2005 International Campaign for Justice in Juarez and Chihuahua

Mexico Solidarity Network Presents:

International Campaign for Justice in Juarez and Chihuahua October 20- 30, 2005

Activists from Juarez and Chihuahua, struggling against a decade-long string of largely unresolved femicides and injustices in the maquiladora sector will travel to three regions of the United States - Southwest, Upper Midwest and Mid South. An activist from Ciudad Juarez or Chihuahua City will speak on the struggle to end the femicides and injustices in the maquiladora sector. A representative of Mexico Solidarity Network will discuss the economic and social context in which the femicides occur.

Femicide in Juarez and Chihuahua: For more than a decade, the cities of Chihuahua and Juarez, near the US-Mexico border, have been killing fields for young women, the site of over 400 unsolved femicides. Despite the horrific nature of these crimes, authorities at all levels exhibit indifference, and there is strong evidence that some officials may be involved. Impunity and corruption has permitted the criminals, whoever they are, to continue committing these acts, knowing there will be no consequences.

A significant number of victims work in the maquiladora sector - sweatshops that produce for export, with 90% destined for the United States. The maquiladoras employ mainly young women, at poverty level wages. In combination with lax environmental regulations and low tariffs under the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the maquiladoras are amassing tremendous wealth. Yet despite the crime wave, they offer almost no protection for their workers. High profile government campaigns such as Ponte Vista (Be Aware), a self defense program, and supplying women with whistles have been ineffective and are carried out mainly for public relations purposes.

Making the global economic connections: Activists fighting gender violence highlight the roles of neoliberal economic policies, drug trafficking and the "war on drugs," militarization, and the evolving maquiladora sector to draw comparisons and link similar struggles in Mexico, Guatemala, and throughout the world. Despite the efforts of state and federal authorities to keep them quiet, the families of victims continue to make small advances in the struggle for justice. Often families suffer threats and defamation by government officials for making one simple demand: STOP THE FEMICIDE.

We invite organizations and individuals to unite forces around the following objectives:
- Pressure the Mexican government to end the epidemics of gender violence in Juarez and Chihuahua, and to punish those responsible.
- Demand punishment of public authorities responsible for the impunity.
- Create consciousness that cases of gender violence in Mexico do not occur in isolation, but within the context of a neoliberal model that devalues and dehumanizes women.
- Demand that maquiladora owners assume responsibility for the safety of their workers by providing safe transportation, streetlights, increased security measures and improved working conditions.
- Create awareness for the need to support the human rights and organizing efforts of workers in the sex industry. Authorities in Juarez frequently claim that murdered women were sex workers in order to deny the significance of their deaths, or to justify lack of investigation. Solidarity with sex workers organizing for rights would directly challenge the 'good victim/ bad victim' argument that is used to divide and distract those engaged in struggles to end gender violence.
- Create consciousness that violence against women is related to gender violence against gay, lesbian, and transgender people. Such violence is enabled by the destructive social effects of neoliberal economic policies and conditions of impunity, and serves to enforce a patriarchal and heterosexist gender hierarchy.
- In the US, promote the proposal sponsored by Representative Hilda Solis, House Resolution 466, a Sense of the Congress Resolution that condemns the femicide in Ciudad Juarez, as well as SR 392, the identical resolution in the Senate.
- Demand that the Fox administration intervene in the investigations and clean up local corruption and impunity in Juarez and Chihuahua.
- Promote the creation of bi-national committees including activists and community leaders from the Mexico and the United States to address gender violence.

For more information contact us at (773)583-7728 in the West or Midwest, and (202)544-9355 on the East Coast, or msn@mexicosolidarity.org.