The Women of Juarez

The phenomenon of the female homicides in Ciudad Juárez, called in Spanish feminicidio ("feminicide") involves the violent deaths of hundreds of women and girls since 1993 in the northern Mexican region of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, a border city across the Rio Grande from the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. As of February 27, 2005, the number of murdered women in Ciudad Juárez since 1993 is estimated to be more than 370.

After surveying 155 killings out of 340 documented between 1993 and 2003, a government committee found that roughly half were prompted by motives like robbery and gang wars, while a little more than a third involved sexual assault.

The murders of women and girls in Ciudad Juárez since 1993 have received international attention, primarily due to perceived government inaction in preventing violence against women and girls and bringing perpetrators to justice.

Nature of female homicides

Evidence suggests that a specific group of women and girls are being targeted in Ciudad Juárez.  The victims share common characteristics, and there are many similarities in the violent crimes committed against them.  Most of the victims are young women who come from impoverished backgrounds and work in maquiladoras, as factory workers, in other sectors of the informal economy or are students.  In addition, many victims share common physical attributes, including dark skin, slender physique, and dark, shoulder-length hair.  In terms of the crimes, similarities across cases include the rape, torture, and mutilation of the victims.

Homicide statistics

There are various media reports with different numbers ranging from hundreds to thousands of female homicides in the Ciudad Juárez region. For this reason, Amnesty International reports, "Inadequate official data on the crimes committed in Chihuahua, particularly accurate figures on the exact number of murders and abductions of girls and women, has led to disputes around the issues that obscure the quest for justice."

According to Amnesty International, as of February 2005, more than 370 young women and girls had been murdered in the cities of Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua.  More recently, prosecutors from the state of Chihuahua reported that in 2010, 270 women were killed within the state, of these murders 247 occurred in Juárez.  In 2011, Chihuahua's Attorney General, Carlos Manuel Salas announced during a briefing in August 2011 that 222 women had been killed in Chihuahua since January of that year.  Of these 222 murders, 130 of them occurred in Ciudad Juárez.  In total, more than 300 women were murdered in the city in 2011.

A study was conducted in 2008 on the Feminicide Database 1993–2007 at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte which documented incidents of feminicide that occurred in Ciudad Juárez from 1993–2007. Of the various different kinds of murders that were analyzed, the study found two common patterns in the data which were classified as intimate feminicide and systemic sexual feminicide.  Intimate feminicide refers to women who were killed by men that were close to them.  According to the study, intimate feminicide accounted for 30.4% of the murders of women and girls in Juárez from 1993–2007. Systematic sexual feminicide refers to systematic patterns in the killing of women and children including kidnapping, sexual violence, torture, and body abandonment in areas such as desert areas, garbage dumps, and sewage ditches among others.  According to the study, systemic sexual feminicide accounted for 31.8% of the murders of women in Juárez from 1993–2007.

Total number of homicides in Juárez

According to Molly Molloy, a research librarian and professor at New Mexico State University (also founder and maintainer of "Frontera List", a long-running mailing list dedicated to information and discussion about issues in the U.S.-Mexico border), the situation in Juárez is one of "impunity regardless of gender".  She states that "female murder victims have never comprised more than 18 percent of the overall number of murder victims in Ciudad Juárez, and in the last two decades that figure averages at less than 10 percent. That’s less than in the United States, where about 20 to 25 percent of the people who are murdered in a given year are women".

Other scholars also state that femicide rates in Ciudad Juárez are lower than in American cities such as Houston and Ensenada, and as a share of overall homicide rates they are typically lower than in other cities.

Motives

The uncertainty about the characteristics of the perpetrators, their relationships to the victims, or their motives is primarily due to the dysfunction of the Mexican justice system as most cases have been inadequately investigated and documented.  While in many of the cases in Ciudad Juárez it has yet to be determined who exactly has committed the murders, much of the literature on this issue purports that patriarchal backlash against working women may be a potential motive for the killings.

It is believed that the femicide in Ciudad Juárez may be related to organized crime (like prostitution rings) given the presence of the powerful drug cartels in the region. Further, criminal gangs have become a permanent threat particularly to women on the border. Gang activity creates high risk for women especially due to very little institutional protection.

This patriarchal backlash may indeed be the result of lack of employment opportunities for men and more women entering the workforce which has altered traditional gender dynamics and created a situation of conflict between the sexes.  Other researchers attribute the murders to Mexico's structural crisis including increasing poverty, unemployment, the disintegration of the peasant economy, migration, and a dysfunctional justice system.  Overall, in considering the potential motives for gendered violence against women, academic Mercedes Olivera has argued that femicide is a mechanism of domination, control, oppression, and power over women.

Contributing factors

Organized crime and drug trafficking

In examining femicide in Ciudad Juárez, it is important to consider the impact of the drug trade. Juárez is the seat of the Mexican drug cartel which has resulted in high levels of violence that have been directed at the Mexican population.  It is believed that the femicide in Ciudad Juárez may be related to the powerful drug cartels along the border. Further, gangs have become a permanent threat particularly to women on the border. Gang activity creates high risk for women especially due to very little institutional protection.

Often, misogyny is a common trait of gang activity.  According to a study conducted in 2008 using the Feminicide Database 1993–2007 at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, which documented incidents of feminicide that occurred in Ciudad Juárez from 1993–2007, 9.1% of the murders of women were attributed to organized crime and drug trafficking activities.

From 2007-2010, the murder rate spiked by around 1000%, from around 1 reported murder per day, to around 10 murders per day on average. After the ATF gunwalking scandal where United States federal ATF agents were exposed for engaging in a scheme to "inadvertently" arm Mexican drug cartels with firearms in 2010, the rate has gradually declined from the previous status of the "murder capital of the world".

Maquila industry

Maquiladoras are widely known for their cheap labor and their exploitative conditions, such as regularly violating basic human rights, which often target women.  Women and girls often migrate from villages or rural areas in other parts of Mexico in search of work in the maquilas.  According to Livingston, this migration of women created, "a new phenomenon of mobile, independent and vulnerable working women," in cities like Ciudad Juárez.  Women and girls are often funneled to work in areas that require lower education, and pay lower wages.

Maquiladoras construct their female workforce under the notion that female workers are temporary workers, therefore justifying lower wages and creating a high turnover rate of laborers.  According to Monarrez Fragoso, "the practices of the maquiladora industry towards the workers reveal a consume and dispose cycle."  This consume and dispose cycle represents how the maquila industry creates "disposable" women referencing the devaluation and expendable nature of their labor.

Many of the murder victims in Ciudad Juárez have been maquiladora employees.  Despite the expansion of the maquila industry, Juárez still remained a relatively poor and undeveloped city lacking infrastructure in some parts such as electricity and paved roads.  As a part of their daily commute, many women maquila workers walk through such areas to and from company buses creating vulnerability to be victimized.  In addition, the increased involvement of women in the labor force may also be a contributing factor to the victimization of women and girls because of the competition for economic resources in decades in which male unemployment has been high.

NAFTA

The implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 resulted in the expansion of the maquiladora industry and created new opportunities for employment for women outside of the home and in the factories.  The availability of cheap labor made it attractive for business owners to open factories in Mexico, and the availability of cheap employment attracted many, especially women, to border towns such as Ciudad Juárez. Research has shown correlations between economic and political issues and violence against women along the border.

Academic Katherine Pantaleo has argued that, "NAFTA, as a capitalist approach, has directly created a devaluation of women and an increase in gendered violence."  Further, according to Wright, in the time period between the implementation of NAFTA in 1994 and 2001, "the homicide rate for men increased by 300 percent, while for women it increased by 600 percent."  Such studies indicate the importance of exploring the effects of NAFTA when considering the possible causes of the murder of women and girls in Ciudad Juárez.  Consequently, it has been suggested that amendments be made to NAFTA that include human rights provisions.

Machismo and Marianismo ideology

Sociocultural factors in relation to traditional gender roles have impacted violence against women in Mexico.[6] According to Pantaleo, "Under the view of patriarchy, two expressions are commonly used in Mexico to show the difference in status of males and females; these expressions are machismo and marianismo."  Machismo is characterized by male power and aggression; while marianismo is characterized by subordination and domestic gender roles.  As part of the marianismo ideology, women are expected to fulfill domestic roles as wives and mothers and to refrain from paid labor outside of the home.

Women who leave their homes to seek employment in the maquila industry directly challenge the marianismo ideal of womanhood.  Olivera suggests that this changed situation challenges hypermasculinity, in which aggressive aspects of male identity are exaggerated in order to preserve their identity.  According to Livingston, gender-directed violence in Ciudad Juárez may be a negative reaction as women "gain greater personal autonomy and independence while men lose ground."

Police and governmental response

The murder of women in Juárez has attracted global attention since 1993 given suspected police and government inaction to prevent the murders and bring perpetrators to justice.  There have been several international rulings against Mexico for its inadequate response to the increasing violence against women.  Police and government officials have been accused of responding with indifference to the crimes against women as well as exhibiting tolerance for such crimes, conducting inadequate and negligent investigations, ineffectively responding to the crimes, and failing to prevent and protect women from violence.

As a result of international attention, police and government officials have been politically pressured to respond to the murders.  Consequently, due to political pressure for justice, police have been accused of rushing to make arrests and solve cases while the crimes continue to occur.  Further, out of hundreds of cases, only three convictions have ever been made and there is much skepticism involving the integrity of the convictions.

The methodology and integrity of police investigations has been questioned due to allegations of torture and human rights violations of alleged suspects.  Amnesty International reports, "The government [has] failed to take effective measures to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the abduction and killing of three women in Ciudad Juárez... or to combat the ongoing pattern of violence against women and discrimination in the city.

Convictions

According to Pantaleo, "While around 400 girls and women have been abducted and murdered; few arrests and convictions have resulted."  For convictions that have been made, there is a great deal of controversy that surrounds them.  Police have been accused of conducting rushed investigations with questionable methodology and integrity.  Further, suspects that have been apprehended have claimed that they were tortured into confessing.  This has caused uncertainty of the legitimacy of both investigations and convictions.

In 1996, an Egyptian national, Omar Sharif Latif or Abdul Latif Sharif was convicted of 3 murders and sentenced to a 30-year prison term.  After his arrest in 1995, the murders continued and authorities claimed that Sharif directed members of the "Los Rebeldes" gang to continue the murders while he was incarcerated.  These members were indicted and convicted as a result of this connection.  The gang members accused of carrying out murders under Sharif's orders claimed they were tortured while in police custody.  According to Monarrez Fragoso, "In the year 2000, it was known that the body of Elizabeth Castro Garcia, whose murder was attributed to Omar Sharif Latif, does not belong to her."  His conviction is currently under appeal.

In 2001, Victor Garcia Uribe and Gustavo Gonzalez Meza were apprehended for eight murders.  Gustavo Gonzalez Mesa died suspiciously while in police custody.  In 2004, Victor Garcia Uribe, a bus driver, was convicted of eight murders that took place in 2001.  He confessed to these murders but claimed that he was tortured into confessing by police.

In 2008, 16-year-old Ruby Frayre Escobedo was murdered by Sergio Barraza Bocanegra who was acquitted at his first trial for lack of evidence. Following two years of activism, a retrial convicted Bocanegra who remained on the run. In 2010, Ruby's mother, Marisela Escobedo Ortiz, was assassinated by a shot to the head at point blank range while demonstrating for justice in front of the Governor's Palace in Chihuahua.

International justice

There have been several international rulings against Mexico for its inadequate response to the increasing violence against women.  According to Livingston, "In 1998 the National Commission for Human Rights issued a report charging gross irregularities and general negligence in state investigations, including the misidentification of corpses, failure to obtain expert tests on forensic evidence, failure to conduct autopsies or obtain semen analysis... failure to file written reports, [and] incompetence in keeping records of the rising tide of women murders."

In 2004, under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) conducted an inquiry into the allegations that hundreds of murders of women and girls had taken place in the area of Ciudad Juarez since 1993 at the urging of several NGOs.  In order for the inquiry to take place it was required that there was reliable evidence that showed that Mexico was in violation of rights established by CEDAW.  The Committee analyzed the gender-based crimes occurring in Ciudad Juárez and found the two common forms were murder and disappearances. The Committee also analyzed the response of the government and found that their initial response was indifference and that the government exhibited tolerance of these crimes for years.

Further, the Committee concluded that the measures undertaken by the Mexican State in response to gendered violence against women leading up to the time of their inquiry were, "few and ineffective at all levels of the State".  The Committee made several recommendations for Mexico to adhere to. Although these recommendations were not legally binding, they were influential in the public sphere.

According to Amnesty International, "In [2009], the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled on the “cotton field” (Campo Algodonero) case that Mexico was guilty of discrimination and of failing to protect three young women murdered in 2001 in Ciudad Juárez or to ensure an effective investigation into their abduction and murder."  The Court ordered Mexico to conduct a new investigation of the murders, create a national memorial for the victims, pay reparations to the families of the victims, and to improve measures which prevent and adequately investigate the murder of women and girls.

Local activism

According to Simmons, "The murders in Juárez would not have drawn such national and international attention if it were not for the heroic efforts of the victims' families and other women."  There have been numerous local and international organizations that have helped draw attention to the issue of the murder of women in Juárez which has helped to create pressure for the Mexican government to agree to further its efforts to respond to violence against women.  Further, the work of political leaders, activists, artists, academics, and journalists combined have also been instrumental in bringing international attention to the murder of women in Juárez and the issues that surround them.

In 1999, a group of feminist activists founded Casa Amiga, Juárez's first rape crisis and sexual assault center.  The center works to provide women in Juárez with a refuge against violence, therapy, legal counsel, and medical attention.  Casa Amiga also works to raise public awareness both locally and internationally regarding the exploitation and dehumanization of women in Juárez.

In 2002, a social justice movement named Ni Una Mas, which in Spanish means "not one more," was formed to raise international awareness to violence against women in Juárez.  The movement consists of a variety of domestic and international organizations and individual activists.  Ni Una Mas participants demand that the Mexican state implement strategies that prevent violence against women including murder and kidnappings and that the state conduct competent investigations on crimes already committed.

In addition to Casa Amiga and Ni Una Mas, family support groups such as Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C., which in Spanish means "Our Daughters Back Home," have also formed in response to the violence against women in Juárez.  Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C. has also worked to bring domestic and international media attention to the violence against women in Juárez.

In popular culture

In television

The American television series The Bridge (2013) used the disappearance of the girls of Juárez as part of the backdrop to a series of murders.

In film

The documentary Blood Rising (2013) directed by Mark McLoughlin, which examines the phenomenon of femicide in Juárez through the work of an artist, Brian Maguire.

The film Backyard: El Traspatio (2009), directed by Carlos Carrera, is based on these events.

The film Bordertown (2006), starring Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas, is based on these murders.

The film Señorita Extraviada/Missing Young Woman (2001) by Lourdes Portillo is a documentary following the femicides of Juárez.

The documentary film Equal Means Equal (2016) directed by Kamala Lopez features a segment on the women of Juárez.

The documentary film Bajo Juárez: La Ciudad Devorando a Sus Hijas (2006) directed by José Antonio Cordero and Alejandra Sánchez hints at the many layers of political collusion and indifference from local, state and federal authorities.

In music

Tori Amos wrote a song about these incidents titled "Juárez", for her album To Venus and Back (1999-2000), after reading about them.

At the Drive-In's song "Invalid Litter Dept." (2001) contains lyrics about the murders.

Los Tigres del Norte's song "Mujeres de Juárez" discusses the lack of government action in finding the perpetrators.

The Misfits wrote a song about Juárez titled "Where Do They Go?" from their 2011 album The Devil's Rain. In the lyrics, the incidents are referred to as femicides.

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die's song "January 10th, 2014" is about the murders and the vigilante justice that took place in their aftermath.

Intocable's song Día 730 has an example that links it to one girl who was going to become famous, but instead became one of the victims for feminicide.

Sheer Mag's song "Can't Stop Fighting," from their third EP, references the phenomenon in its first lines.

In print

In Roberto Bolaño's novel, 2666 (2004), the murders serve as inspiration for a major section entitled "The Part about the Crimes", although the novel is actually set in "Santa Teresa", a fictionalized version of Ciudad Juárez.

Alicia Gaspar de Alba's mystery novel, Desert Blood (2005), addresses this topic.

"Each and Her" (2010) by Valerie Martinez is a book-length poem that addresses the murders in the context of politics, gender oppression, mythology, art, and more.

"If I Die In Juárez" (2008) by Stella Pope Duarte

 In Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues, female homicides in Juárez feature in the monologue "Memory of Her Face".

"Señorita X - Song for the Yellow-Robed Girl from Juárez" (2007) by Juan Felipe Herrera

"The Daughters of Juárez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border" (2007) by Teresa Rodríguez

The Way She Spoke written by Isaac Gomez