represent an irretrievable part of our present and future. The damage done has shut down a part of our dreams and has broken our future.
Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, December 1st 2012
To the citizens of Juarez,
To the social organizations of Juarez,
To the social organizations of Mexico,
To the free citizens,
On the eve of the end of his term - one of the darkest in the history of the country and particularly fatal for our city – the social organizations signatories testify the social, political, and moral debt with which Felipe Calderon ends his term.
Over the past six years, as organizations, we supported various community processes and found the trail of terror, death and impunity that this regime planted in every corner of our city. The dimensions of the devastation, product of the "war on drugs", are only comparable with the pain of loosing our loved ones.
In the context of barbarism, the numbers do not quite capture the magnitude of the horror in which Felipe Calderon plunged the country with the pretext of eradicating the drug cartels, whose operations and structures - by the way - remains untouched. The "collateral damage", as he euphemistically called the country's thousands dead, the missing, orphaned, and displaced have names. For each of them we will seek justice.
From working daily with people on the streets, in neighborhoods, in schools, in churches, in universities, in community spaces we have witnessed how each of those lives taken away - a corollary of militarization and the establishment of a unprecedented police state - represent an irretrievable part of our present and future. The damage done has shut down a part of our dreams and has broken our future.
Nov 20, 2012
Women’s Migration Networks in Mexico and Beyond (review)
GeoMexico November 17, 2012
As long ago as 1885, Ernst Georg Ravenstein, a German-English cartographer, proposed seven “laws of migration” that arose from his studies of migration in the U.K.
The original seven laws, as expressed by Ravenstein, were:
1) Most migrants only proceed a short distance, and toward centers of absorption.
2) As migrants move toward absorption centers, they leave “gaps” that are filled up by migrants from more remote districts, creating migration flows that reach to “the most remote corner of the kingdom.”
3) The process of dispersion is inverse to that of absorption.
4) Each main current of migration produces a compensating counter-current.
5) Migrants proceeding long distances generally go by preference to one of the great centers of commerce or industry.
6) The natives of towns are less migratory than those of the rural parts of the country.
7) Females are more migratory than males.
These laws, though certainly not accepted uncritically, have provided a basic framework for many later studies of migration. Surprisingly, despite the wording of law 7, there has been remarkably little focus on female migration in the literature, with far more attention being paid in most studies to the migration of men.
Recognizing this, anthropologist Tamar Wilson provides a detailed account of several important aspects of female migration in her Women’s Migration Networks in Mexico and Beyond (University of New Mexico Press, 2009).
Wilson’s book focuses on the experiences and thoughts of doña Consuelo [all names are pseudonyms], a woman she met while researching in Colonia Popular, a Mexicali squatter settlement, in 1988, and her daughters Anamaria and Irma. Read more.
As long ago as 1885, Ernst Georg Ravenstein, a German-English cartographer, proposed seven “laws of migration” that arose from his studies of migration in the U.K.
The original seven laws, as expressed by Ravenstein, were:
1) Most migrants only proceed a short distance, and toward centers of absorption.
2) As migrants move toward absorption centers, they leave “gaps” that are filled up by migrants from more remote districts, creating migration flows that reach to “the most remote corner of the kingdom.”
3) The process of dispersion is inverse to that of absorption.
4) Each main current of migration produces a compensating counter-current.
5) Migrants proceeding long distances generally go by preference to one of the great centers of commerce or industry.
6) The natives of towns are less migratory than those of the rural parts of the country.
7) Females are more migratory than males.
These laws, though certainly not accepted uncritically, have provided a basic framework for many later studies of migration. Surprisingly, despite the wording of law 7, there has been remarkably little focus on female migration in the literature, with far more attention being paid in most studies to the migration of men.
Recognizing this, anthropologist Tamar Wilson provides a detailed account of several important aspects of female migration in her Women’s Migration Networks in Mexico and Beyond (University of New Mexico Press, 2009).
Wilson’s book focuses on the experiences and thoughts of doña Consuelo [all names are pseudonyms], a woman she met while researching in Colonia Popular, a Mexicali squatter settlement, in 1988, and her daughters Anamaria and Irma. Read more.
Nov 11, 2012
Chihuahua campaign begins to find 118 missing Juárez women
By Lorena Figueroa \ El Paso Times
November 04, 2012
JUAREZ -- Chihuahua authorities last week launched a statewide campaign to locate 118 women from Juárez who have disappeared since 1995.
The campaign offers an $8,000 reward to anyone whose information helps find the women, dead or alive, said officials with the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office.
Silvia Nájera, spokeswoman for the state's Special Prosecution Office for Crimes Against Women, said the strategy attempts to get the public involved in solving some of these cases.
Since the early 1990s, hundreds of women, mostly teenage girls -- some as young as 13 -- from poor and middle-class families, have disappeared in Juárez. Many have been found dead.
Nájera said that the special prosecution office lists 118 cases involving women who disappeared from 1995 to the present. The agency was established in 1995.
"This doesn't mean that we won't be taking any leads on older cases. If we receive information, we will investigate," she said.
The campaign began Tuesday with the publication in various print media outlets in Juárez of the photographs and biographies of six women who were reported missing between 1995 and 1998. Read more.
November 04, 2012
JUAREZ -- Chihuahua authorities last week launched a statewide campaign to locate 118 women from Juárez who have disappeared since 1995.
The campaign offers an $8,000 reward to anyone whose information helps find the women, dead or alive, said officials with the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office.
Silvia Nájera, spokeswoman for the state's Special Prosecution Office for Crimes Against Women, said the strategy attempts to get the public involved in solving some of these cases.
Since the early 1990s, hundreds of women, mostly teenage girls -- some as young as 13 -- from poor and middle-class families, have disappeared in Juárez. Many have been found dead.
Nájera said that the special prosecution office lists 118 cases involving women who disappeared from 1995 to the present. The agency was established in 1995.
"This doesn't mean that we won't be taking any leads on older cases. If we receive information, we will investigate," she said.
The campaign began Tuesday with the publication in various print media outlets in Juárez of the photographs and biographies of six women who were reported missing between 1995 and 1998. Read more.
Oct 19, 2012
Mexico's most powerful woman faults working mothers
LA Times, October 18, 2012.
MEXICO CITY -- She may be Mexico's most powerful woman, but she doesn't seem too keen on power for women.
Elba Esther Gordillo, the much-feared head of Mexico's gigantic teachers union, is blaming the abysmal state of education here on none other than working mothers.
In an "open letter to the public" covering two full pages of Mexico's leading Reforma newspaper, Gordillo seemed to rue the days decades ago when traditional family roles were clearly established (link in Spanish, registration required).
"A fact that was changed when women had to share responsibility for the family income, which didn't only contribute to the deterioration of the individual but also of society," Gordillo wrote.
"The abandonment of the mother in the rearing of children turned schools into daycare centers, gave teachers sole responsibility for education and emptied education of any substance," she added.
Gordillo went on to say that the void created by absent mothers working outside the home was filled with "the excessive consumption of junk TV" and similar distractions, which generally contributed to the demise of society's values.
Quite a lot to hang on working women, especially since most experts would blame Mexico's poor educational system on precisely the union that Gordillo lords over like a private fiefdom. Read more.
MEXICO CITY -- She may be Mexico's most powerful woman, but she doesn't seem too keen on power for women.
Elba Esther Gordillo, the much-feared head of Mexico's gigantic teachers union, is blaming the abysmal state of education here on none other than working mothers.
In an "open letter to the public" covering two full pages of Mexico's leading Reforma newspaper, Gordillo seemed to rue the days decades ago when traditional family roles were clearly established (link in Spanish, registration required).
"A fact that was changed when women had to share responsibility for the family income, which didn't only contribute to the deterioration of the individual but also of society," Gordillo wrote.
"The abandonment of the mother in the rearing of children turned schools into daycare centers, gave teachers sole responsibility for education and emptied education of any substance," she added.
Gordillo went on to say that the void created by absent mothers working outside the home was filled with "the excessive consumption of junk TV" and similar distractions, which generally contributed to the demise of society's values.
Quite a lot to hang on working women, especially since most experts would blame Mexico's poor educational system on precisely the union that Gordillo lords over like a private fiefdom. Read more.
Jul 16, 2012
Women Secure a Third of Mexican Parliament
Comunicación e Información de la Mujer AC, Cimac: Re-published by Inter Press Service.
MEXICO CITY - Female candidates are poised to occupy an unprecedented third of the seats in Mexico’s bicameral parliament when preliminary results for the Jul.1 election are confirmed.
In the lower chamber, 95 women were elected through direct vote (in a relative majority system), according to the preliminary results from the Federal Electoral Institute.
That is 31.7 percent of the seats filled through direct vote in that chamber, almost doubling the 17.33 percent obtained in 2009 when 52 women were elected. In the previous elections, however, eight women had given up their places to a male alternate. Read more.
MEXICO CITY - Female candidates are poised to occupy an unprecedented third of the seats in Mexico’s bicameral parliament when preliminary results for the Jul.1 election are confirmed.
In the lower chamber, 95 women were elected through direct vote (in a relative majority system), according to the preliminary results from the Federal Electoral Institute.
That is 31.7 percent of the seats filled through direct vote in that chamber, almost doubling the 17.33 percent obtained in 2009 when 52 women were elected. In the previous elections, however, eight women had given up their places to a male alternate. Read more.
Jun 21, 2012
Mayoral Race In Border Town Parallels A Woman's Historic Bid For Mexican Presidency
In Agua Prieta Lolita Montano is the first female PAN candidate for mayor.
Fronteras: AGUA PRIETA, MEXICO -- By now, with summer on its way, Mexico's political season is hot.
In border cities like Agua Prieta, just south of Douglas, Ariz., pedestrians can hear music playing from a dusty sedan. As it drives through town, the car sounds a peppy anthem for the National Action Party -- the PAN – and rallies support for candidates like Lolita Montaño.
The July 1, 2012, election is the first time a woman will appear on a ballot for mayor of Agua Prieta as a PAN candidate. Read more.
Fronteras: AGUA PRIETA, MEXICO -- By now, with summer on its way, Mexico's political season is hot.
In border cities like Agua Prieta, just south of Douglas, Ariz., pedestrians can hear music playing from a dusty sedan. As it drives through town, the car sounds a peppy anthem for the National Action Party -- the PAN – and rallies support for candidates like Lolita Montaño.
The July 1, 2012, election is the first time a woman will appear on a ballot for mayor of Agua Prieta as a PAN candidate. Read more.
Jun 20, 2012
Violence puts Mexico among worst G20 countries for women
TrustLaw (A Thomas Reuters Foundation Service): LONDON, June 13 - Physical and sexual violence, a culture of male chauvinism, drug-related crime and poor access to healthcare in rural areas mean Mexico is among the worst places to be a woman out of the world’s most industrialised nations, a Thomson Reuters Foundation global survey of experts found on Wednesday.
Mexico polled 15th out of 19 countries in the Group of 20 most developed states, excluding the European Union economic grouping. India was ranked the worst place for women to live while Canada was the best, according to the perceptions of 370 gender specialists questioned by TrustLaw, a legal news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation. Read more.
Mexico polled 15th out of 19 countries in the Group of 20 most developed states, excluding the European Union economic grouping. India was ranked the worst place for women to live while Canada was the best, according to the perceptions of 370 gender specialists questioned by TrustLaw, a legal news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation. Read more.
Mar 8, 2012
Mexico Politics: In Mexico, a Scarcity of Female Mayors
NYTimes.com: "Even as many Mexicans celebrate a milestone in Josefina Vázquez Mota, the first woman to be selected as the presidential candidate of a major Mexican political party, the number of women in office at the most basic level of government — in the small cities and villages that are a backbone of democracy — still falls notably short.
Only in 6 percent of the country’s cities and towns do women serve as municipal president, as mayors are called in Mexico. By contrast, women hold one in four seats in Congress, for which 40 percent of a party’s candidates must be women." read more
Only in 6 percent of the country’s cities and towns do women serve as municipal president, as mayors are called in Mexico. By contrast, women hold one in four seats in Congress, for which 40 percent of a party’s candidates must be women." read more
Feb 13, 2012
Drug War: Mexico picks first female chief of federal police
Reuters: "Mexico has for the first time appointed a woman to head the federal police, which is under pressure to bring the country's powerful drug cartels to heel. Maribel Cervantes replaced Facundo Rosas as commissioner general of the federal police, the Ministry for Public Security said late on Friday. Cervantes, 41, is the first woman to take on the post, a spokesman for the ministry said." read more
Feb 7, 2012
Mexico Presidential Race: Woman's candidacy tests Mexico's culture of machismo
CBS News: "Mexico's conservative ruling party is gambling that this country known for machismo is ready for a female president and have chosen a devout Roman Catholic and popular former congresswoman who says she sympathizes with the causes of the poor. Josefina Vazquez Mota, a 51-year-old economist, became the first female presidential candidate from any of Mexico's major parties late Sunday when she convincingly won the National Action Party's primary.
Her victory marks a milestone for women in Mexico, a country where they were not allowed to vote until 1953. ... National Action hopes Mexico is ready to follow in the footsteps of Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile and other Latin American countries that have elected female leaders recently." read more
Her victory marks a milestone for women in Mexico, a country where they were not allowed to vote until 1953. ... National Action hopes Mexico is ready to follow in the footsteps of Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile and other Latin American countries that have elected female leaders recently." read more
Feb 5, 2012
Human Rights Abuses: Mexican government failed to fulfill agreement to protect Norma Andrade
La Jornada: "The Secretariat of Government (SG) failed to fulfill the agreement made last December to provide protection for activist Esther Norma Andrade. Since coming to Mexico City after suffering an attack in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, the activist lacked the necessary measures to safeguard her physical integrity, contrary to the orders of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), said the lawyer for the organization Our Daughters Return Home, Karla Michel Salas.
After being discharged from the hospital yesterday, after a knife attack outside her home (in Mexico City), Norma Andrade and her family discussed the possibility of leaving the Federal District and even leaving the country, in the absence of State authority able to ensure their safety.
Michel Salas recalled that for a month and a half before Andrade came to Mexico City, as part of the precautionary measures issued by the IACHR, protection by the Secretariat of Government (Interior Matters) was asked for the human rights defender, and the secretariat promised to provide an escort, which did not happen.
It was not until after the attack, last Friday morning that she she was guarded by officers from the capital city and federal police. Only the government of Mexico City has expressed its commitment to provide her with permanent protection, said Malu Garcia, daughter of the activist.
Ms. Michel-Salas explained that, since 2004, members of Our Daughters Return Home have been victims of threats and attacks at least 30 times, which in most cases have been reported to authorities in Chihuahua and the federal Attorney General's Office (PGR), but until now, those responsible have not been caught." Spanish original
After being discharged from the hospital yesterday, after a knife attack outside her home (in Mexico City), Norma Andrade and her family discussed the possibility of leaving the Federal District and even leaving the country, in the absence of State authority able to ensure their safety.
Michel Salas recalled that for a month and a half before Andrade came to Mexico City, as part of the precautionary measures issued by the IACHR, protection by the Secretariat of Government (Interior Matters) was asked for the human rights defender, and the secretariat promised to provide an escort, which did not happen.
It was not until after the attack, last Friday morning that she she was guarded by officers from the capital city and federal police. Only the government of Mexico City has expressed its commitment to provide her with permanent protection, said Malu Garcia, daughter of the activist.
Ms. Michel-Salas explained that, since 2004, members of Our Daughters Return Home have been victims of threats and attacks at least 30 times, which in most cases have been reported to authorities in Chihuahua and the federal Attorney General's Office (PGR), but until now, those responsible have not been caught." Spanish original
Nov 8, 2011
Violence Against Women: Mexico apologizes for failing to protect women slain in Ciudad Juarez
AP/The Washington Post: "Mexico’s government publicly apologized on Monday for failing to prevent the killings of three women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and for the negligence of officials in investigating the crimes. The apology is a response to a 2009 ruling by the Interamerican Court of Human Rights that besides seeking an apology, also asked Mexico to reopen investigations into the cases and to erect a memorial site in the empty lot where the bodies were found in 2001.
“We apologize. It is our obligation to investigate these crimes,” said Interior Deputy Secretary Felipe Zamora at an event in the half-finished memorial. The Mexican government recognizes “the inconsistencies, errors and negligent acts of public officials in charge of the probes,” he added. Zamora didn’t say when or if the investigations would be reopened.
Relatives of slain women nearby shouted demands for justice. “We don’t want mausoleums, we want investigations that can let us know where our daughters are and who killed them,” said Jose Luis Castillo, whose daughter Esmeralda has been missing since 2009."
Relatives of slain women nearby shouted demands for justice. “We don’t want mausoleums, we want investigations that can let us know where our daughters are and who killed them,” said Jose Luis Castillo, whose daughter Esmeralda has been missing since 2009."
Oct 24, 2011
Mexico Violence: Women Reject Normalisation of Gender Violence
IPS ipsnews.net: " Ninety percent of the non-governmental organisations in Mexico are founded and run by women, says journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, making them primary targets of violence, including spillover from Mexico's escalating drug wars.
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 normalisation 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." read more
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 normalisation 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." read more
Oct 17, 2011
Immigration Realities: The Untold Stories of Female Migrants
Witness for Peace: "Every year, thousands of migrants risk their lives on a treacherous journey toward el norte, facing violence, extortion, kidnapping and discrimination. However, female migrants face a heightened risk of exploitation in the form of sexual violence and trafficking at the hands of many groups: criminal gangs, corrupt officials, law enforcement, immigration or security forces and other migrants. Despite the enormous risks, thousands of women continue to make the harrowing journey northward.
... Although it is commonly thought that most female migrants are following their male counterparts to the United States, an increasing number of women are migrating independently to find work and support their families."
read more
... Although it is commonly thought that most female migrants are following their male counterparts to the United States, an increasing number of women are migrating independently to find work and support their families."
read more
Oct 12, 2011
¡Viva Mexico!: Rural Women Organise to Weather Multiple Crises
IPS ipsnews.net: "the ... rural women in Mexico, since 2008, have suffered the combined effects of the economic, food and climate crises, compounded by the spiral of drug-related violence in different regions in this Latin American country. In the face of their hardships, women have come up with ways to organise themselves to tackle the problems they face as small-scale farmers, such as collectives that defend their rights.
"Women are finding that there is less food, and of lower quality," Rosa Govela, a member of the National Network of Rural Promoters and Advisors (RedPar), told IPS ahead of the International Day of Rural Women, celebrated Saturday Oct. 15. "They have diversified their work on their plots of land and in their backyard gardens," said the rural organiser, whose group works for the rights of rural women in Mexico."
"Women are finding that there is less food, and of lower quality," Rosa Govela, a member of the National Network of Rural Promoters and Advisors (RedPar), told IPS ahead of the International Day of Rural Women, celebrated Saturday Oct. 15. "They have diversified their work on their plots of land and in their backyard gardens," said the rural organiser, whose group works for the rights of rural women in Mexico."
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