Murders of Women in Juarez, Mexico

By: Karla Lima

Ciudad Juarez is located in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. This city is one of the fourth largest cities in Mexico. Its population is close to two million and is increasing as the city becomes more prosperous. Ciudad Juarez is close to El Paso, Texas and The Rio Grande River is the boundary between the US and Mexico. The city is known as a border town because many visitors pass by it when traveling to the United States. Its also known that in the 1800’s this city was considered a Wild West town for all the activities that occur such as cattle drives, gun fights, saloons, and bawdy houses.

Nowadays, Ciudad Juarez is enjoying a great period of prosperity; it became the major manufacturing city in Mexico. Like city it provides many services to its habitants and for tourists to enjoy their stay in Juarez. There are shopping centers, universities, museums, public libraries, missions, the forth largest bullfighting arena in the world, world class hotels and restaurants, cock fights, nightclubs, and a thriving red light district. It has approximately 400 maquiladoras where many work, especially women.

In recent years, Ciudad Juarez has been the center of attention, it known as the “City of the Dead”. It’s called city of the dead because of the murders that have occurred to young women. According to a women’s rights organization, since 1993 approximately 370 women have been raped and killed. They are dumped in the Chihuahua desert and are found savagely mutilated days later. Most of them are local women who work in the maquiladoras and the murders usually happen during the day. Authorities have said that women are to blame because they ask for it by dressing with provocative clothes. Many women are victims of domestic violence as well. Many of these murders have gone unsolved and these horrific attacks still occur in Ciudad Juarez.

By: Darlene Duarte **** Ni Una Mas (Not One More)****

· Not one more women die as a result of domestic violence

· Not one more body found raped and sumped in the desert

· not one more lie from the government

· not one more day of getting away with murder

“On July 7, 1995, seventeen year old Silvia Morales left for school and disappeared. Her body was found 2 months later. In February 1999, thirteen year old Irma Angelica Rosales was sent home from her factory job for having left her station. Later that day, her body was found in a drainage canal” (Jessica Livingston) THESE are just two disappearances of women and students among approximately 4000 others that have plagued Ciudad Juarez.

By: Regina Chiche

Many women, workers, students, and young girls have disappeared in Ciudad Juarez since 1993. Most of the time, these women were kidnapped at the end of their workday in the Maquiladoras, or even after school. Officials say that bodies were left in vacant land. Many times some bodies were kept hidden from the media or were not reported because either they had no acquaintances in Juarez, were from another state, or they were just not able to identify the body.

Here are some reports from Amnesty International:

· Mexico: Justice fails in Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua February 28, 2005.

· Mexico: Ending the brutal cycle of violence March 7, 2004.

· Mexico: Intolerable Killings: 10 years of abductions and murders of women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua August 10, 2003.

By: My Nguyen

The Government in Mexico generally respected many of the human rights of its citizens. However, serious problems remain in several areas, especially in the border town of Ciudad Juarez. State law enforcement officials were accused of committing unlawful killings. Women rights workers continued to be subjected to attacks and harassment; however, reports of such attacks diminished. Violence and discrimination against women, indigenous people, religious minorities, homosexuals, and individuals with HIV/AIDS persisted. Moreover, sexual exploitation of young girls continued to be a problem. The police sometimes tortured suspects to force confessions. Prosecutors used this evidence in courts, and the courts continued to admit as evidence confessions extracted under torture. Impunity remained a problem among the security forces although the Government continued to sanction public officials, police officers, and members of the military. Alleged police involvement, especially at the state level, in narcotics-related crime, continued, and police corruption and inefficiency hampered investigations. Over all, human rights groups and the media reported that armed civilian groups in Juarez still continue to commit human rights abuses.