Since 1993, thousands of women and girls have been disappearing each year in the city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Approximately 3,000 victims have gone missing since the mid 1990s, according to the Council on Foreign Affairs. As crimes go unpunished and cases go unsolved, the rate of femicide skyrockets. In a study conducted by the National Citizen Observatory of Femicide, the number of gender-related murders increased by 34 percent from 2016 to 2017. Researchers believe the rampant violence against women in this area is a result of machismo ideologies about women defying traditional gender roles, an influx of women joining the workforce, legal impunity for perpetrators, and the violent atmosphere generated by organized crime.
A majority of victims are abducted while on their commutes to school or work, and some are the target of violence in their homes. Many women and girls work in maquiladoras, foreign assembly factories, in order to help support their families. In an interview with the New York Times, Alma Guillermoprieto stated, “A great many of these girls were kidnapped or disappeared or were last seen when they were riding the bus home from work — not necessarily in the middle of the night; many times they were seen for the last time in bright daylight, in the middle of the afternoon.” The bodies of women and girls are brutalized, often showing signs of sexual assault. Some victims are found with their breasts cut off or scalp skinned. London Metropolitan University reports, “Most victims — some as young as five years old — are found strangled, mutilated, dismembered, stabbed, and torched in vacant lots, stream beds, sewers, rubbish dumps, or the desert.” In numerous cases, the victim has been so severely battered that her remains are unidentifiable. Many victims’ bodies are dumped in public spaces, which experts say may be the culprits’ way of sending a message to women and girls that they must submit to male control.
Mexican authorities have been unhelpful in the Juárez femicide pandemic, and evidence has surfaced that there is a lack of proper investigations. In 2004, Maria Guadalupe Morfin Otero, a human rights lawyer, was appointed to enhance investigation efforts. She expressed the legal complications at hand, stating, “There are serious institutional defects in the division of power in our state. The state government of Chihuahua lacks an ethical system of checks and balances. We need better coordination of federal authorities and to strengthen the lines of cooperation with civilian society and local authority.” Furthermore, Mexican police and investigators often present the victims as prostitutes as well as blame them for their own assaults and murders. This attempt at justification further normalizes the violence and perpetuates aggressive expressions of machismo. Dr María Encarnación López, a Fellow at LSE Latin America and Caribbean Centre and Senior Lecturer in Sociology at London Metropolitan University, states, “…femicide in Ciudad Juárez is also enabled by patriarchal modes of production that legitimise despotism and the cruel, racist, and sexist treatment of working-class women. This system confers control over women’s sexuality to (male) factory owners, (male) criminals, and (male) authorities. Only a wider renegotiation of the self (amongst subordinated women) and the other (amongst men and male institutions) will allow women to escape the constraints of this system and live free from social prejudice and violence.”
Local activism erupted as a result of the authorities unwillingness to seek justice for the victims. Mexican women and families of the victims helped shed light on the issue, which eventually garnered international attention. In 1999, Mexico’s first rape crisis center was created by a group of feminists. A protest movement called Ni Una Mas formed in 2002, urging the Mexican state to enact tactics to reduce violence against women and conduct adequate investigations. In addition to the neglect by Mexican police and investigators, activists faced many obstacles. “Activists who have sought to help victims’ families locate their daughters or to bring the crimes to an end have suffered death threats or serious harassment by government officials at every level,” said Alma Guillermoprieto in an interview.
When the stories of femicide in Ciudad Juárez began to surface to the media, international pressure on the Mexican authorities saw a rise. However, as the assaults and murders continued throughout the years, international pressure became underwhelming. Gustavo de la Rosa, a human rights investigator for Chihuahua State, described this response in an interview, stating, “People haven’t reacted with the same force as before. They think it’s natural.” Ultimately, the accepting and desensitized attitude toward these femicides has allowed Mexican authorities to continue in their negligence. Despite the severity and frequency of the crimes, 98 percent of cases still go unpunished and remain unsolved.
