Introduction
Ciudad Juárez is a region in Northern Mexico which is very famous for the violent murders of both men and women who live in it1. The region is ruled by the drug lords who are very wealthy from the sale of drugs in other regions of Mexico.
These drug lords use these men and women as slaves and incase of any disobedience amongst any of them leads to their being violently murdered by their employers. The people that live in the area are very poor and this has fueled the slavery of most of the people in the region because most of them do not have anything to do to earn a living and thus fall prey to these overbearing drug warriors2.
Thesis Statement
With reference to the given question, this paper will conduct a research on the violent murders with focus on women that have been witnessed in Ciudad Juárez, a region in Northern Mexico. This paper will also discuss the causes and impacts of the murders and will offer recommendations that will offer a solution to the murders that are being witnessed.
Background of the murders in Ciudad Juárez
During the last decade, hundreds of women have been murdered in Mexico with the most killings occurring in the northern region of Ciudad Juárez. These murders have involved the violent killings of these women since 1993. The authorities in Mexico have put the death rate at over 400 of which more than 300 have been murdered in Ciudad Juárez alone3.
These kinds of kidnaps have been very common in the region of Ciudad Juárez by the organized groups because they are the ones that control the crimes and kidnaps that are in place in the area. When the young women are kidnapped by the organized groups, some of the groups ask for ransom from their families and those families being poor will not be able to pay for their release.
Ciudad Juárez has been a very violent region with crime and violent murders being the order of the day. The violent murders have involved both females and males where most of them have suffered grisly deaths.
This has been fueled by the high rise of inequality amongst the people of the region where the women are greatly oppressed by the men to the extent of being used as slaves to work for the drug lords who rule the region. These drug lords will use these men and women for their own benefit and after that, they violently murder them in the region4.
Analysts have suggested that the drug lords in the region are targeting a specific group of women in the Ciudad Juárez region because most of the murdered victims are young women who come from very poor backgrounds and work in the local town as waitresses and some of them being students in the local schools. The other similarity that has been suggested by the analysts is the fact that most of the murdered women who are found are first raped and then murdered violently.
Causes of the Murders
There are many factors that have contributed to the murders witnessed in the Ciudad Juárez region in Northern Mexico5. The factors that are fueling the continued murders witnessed in the region include;
Maquila Industry
A research was conducted in Ciudad Juárez in Northern Mexico and it was found that most of the inhabitants of the region were Maquiladoras employees who come from very poor backgrounds. Most of the Maquiladoras employees that live in the region live in a very sorry state which has put them at a very high risk of being exploited by the rich through cheap labor or no pay at all6.
The rich drug lords in the region have realized this and this has in turn led to them taking advantage of the young women who work in the Maquiladoras industry promising them very good pay only to mistreat them later after they have agreed to work for them. The rich drug lords lure the young women with the promise of giving them a good future and when they start working for them, they are mistreated and later violently murdered.
This has in turn increased the murder rate in the region which has the highest number of unemployed young women in the world. The desperate young women who live in the area will opt to work for the drug lords who promise them a good pay and in turn they are mistreated and murdered afterwards. This financial problem has caused more and more young girls to be lured into the drug lords’ trap in a bid to securing a better future which is not forthcoming.
Despite most of the young women being employed in the Maquila industry in the region, most opt to work for the drug lords because of the harassment and low pay that they get from the industry.
This leads to more young women quitting their jobs in the Maquila industry to try and find greener pastures in the drug lord’s house and this consequently leads to their untimely deaths. Other victims have been kidnapped mainly because they travel by bus to the industry and this exposes them to high risks of being kidnapped as they are heading to or from the industry.
The road network leading to the industry is in a very sorry state which means that most of the young women who commute on a daily basis will have to move by public transport which in turn creates a very high risk of being kidnapped and killed by the drug lords who only want them for their own selfish benefits.
Lack of Education among the Residents
Most of the residents that live in the area do not have proper education ot, generally, very high levels of education meaning that they cannot get good jobs apart from those availed by the Maquila Industry. This will mean that the young women who live in the area do not have anywhere else to earn a living because of their low education background.
Most of them are thus forced to work for the drug lords who mistreat them and even torture them before killing them7. Employers always need somebody professional to take to the work place rather than taking just anybody from the street without knowing the possible consequences of what may actually happen.
The young women who are not educated cannot move to other towns or places for fear that they may not be able to get employment due to their low levels of education. The opportunities of such people are so much measured. Therefore, they do not have much of a choice thus opting to stay in the region and work in the Maquiladoras where they are able to get at least something that can put food on their table but, in the process, they end up in the hands of kidnappers, rapists, and drug lords who mistreat them and later kill them violently8.
Education in the region has been considered as a thing for the rich in that the well to do are the only people who can have access to education because most of the people that live in the area are poor hence cannot afford education.
Due to the poor state that is being faced by the residents of the region, most people cannot afford money to educate their children because all the money they get goes a long way in trying to get food for the families that they feed. This all looks like a story without the end; employers need education people for their businesses to develop successfully and, on the other hand, there are people who cannot have this job and simply any possible work place, because they do not have any education as it is so hard for them to afford.
The available schools were built a very long time ago and thus they are old buildings which mean that no one is able to study there anymore. The buildings are now being used by the drug abusers who hide while taking the drugs and some are used by some people as places where they can sleep.
So, the government does not take care of such kind of places that also plays a role in the issue of education. This has meant that for the children to be able to go to school, they have to travel very long distances so as to be able to access good schools9, but they simply cannot as they do not have money on that.
This being the case, most of the young women in the region are very illiterate which means that they cannot get well paying jobs elsewhere. Most of the young women will opt to work in the Maquiladoras which do not pay very well and some opt to work for the drug lords who promise them very well paying jobs but later mistreat them and later kill them violently. This has increased the rate of murders in the region where most of the residents are very illiterate10.
Organized Crime
Crime in the region of Ciudad Juárez in Northern Mexico has been very rampant in that most of the crime that takes place is organized by groups that have been formed in the region. Several crime groups have been formed in the region of Ciudad Juárez in that they control the crime that takes place there.
The presence of the crime groups in the region of Ciudad Juárez has sparked fear in most analysts in that most of the crime that takes place in the area is organized by these groups and other groups outside the region. In the process of these crimes, the young women are kidnapped and are taken as hostages and are later murdered by the kidnappers.
Before they are murdered by the kidnappers, they are raped, tortured and then murdered very violently. These groups that control the crimes in the region know that most of the young women are vulnerable to their attacks and always attack with the notion of being able to take the young women hostage and use them as their sex slaves and later murder them violently after they have captured other young women who they are able to use for the same purpose11.
These kinds of kidnaps have been very common in the region of Ciudad Juárez by the organized groups because they are the ones that control the crimes and kidnaps that are in place in the area. When the young women are kidnapped by the organized groups, some of the groups ask for ransom from their families and those families being poor will not be able to pay for their release.
This prompts the kidnappers to go ahead and use them as sex slaves for their own sex satisfaction and slaves to do their chores for them. After they have kidnapped younger women from the region, they dispose the others by violently killing them and dumping their bodies in the outskirts of the region. They continue doing the same to the other young women and afterwards murder them violently12.
Most of the organized groups that are found in the region use the vulnerability of the young women to lure them into their traps which is by promising them money or even a good life but instead use them and later murder them. This has been a major cause of the increasing number of murders of young women that is being witnessed in the border town of Ciudad Juárez in Northern Mexico.
Drug Trafficking
Drugs is the next and one of the most serious problems that worries all people all over the world. The border town of Ciudad Juárez in Northern Mexico is one of the most notorious towns in the world for having the highest number of drug traffickers. This has had a drastic effect on the people of the region in that more than three quarters of the population in the region is addicted to one drug or the other.
Ciudad Juárez has the highest number of drug lords who control most of the drugs that are transported from Mexico to the United States of America, the town being a border town with the United States to the West13. This has in turn increased the murder rate in the region which has the highest number of unemployed young women in the world.
The desperate young women who live in the area will opt to work for the drug lords who promise them a good pay and in turn they are mistreated and murdered afterwards. This financial problem has caused more and more young girls to be lured into the drug lords’ trap in a bid to securing a better future which is not forthcoming.
The use of drugs among the local residents has led to most of the young women being vulnerable in a bid to being able to get money to buy the drugs. This has prompted some people to take advantage of the situation and use the young women sexually and afterwards murder them. Most of the young women in the region who are addicted to the drugs that are brought by the drug lords enter into the business of prostitution with the idea of being able to raise the money that they need to buy the drugs they take14.
Some of the people that use these young women for sex always exploit them and abuse them physically but younger women cannot do anything because they need the money for the drug and the only way they are able to get it is by offering their own bodies. In the process, some of the people will murder these young women by posing as clients and after they have used the young women sexually, they will murder them without mercy.
Most the young women are very vulnerable because they need the money to support themselves and their families and thus end up in the hands of the drug lords who use them as sex slaves in their home and after they are satisfied, they murder them and dump their bodies in the outskirts of the town. Most of the women having very low education levels will not be able to do anything. They just continue to be used so long as they get the money to buy the drugs but in the process of being used they meet their merciless killers.
This has had a serious effect on the economy of the region in that most of the young women do not contribute in any way to the prosperity of the region but instead sell their own bodies just to be able to buy the drugs they need from the drug lords who are on the rise in the area.
Laxity of the government
The government of Mexico has been under pressure from the international community to put an end to the murders that are witnessed in the Ciudad Juárez region but it has been very reluctant in trying to solve them. It is known that the region is controlled by very powerful drug lords, some of whom are very influential in the government15.
This has had a drastic effect on the justice system in that most of the murderers in the region do not face the law because they are protected by the powerful drug lords who rule the region. The word “justice” has been taken like a joke in the region especially in cases where the young women are murdered and the perpetrators of this heinous crime always go scot free.
The Mexican government has been proven to be very corrupt in that most of the drug lords are able to buy their freedom because they are very wealthy and are able to conduct corrupt activities within the government. By doing so, these drug tycoons end up controlling the justice system hence making sure that the perpetrators of the murders are never brought to book.
The government has also been criticized for its failure to station police officers in the region in a bid to beef up security and control the murders that have been on the rise in the area. Their failure can be attributed to the fact that the region is controlled by the drug lords who are very influential and control most of the activities in the area including those that are carried out by the Mexican police which include covering up for these grisly murders16.
The police has also been on the frontline in the claims because they are known for conducting investigations that are not conclusive for the murders thus no suspects are arrested. They also respond very slowly in terms of solving the murders in the regions because they are controlled by the influential drug lords who control the region.
The government has also been criticized by the international community of inefficiency in trying to control the murders that take place here. This has been mainly because most of the murders and kidnappings always take place in the full presence of police officers who do nothing to stop them. They have been unable to control these crimes and bringing the perpetrators of the murders to the book has taken an eternity.
Impacts of the murders in Ciudad Juárez
The murders that have taken place in the border town of Ciudad Juárez and surrounding regions in Northern Mexico have had a drastic effect especially on the economy of the country as a whole. The drug trafficking business that is very rampant in the area has had a very serious effect on the economy in that it is leading to huge losses in terms of revenue through the business.
The murders of the young women in the Ciudad Juárez region have had a very serious effect on the economy of the country in that most of the young women who are murdered in the Ciudad Juárez could be used to work in the industries and other companies across the country so as to be able to earn the country enough revenue and foreign exchange.
The murders in the Ciudad Juárez region have also tarnished the image of the Mexican government in relation to the other international countries and this has had a serious effect when it comes to conducting of businesses with other international countries. Most of the international countries have condemned Mexico for not being able to control the murders that are very rampant in the Ciudad Juárez and this has in turn led to fewer countries wanting to be associated with Mexico in the business field.
There is also the impact of the murders spreading to other local towns in Mexico. There are fears by analysts who feel that if the situation is not contained by the Mexican government, the murders will start spreading to other local towns and with time they will have spread across the country which is not very good for the economy and the image of the country.
Recommendations
Several recommendations can be offered in a bid to save the lives of the young women who are being murdered in the border town of Ciudad Juárez and the surrounding regions. For the recommendation to be able to take effect and stop the violent murders that take place in this region, the government and the local residents have to join together so as to be able to combat the vice that is slowly taking away the lives of the young women in the Ciudad Juárez region. Some of the recommendations include;
Activism
More and more people in the community must be able to protest to the government in a bid to make it act in the situation that is slowly turning the country into a very horrible place. The local residents must join hands with the international countries to put more pressure on the government to start acting on the matter that has a very serious effect on the economy and the image of the Mexican government and citizens in general17.
If more and more people mount pressure on the government to root out the vice, then the Mexican government will start acting and in turn will be able to stop the murders of the young women who are being murdered very violently and this will in turn be productive for the country in that most of the young women who would have instead landed in the hands of the murderers will start doing constructive things which will lead to the rise of the economy of the country in general.
Infrastructure
The infrastructure of a town or a country is one of the most important parts of building the economy. If the government is to root out the vice of the young women being murdered in the Ciudad Juárez region, they must improve the infrastructure by building schools and road networks in a bid to get rid of the vice18.
By building schools the government will be able to help younger women get an education and this will in turn translate to them leaving the Ciudad Juárez to go and look for employment in other towns hence reducing their risk of being murdered in the Ciudad Juárez region.
In addition to that, the government should build a good road network in the Ciudad Juárez and this will make it safer and less hectic for the young women who commute every day to work in the Maquiladoras. With a good road network, it will be easier for the law enforcers to keep track of the kidnappers who are very rampant in Ciudad Juárez and the surrounding regions. The government should also build modern stalls where the young women are able to carry out constructive businesses as alternative safe ways of making a living.
Security
If the government is committed to improving the state of the Ciudad Juárez region, then it should work to improve the security of the area by deploying more police officers who are capable of dealing with the perpetrators of the murders. The government should also hold the police accountable for the work they will have done in the region in that they must account for every investigation that will be carried out in the region and make sure that the perpetrators of the murders are captured and charged in the courts of law.
On the other hand, the government should also deploy police officers who will be patrolling the areas around the Ciudad Juárez region in a bid to be able to get the perpetrators of the murders that are committed in the region. By deploying police officers who patrol the area, then the murderers and kidnappers will be wary of being arrested if caught and hence this will reduce the rate of the murders drastically.
The government should also put in place legislation that will deal with the perpetrators of the murders in the regions. For example, the government is able to impose death penalties to anyone who is caught in the act or has committed the act of murder. This will go a long way in trying to reduce the number of murders that are witnessed in the Ciudad Juárez region annually.
Corruption
Corruption nowadays is quite wide spread all over the world. Corruption is one of the key factors that affect the economy of a country drastically in that the higher the rate of corruption in the government sector the higher the way the economy of the country will be damaged. For the Mexican government to be able to root out the problem of murders in the Ciudad Juárez, it must be able to root out corruption which is one of the key factors that fuels the murders.
The situation that is currently taking place in the Ciudad Juárez region is that most of the drug lords are using the government to be able to make their dealing which includes the trafficking of drugs in the area. This is mainly because most of the drug lords are very influential in the government.
If the government is able to crack down on these drug lords in the Ciudad Juárez region, then it will mean that it will have taken a huge step in the aim of getting rid of the murders that take place in the area. Most of the murders that take place in the Ciudad Juárez region are committed by the drug lords and by cracking down on them, it will mean that it will be a bit safer for the young women to continue with their daily duties in because there will be no one to harm them.
The government must also identify the individual within the government structure who are harboring these drug lords and must be able to make sure that the individual are charged in the courts of law. The government must also make sure that the individual who are found guilty with harboring the drug lords name the drug lords whom they harbor so as to be able to know who the real murderers are. After this has happened, the government will then be able to crack down of the drug lords who are a very big threat to the young women in the Ciudad Juárez region.
By doing so, this will go a long way in making sure that the murders in the Ciudad Juárez are prevented which are mostly by the drug lords who are very influential in the government.
Government
The government should know its role in the murders that are taking place in the Ciudad Juárez and thus taking the necessary actions that are necessary to trying to prevent more murders that happen in the Ciudad Juárez region19.
The government has been very relaxed with regard the murders that are happening in the Ciudad Juárez region and it is time for the government to take action which includes making sure that all the drug lords and perpetrators of the murders have been persecuted for the murders that they commit.
The government should also move in a bid to reducing the poverty level of the people who live in the Ciudad Juárez region in a bid to reducing the number of young women who get involved with the drug lords hence reducing the risk of having the young women murdered in the region.
Drug Trafficking
Drug trafficking has had a drastic effect on the economy of the Ciudad Juárez region and the government has to put in place measures that make sure that the drug traffickers are punished for the their actions.
The government should also control the drug lords who control the Ciudad Juárez region which is notorious for the murders of young women. By doing so, the government will be able to prevent more young women from getting addicted to drugs which are the main cause for having to commit prostitution in a bid to get money to buy the drugs that they need20.
The government should also build rehabilitation centers for the young women who have already been addicted to the drugs to ensure that they reform and keep away from prostitution so as to be able to get the money that is necessary to buy the drugs. This will go a long way in reducing the number of young women who are addicted to drugs in the Ciudad Juárez region which will reduce the number of young women involved in prostitution in the Ciudad Juárez region21.
The government should also put in place legislation that caters for the perpetrators of drug trafficking. For example, the government should impose a life sentence to any individual who is involved in drug trafficking or is found guilty of drug trafficking. This will be very important in the sense that most people will be afraid of committing the crime of drug trafficking due to the huge consequences that will have been imposed by the government.
Bibliography
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Fregoso, Rosa. Terrorizing Women: Feminicide in Mexico. London: Duke University Press, 2010.
Guzmán, Georgina. Making a Killing: Femicide. London: John Wiley and Sons, 2010.
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Footnotes
1 Georgina Guzmán, Making a Killing: Femicide (London: John Wiley and Sons, 2010), 16.
2 Katheleen Staudt, Violence and Activism at the Border (London: Oxford University Press, 2008), 24.
3 Katheleen Staudt, Violence and Activism at the Border (London: Oxford University Press, 2008), 26.
4 Sam Hawken, The Dead Women of Juárez (London: Profile Books, 2011), 24.
5 Sam Hawken, The Dead Women of Juárez (London: Profile Books, 2011), 26.
6 Adam Jones, Gender Inclusive (New York: Sage, 2009), 29.
7 Rosa Fregoso, Terrorizing Women: Feminicide in Mexico (London: Duke University Press, 2010), 48.
8 Anthony Kruszewski, Human rights along the U.S.-Mexico border (California: California University Press, 2009), 32.
9 Nancy Pineda, Suffering and Salvation in Ciudad Juárez (Pottstown: Fortress Press, 2011), 72.
10 Anthony Kruszewski, Human rights along the U.S.-Mexico border (California: California University Press, 2009), 42.
11 Peter Morrall, Murder and Society (London: John Wiley and Sons, 2006), 84.
12 Charles Bowden, Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields (Charlotte: Nation Books, 2010), 43.
13 Tony Payan, The Ciudad Juárez Female Homicides (Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2007), 42.
14 Peter Morrall, Murder and Society (London: John Wiley and Sons, 2006), 122.
15 Patricia Zavella, Women and Migration in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands (London: John Wiley and Sons, 2007), 45.
16 Patricia Zavella, Women and Migration in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands (London: John Wiley and Sons, 2007), 48.
17 Denise Segura, Gender Violence: A Cultural Perspective (London: John Wiley and Sons, 2011), 128.
18 Charles Bowden, Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields (Charlotte: Nation Books, 2010), 84.
19 Bejarano Levy, Women and violence (Berkeley: Seal Press, 2008), 108.
20 Charles Bowden, Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields (Charlotte: Nation Books, 2010), 92.
21 Charles Bowden, Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields (Charlotte: Nation Books, 2010), 94.