Labyrinth Of Silence, Possibly 3000 women murdered in Juarez

Have you heard about the femicide, or slaughter of girls and women, that has

been going on in Juarez, a town on the border of Texas and Mexico? Have you

heard of the hundreds of women who have disappeared there? Or about the

hundreds of bodies of women found, women who were raped and tortured

before death. That these women's bodies are found on a "regular" basis by the Juarez police.
Or more often, by passers by, since the police seem disinterested in solving these
murders, which have been steadily mounting in number since 1993?

In fact, the police seem to have taken on a hostile attitude toward the families and loved ones, desperately searching for women, often teenagers, who have gone missing.

They show no more compassion for families of the many women whose torn and battered remains have been found in the desert. Did you know that this femicide has now spread to other cities, including El Passo, Texas, USA? Or that some believe that as many as three thousand women have gone missing or been found dead . . . so far.

Yes, 3000. Possibly more, since no one keeps track, and no one is doing much to stop this.

If you haven't heard anything about this ghastly slaughter on our border, you are not alone. The mainstream media pays no attention whatsoever, though they cover murders having to do with drug cartels in Juarez. In fact, in most recent news I've found, only the deaths of women directly involved with drug
cartels are considered news worthy. It's difficult to even find recent news stories on these abductions and murders. Why?

This brutal femicide continues in what the people of Juarez have come to call the "labyrinth of silence" go on and on, shrouded in inexplicable silence. Despite the many demonstrations by the people of Juarez meant to call attention to what is happening in their city, to their wives, mothers, daughters, friends.

Despite the many sad wooden crosses, bearing the names of the missing and dead, that continue to spring up around the city.
Despite the countless tattered flyers of missing women, giving tragic testimony to the waning hopes of their
families.

Why is it so difficult to find out exactly how many women have gone missing or been found, murdered? Estimates on that number depend on who you ask. Most
reports I have managed to find on my computer stay around the "only" four or five hundred range.

Other sources, including the movie made by Antonio Banderos and Jennifer Lopez, in the vain hopes of drawing attention to this travesty, estimate around 3000. The movie is called "Bordertown," if you are interested in learning more about the Juarez murders.

I first learned about these murders in 2002, in "Mother Jones" magazine article, one of the very few publications who have even covered this. At that time, the number of dead and missing women was estimated at about three hundred.

That was eight years ago, and based on "official" numbers, so I am inclined to believe the number is closer to the estimated 3000. And growing.
How many dead women and girls will it take before this is considered "news worthy."

One point of interest, many of these women work in the factories of American corporations. These corporations have moved across the border for the cheap labor they can get in Mexico.

Despite these ongoing murders, and the desperate
pleas from workers and the people of Juarez, the factories refuse to provide any security for their workers.

Many of these women have to walk on long trails through the desert to get to and from bus stops, which are often isolated and equally dangerous. These women and girls are all too easy prey.

Once on the bus, they are no safer. At least one survivor has reported that the bus driver was in on her abduction, delivering her to a group of men in the desert who raped her, stabbed her, and buried her alive. Somehow she survived
and made her way to help.

Many women simply disappear in the very busy streets of Juarez. A lot of these workers are young girls who have come to the city from rural areas, and are very unworldly and naive. Some survivors have reported ploys where one man pretends to attempt to abduct her, while another rushes to her "rescue." Sadly, the "rescue" leads to the actual abduction.

Why don't these American factories supply security for their employees? It seems any decent person would do this in the face of so many murders. The refusal of the factory owners to protect their workers leads some to believe that there may be an element of human tafficking involved, and the factory owners
benefit from this.

Another theory is that these women are being used for some sort of medical testing, There are also, undoubtedly, serial killers involved, drawn to a place where the murders of girls and women are all but ignored. But serial killers can't account for this outrageous number of women who disappear or are murdered, all as authorities look on with disinterest.

Why isn't something being done to stop this? How can will this be allowed to go on? What can we do to stop this?
For more information,

Links

Casa Amiga
Juarez-based crisis center. Founded by Esther Chavez Cano, one of the leaders in the women's movement in Juarez

Mexico Solidarity Network
Coalition of 80+ groups organizing and educating about human rights, trade, and indigenous issues in Mexico

Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a las Casas
Ciudad-Juarez advocacy group for victims' families

Senorita Extraviada
Website for the 2002 documentary, Senorita Extraviada, about the murders.
Also contains helpful links.

Amnesty International
Campaigns for human-rights worldwide

Save Juarez
Website for the Save Juarez Project

V-Day: Until the Violence Stops
Eve Ensler's global movement to stop violence against women and girls

Global Goddess
Women helping women

Maquila
An informative website, although it doesn't seem to be updated any longer.


--
To the wrongs that need resistance, To the right that needs assistance, To the future in the distance, Give yourselves.
Carrie Chapman Catt