National NOW Times >> Winter 05-06  >> Article

To Juárez for Justice

By Zenaida Mendez, Racial Diversity Programs Director

En Español

On the Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), the lives of the young girls — the majority between the ages of 10 and 18 — who were strangled, raped and mutilated in the City of Juárez will be remembered by hundreds of relatives, friends and activists from around the world who will congregate in Juárez, Mexico from Oct. 31 to Nov. 5, 2005.

We do not have to be detectives to figure out that these murders are more than a coincidence. There is an obvious link between the multiple murders, and there is a pattern in the way these women have perished since 1993.

In May 1993, Gladys Janeth Fierro, 12 years old, was abducted and later found raped and strangled. In September 1995, another student, Silvia Rivera Morales, was also found raped and strangled. In addition, her right breast had been cut off and her left breast was bitten and torn apart. In 1996, six other victims were discovered in the desert of Lomas de Poleo. All were found raped, stabbed and mutilated. Sagrario González, 17, a factory worker at an assembly plant, also disappeared after leaving work in April 1998. Days later her body was found strangled and stabbed at an abandoned lot.

According to data determined in 1998, at the request of President Clinton and former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo, the FBI visited the City of Juárez and investigated. Since then, the relatives of the victims have asked for an independent investigation and have hired outside criminologists to try to solve these crimes and to find those responsible for the events that have brought so much sadness in the world.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) has joined with the Mexican Solidarity Network to support the work started years ago, which is to put an end to the Juárez murders and to ensure justice for the victims and their families.

On November 2, known as the Día de los Muertos, many will gather to celebrate the lives that have been lost in the tragic murders in Juárez. Then on Dec. 3, 2005, NOW will hold a demonstration in El Paso, Texas, at one of the bridges to Juárez. In addition, NOW chapters and activists will hold a series of actions across the country demanding that U.S. authorities take responsibility. Since many of the victims were employed at U.S.-owned factories, the U.S. must work in solidarity with Mexico to find a way to end these murders.

If you would like more information on how you can help with this cause, please call 202.628.8669 x. 143 or contact us through e-mail at racial.diversity@now.org.