Women Say Juarez Killings Show System's Bias
Mexican authorities at recent conference say they've taken steps to curb violence
by Marilyn Haddrill
Las Cruces, New Mexico
For the mostly poor, young and female murder victims, women's rights advocates say justice doesn't come easy in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
The cases of 200 women found slain in Juarez since 1993 highlight a frayed system, they say.
"I am trembling because I am furious," said Vicky Caraveo of Juarez, who at times shouted at Mexican law-enforcement and government officials. "God bless other women who have been fighting for five years to be the voice of the victims."
Mexican judicial and law-enforcement officials counter that they have taken steps to curtail violence, particularly involving women.
"Burials on the Border" brought the women's rights advocates and authorities together earlier this month at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces under sponsorship of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the university's Women Studies Program and Center for Latin American Studies.
While many conference participants spoke from passion, others came armed with statistics and reports indicating that Juarez crime problems are complicated by a booming population that is fast outgrowing available infrastructure and police protection.
Authorities estimate the city's population surpasses 1.2 million - compared with El Paso's 515,000 - while hundreds of transients arrive each week seeking relief from Mexico's economic malaise. New arrivals work in Juarez factories or cross the border to find work in the United States.
"People have to survive," said Esther Chavez, director of a Juarez victim-assistance program called Casa Amiga. "One way is to cross the Rio Grande to the American dream, and the other is to work in the maquila."
Many are lured by the promise of jobs at hundreds of maquiladora plants - facilities mostly along the border that provide partly assembled products for final manufacture usually in the United States.
Many at the conference painted a grim picture of young women particularly at risk when they work night shifts at factories open 24 hours daily. The women walk alone at night from bus stops through dangerous, poverty-stricken neighborhoods to reach the only residences they can afford.
In one case of multiple slayings, four bus drivers on routes used by maquiladora workers were arrested along with a man purported to be their ringleader and accused of perpetrating some of the violence against women. As a result, officials say, some factories now employ guards to ride the bus routes to help protect the women.
"I'm here to tell you as consumers in the global marketplace that the victims of Ciudad Juarez are all of our deaths," Ms. Chavez said. "They died because they committed the worst sin you can commit in this time of wolves - to be young, to be poor and to be women."
Mexican authorities have shown little concern for female slaying victims, many sexually assaulted or tortured, some speakers said. Little effort was made to identify or even find bodies - a task undertaken by private citizens such as Ms. Caraveo.
Instead, speakers said, Mexican authorities downplayed the crimes, often characterizing the victims as prostitutes.
"My relative [a sister] was one of the victims in Juarez. When it is said the women killed are prostitutes or from other places, we are here to show this is not true," said Guillermina Gonzalez. "The victims cannot tell you their lives or how they died, but I can tell you that this is totally unjust. They have a history. They have family."
Past problems such as sloppy investigation techniques are being addressed or have been solved primarily through efforts of new administrators, said Arturo Gonzalez, attorney general for the Mexican state of Chihuahua in which Juarez is located. He said crime is declining.
One major step toward addressing crime problems in Juarez, he said, has been to curtail hours of night clubs and bars. Now, Mr. Gonzalez said, the party crowd does not mix in the streets with people going to work early in the morning.
Mr. Gonzalez also said it's impossible to characterize all the slayings of women in Juarez in one way, because motives of perpetrators have been highly varied.
"The problems that exist in our society are not just police problems," Mr. Gonzalez said.
Investigations now involve careful evaluations of crime scenes and thorough accounting of evidence, said Suly Ponce, state of Chihuahua special prosecutor for crimes against women. Ms. Ponce acknowledged that previous investigators engaged in activities such as burning the clothing of homicide victims, thus destroying valuable clues.
"Anybody could walk in and move the bodies, so the evidence was often lost because of this," Ms. Ponce said.
Juarez Police Chief Javier Benvidez decried declining moral values that he said create lawlessness. And he said emphasis should be placed on solving all crimes, not just those against women.
"I don't think the loss of a son is any different from the loss of a daughter. And I don't think gender has anything to do with it," Chief Benavidez said.
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