Pantaleo , K (2010). Gendered Violence: An Analysis of the Maquiladora Murders. (Excerpts)

1. Pantaleo, K (2010). Gendered Violence: An Analysis of the Maquiladora Murders. (Excerpts) • Social construction of the murders by three different groups, the news media, human rights organizations, and academic researchers • Impact of NAFTA on gender and crime/justice, inequality and crime, maquiladora, the patriarchal social fabric of Mexican society and backlash against women • Patriarchal beliefs are the most culturally influential due to the importance of male domination and female subordination

2. Maquiladora murders or femicides of Juarez: • Rape, torture, and mutilation of the victims- the bodies are unrecognizable. • Victims were often employees of maquiladoras, or foreign-owned Mexican factories, which allow tax-free imports of materials and tax-free exports increase in factories • Although NAFTA brought factories, the area still remain poorly developed, with little electricity, poor lighting, and dirt roads. • As more women secured jobs in the maquiladoras, more women from Juarez and surrounding areas were out late at night and alone in these areas, providing an opportunity to be victimized.

3. Causes: Many farms were destroyed to build more factories Wages have decreased, attempts for workers to unionize have failed, and the factories violate basic labor rights, daily Mexican women have lower levels of education and lower literacy rates than males NAFTA has not only increased jobs but also increased opportunities for criminal victimization and exploitation in the maquiladoras. Machismo and Marianismo: Male power and aggression is symbolized by aggression, whereas the domestic and inferior nature of women is symbolized by marianismo. Increased involvement in the labor force, a contributing factor to the victimization of these women because of the competition for economic resources

4. 7. Drug Trafficking and Violence in Mexico • Law enforcement and other government officials are bribed into covering up murders and drug trafficking

5. Journalistsinterrelated the following factors, mainly corruption in the Mexican criminal justice system, effects of NAFTA, and the Mexican drug market • Portray the murders as gendered sexual serial killings primarily perpetuated and caused by corruption of the criminal justice system. • Made a significant contribution to defining the murders as a social problem. • The newspapers provide a visual aid that the public can use to define or construct the problem themselves. • Newspaper claims-makers provide a framework for the murders as a social problem

6. Academics: Requiring institutional response and cultural changes, not the least of which are preventative measures—toward eradicating cultures of violence, of impunity, of misogyny, and of male backlash’’ (Staudt, 2008 Focused most on the victims and the causes and less on the perpetrators

7. Human Rights Reports: Reports that were not publicized until 10 or more years after the murders began Effective narratives in portraying the murders as a social problem, caused by gender issues and corruption of the criminal justice system.

9. Patterns that developed across the narratives • Description of the victims as female maquiladora workers • Nature of the murders: most often described as sexual and degrading in nature, rape, sexual assault, mutilation, strangulation, and torture – so identifying the victims made the murders a social problem • Three sets of perpetrators were consistently reported: local bus drivers, Abdel Sharif the Egyptian chemist, and the Rebels gang • Main cause as the corruption of the criminal justice system • Secondary causes are suggested as gender issues and NAFTA

10. Dillon(1998) The New York Times • Connection between feminist views and corruption in the criminal justice system • Feminist ideology of male backlash and machismo as reasons for the murders, both as a motive for killing and for lack of investigation • Increase of the sweatshop industry, especially in the early 1990s, has lead to a deterioration of the social fabric of Ciudad Juarez. • NAFTA increased the size of the sweatshop industry and in the process resulted in altering gender roles that were not culturally ready to be changed.

11. Violations of the side labor agreement (NAALC), which are directly tied to NAFTA. The poor working conditions inside the maquiladoras along with the poor environmental conditions surrounding the factories: poor lighting, dirt roads, and little security contribute to an environment where women are more likely to be targeted as victims

12. Taken as a whole, the narrative sample in this study portrayed the murders as gendered sexual serial killings primarily perpetuated and caused by: NAFTA Gender issues Corruption of the criminal justice system.