More Links...

Been very busy but these new links will give you something to read:

Amazing in a Terrible Way

Femicide in Guatemala

Entering the Minds of Serial Killers

Guatemala Femicide

Truth Serum Blog-Mothers day protests

Theatrical to spotlight 'femicide'

Lydia Cacho Ribeiro Honored with UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

Sex crimes investigator assassinated in Juarez

Culture shock...

I believe the femicide is an unintended consequence of NAFTA. I do not believe that several future presidents sat around in a college dungeon plotting to rule the world by causing third world countries to “race to the bottom”. Culturally Mexico is a patriarchal society, as are many countries. With the flow of new job opportunities, employers found the women workers to be more compliant and easily dominated. 70% of these jobs went to women and girls. Work papers for underage workers were easy to procure and the $5 or so a day was a big lure. Over time shanty towns cropped up around Juarez, homes built of cardboard discarded from the factories. Women were making money and gaining a little power. In the U.S. during WW11, women took over many of the typically men’s skilled machine jobs. Women worked riveting and welding to continue to produce armaments for the war. When the war was over and the troops came back home there was resentment and many women lost their jobs and were told to go home to their families. It is difficult to unwind the clock and women started asserting their rights as equal human beings. The motives behind having a mostly women’s work force in Mexico are nefarious but the result may be a more independent gender. Men are starting to lose control and their culture is changing. Physical violence is the one constant control that men have over women. Women who were raised to honor thy father are still walking the tightrope of independence and are more likely to submit to a man’s will. Domestic violence, workplace violence, and stranger violence are the ultimate control over women. Add to the climate the fact that the very people in power to protect and punish offences against women are mostly men.

Many Thanks to Michelle and Niki

Articles

Guatemalan Congress Approves Law Against Femicide

More rebukes for Bruce
Lawmaker stands by remarks against "illiterate peasants" from Mexico
Sorry, had to slip this one in...

Murders of Women in Juarez Shock the World

Female murders in Ciudad Juarez hidden for years

Canada’s Juarez: Femicide North of the Border

Murder and Mutilation Stalk the Women of Guatemala

Hollywood tackles Mexican mystery

Congress Condemns Violence Against Women

Juarez Killings Escalate As Investigation Stalls

Mexicans Want FBI to Investigate Juarez Murders

Protect Guatemala's women

'Rich killers' stalk City of Lost Girls

Wave of Women's Killings Confounds Juárez

Slingshot Guatemalan Femicide

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING By Charles Bowden

Wholesale Slaughter

In Ciudad Juárez Mexico there is a humanitarian crisis. Women are being murdered and tourtured with alarming frequency. Crime library has a rather outdated but helpful overview of this horror. There is a great deal of information on the internet decribing the crimes but there is very little main stream attention. The Washington post did do a story in thier camera works feature. The problem of femicide is a weave of sex, drugs, politics, international trade policy, poverty, border control, and corruption. Mexico is a country who's culture is sytematically being marginalized by insatiable North American comsumerism. In turn the women of Juárez are further marginalized by bosses, fathers, brothers, husbands, police, politicians, and drug and sex trade lords. Every day women are being beaten physically and emotionally into submission. If you knew that a childs life is the cost for your new sneakers would you pause for a moment?