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This site is dedicated to creating public awareness about the continuing human rights issue in Juarez, Mexico. There have been at least 275 young women murdered over the past 11 years in Juarez, Mexico. During the last 6 months the Sterling Music Exchange has purchased the rights to host 3 screenings of 'Senorita Extravia - Missing Young Women', an award winning film documentary that explores the reasons behind this tragic situation.
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Juarez, City of Sadness by Pete Cormier
To be young and pretty and to live in Juarez, Mexico is a death sentence. This city of 1.5 million, the fourth largest in Mexico, has been nicknamed “the capital of murdered women” because of the hundreds of young woman who have been murdered during the past 11 years. Many of the murders remain unsolved and there are dozens of other young woman still missing.
As a border town, Juarez became a magnet for US corporations after the NAFTA trade agreement because of the inexpensive labor force and its convenient location 200 yards across the Rio Grande river from El Paso, Texas. Young women from all parts of Mexico flock to the Juarez factories or maquiladoras to earn a better wage than many men. Most workers live in the squalor of shanty towns on the outskirts of Juarez and are forced to travel on unsafe, dirt roads to get to work.
There are various theories of who may be behind the murders. Juarez has always been home to drug traffickers who conduct their business brazenly downtown. Activists charge gross incompetence on the part of law enforcement who have made few arrests and have even been accused of torturing those who have been arrested. Others believe the maquiladora’s are somehow involved because of reports that some victims were photographed by workers in the maquiladoras shortly before they disappeared. Seventeen year-old Claudia Claudia Ivette Gonzales was abducted November 6, 2001 on her way home from the maquiladora where she worked. She had been just been turned away at the door because she was three minutes late.
A number of local organizations have sprung up in the Juarez and El Paso areas. Casa Amiga, founded in 1998, was one of the first nonprofit organizations to provide support services to victims and their families. Their web site painstakingly tracks every one of the 265 murders reported from 1993 through 2003. Esther Chavez Cano, Casa Amiga executive director is considered by many to be a pioneer for the women’s movement in Juarez and has received numerous award for her work. When asked which award she is proudest of, she responded, “The most wonderful award for me is when a child kisses me and says thanks or when a woman changes her life and sees her future with hope.” Other groups have planted crosses in conspicuous places and painted pink crosses on telephone polls to keep the memory of the young victims alive.
Award winning filmmaker, Lourdes Portillo exposed this subject through her 2002 documentary film, Senorita Extraviada. Her film creates a lasting impression on the viewer by interviews with victim’s families interspersed with footage of barren places where bodies have been found. Photos of the young victims prominently displayed in their family’s stark homes show a series of uncanny resemblances; they all have long, dark hair and they are all slim and pretty.
Surfing the internet, one is amazed at the amount of articles that have been written on this subject and posted on various websites. Message boards are filled with outraged comments which shows how deeply this mystery has affected people. Mary Hoffmann from Kentucky is one such outraged respondent who covered her car in slogan’s like "Save Juarez” and “Ni Una Mas" (Not One More) with shoe polish to create awareness. When asked if the film affected her she replied, “Yeah, you could say its affected me! I'm sure my friends and family are tired of hearing about it, but someone has to do it.” Mary’s passion for this cause has motivated her to create a bulletin board on her personal web page where she hopes to reach out to as many people as possible. “I have done nothing but sleep, eat, talk, and dream Juarez for the past 4 or so months,” she notes.
Meanwhile, Chavez reports 10 more young women are dead in 2004 and more pink crosses have appeared along the desolate streets that connect the shanty towns to the maquiadoras which continue to beckon young women who are willing to risk their lives to escape the squalor. To find out more about how you can help, click any of the links below.
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The logos at the top of this page (.gif's) were made by Auriea Harvey (entropy8.com). She was inspired by the movie "Senorita Extraviada: Missing Young Woman" a documentary by Lourdes Portillo.
These .gif's are intended to link to sites which give more information about the murders of young women in Juárez, Mexico and how people online can take action to help find the criminals behind these crimes.
To get this code, click on the PBS web site link to the left. You can also obtain other gif images on this subject at http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/senoritaextraviada/images
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