THE SITUATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN CIUDAD JUÁREZ, MEXICO:
THE RIGHT TO BE FREE FROM VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION

Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women
of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

While the situation of women in Ciudad Juárez shares many aspects common to other cities in the United Mexican States and the region generally, it is different in certain important respects. First, the homicide rate for women experienced an unusually sharp rise in Ciudad Juárez in 1993, and the rate has remained elevated since that time. Second, … the rate of homicides for women compared to that for men in Ciudad Juárez is significantly higher than for similarly situated cities or the national average. Third, the extremely brutal circumstances of many of the killings have served to focus attention on the situation in Ciudad Juárez. A significant number of the victims were young, between 15 and 25, and many were beaten and/or subjected to sexual violence before being strangled or stabbed to death. A number of the killings that fit this pattern have been characterized as multiple or “serial” killings. Fourth, the response of the authorities to these crimes has been markedly deficient. There are two aspects of this response that are especially relevant. On the one hand, the vast majority of the killings remain in impunity; approximately 20% have been the subject of prosecution and conviction. On the other hand, almost as soon as the rate of killings began to rise, some of the officials responsible for investigation and prosecution began employing a discourse that in effect blamed the victim for the crime. According to public statements of certain highly placed officials, the victims wore short skirts, went out dancing, were “easy” or were prostitutes. Reports document that the response of the relevant officials to the victims’ family members ranged from indifference to hostility. (4)

[M]any of these killings are manifestations of violence based on gender, particularly sexual violence and domestic or intrafamilial violence. While public and official attention have focused on the brutality of and fear associated with the so-called “serial” killings, insufficient attention has been devoted to the need to address the discrimination that underlies crimes of sexual or domestic violence, and that underlies the lack of effective clarification and prosecution. The resolution of these killings requires attention to the root causes of violence against women – in all of its principal manifestations. (6).

What became apparent was a gender-based violence related not just to the serial killings but also to historical gender-based discrimination, which conveys that domestic violence is punished as a lesser offense. (36)

During the period from 1993 to January of 2002, 4,154 reports of missing persons had been filed in Ciudad Juarez. Of these, 3,844 of the persons in question had been located…257 of those reported missing remained unaccounted for. (51)

On the subject of Ciudad Juarez, the UN Special Rapporteur expressed that the inaction of the government indirectly ensured that perpertrators ‘would enjoy impunity for such crimes.’ In addition the independence of judges suggests that judical actions ‘had severely weakened the rule of law in the region.’ (108)

[There is a] tendency on the part of many both in the State and non-state sectors to focus on the killings characterized as ‘serial’ as the legitimate source of concern because of their brutality. There is an insufficient understanding that these deaths, whether perpetrated in connection with sexual crimes by unknown perpetrators, or in connection with domestic violence by intimate partners, are equally violative of the right to be free from violence, and equally manifest the objectification or dehumanization of the victim based on gender. The fact that the so-called ‘serial’ killings are portrayed in the media and viewed by many as shocking, while the killings arising in connection with domestic violence are given less attention, demonstrates the problem. (123)

[While violence against women in Ciudad Juarez is] a problem of grave proportions, the Special Rapporteur’s analysis confirms that the problem has not been met with measures that respond to the gravity. The fact that the vast majority of these crimes against women remain in impunity requires an urgent response. (127)

Where such inaction and tolerance is part of a pattern, the condoning of this situation by the entire system only serves to perpetuate the psychological, social and historical roots and factors that sustain and encourage violence against women. It creates a climate that is ‘conducive to domestic violence’ because society sees no will on the part of the State to take effective action against it. (129)

Impunity for violence against women remains the general practice rather the exception. Of the approximately 285 killings under study, dating back to 1993, only 20% have reached the stage of conviction. With respect to the so-called ‘serial’ killings within this group, only one person has been convicted in relation to one death. (135)

The findings of the recommendation 44/98 of the National Human Rights Commission to the effect that the investigations evaluated were grossly deficient, and that the authorities responsible should be held accountable for having failed to discharge their responsibilities under the law, information received indicates no efforts to hold any functionaries of Ciudad Juarez responsible—administratively, disciplinary or criminally. (142)

In relation to the issue of services for those affected by these crimes, the Special Rapporteur has received repeated indications that the family members of those killed have not been able to obtain access to adequate psychological and social services. (150)

Programs to assist women who have been subjected to violence must take the problem of economic subordination into account in designing measures that will enable women to remove themselves from abusive situations. Further, reports suggest that women who have been subjected to domestic violence in Ciudad Juarez may face serious obstacles with respect to protecting the interests of their children and defining parental custody, and require available and effective legal assistance in order to safeguard their rights and those of their children. (151)

Information received by the Commission in instances dating from 2001 indicates that the first investigation measures were taken in some cases with lapses of days in between.” (155)

“Training, especially for those charges with responding to crimes of violence against women, is an important means of developing technical capacity and an understanding of the gender dimensions of the problem. (156)

The ability to design effective prevention strategies is undermined by the lack of empirical data in the breadth and depth of the problem of violence against women in Ciudad Juarez. (160)