Violence and Activism at the Border: Gender, Fear, and Everyday Life in Ciudad Juarez

Description

Between 1993 and 2003, more than 370 girls and women were murdered and their often-mutilated bodies dumped outside Ciudad Juárez in Chihuahua, Mexico. The murders have continued at a rate of approximately thirty per year, yet law enforcement officials have made no breakthroughs in finding the perpetrator(s). Drawing on in-depth surveys, workshops, and interviews of Juárez women and border activists, Violence and Activism at the Border provides crucial links between these disturbing crimes and a broader history of violence against women in Mexico. In addition, the ways in which local feminist activists used the Juárez murders to create international publicity and expose police impunity provides a unique case study of social movements in the borderlands, especially as statistics reveal that the rates of femicide in Juárez are actually similar to other regions of Mexico. Also examining how non-governmental organizations have responded in the face of Mexican law enforcement's "normalization" of domestic violence, Staudt's study is a landmark development in the realm of global human rights. Contents Preface and Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Violence at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Framing Perspectives Chapter 2. Culture and Globalization: Male Backlash at the Border Chapter 3. Women Speak about Violence and Fear: Surveys and Workshops Appendix 3A: Research Design Appendix 3B: Brochures Distributed to Participants Color Photos Chapter 4. Framing and Mobilizing Border Activism: From Femicide to Violence against Women Appendix 4A: Fiction or Nonfiction? Appendix 4B: V-Day 2004 Proclamation, City of El Paso Chapter 5. Government Responses to Violence against Women Chapter 6. Toward Eradicating Violence against Women at the Border: Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index