NOW Demands End to Violence Against Women in Juarez, Mexico

December 1, 2005

En Español

The National Organization for Women (NOW) will hold a press conference on Saturday, Dec. 3 to introduce a campaign to stop the violence against women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Following the press conference, NOW members and activists will march from El Paso, Texas to the border of Juarez to protest the hundreds of murders and demand official action.

Over the last decade, nearly 400 women have been abducted and murdered in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. Many of the murders share a similar modus operandi — the women are brutally beaten, raped and killed, and their bodies left in the desert or on a secluded street. Most of the victims are young women on their way to or from work at maquiladoras, or assembly factories.

The Mexican authorities and factory owners have ignored their duty to protect the women of Juarez and Chihuahua, causing the femicide to continue. The National Organization for Women demands that the United States, Mexico, the U.S. corporations that own the factories and the international community make solving these crimes a top priority and that all the necessary means—forensics, dedicated investigators and police, security guards, safe transportation, and a transnational independent commission—be made available to bring to justice those responsible for the femicide in Juarez and Chihuahua and to protect the women from future violence. Background information on the issue and a toolkit for activists can be found online.

NOW will work with its members, supporters and allied organizations to raise visibility of these crimes and work to end the femicide. The full power of the law must be applied to all those responsible for the assaults and murders of the women of Juarez and Chihuahua, and consumer power must get the attention of factory owners who do not protect their workers.

Who:	NOW President Kim Gandy; NOW Executive Vice President Olga Vives; local leaders and activists
What:	Press conference to announce a campaign to stop the violence against women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, followed by a march from El Paso to Juarez to raise visibility of the femicide
When:	Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005 11:00 a.m. press conference, 11:30 Rally at Armijo Park, 710 7th St, El Paso, Texas 12 noon, march across the Santa Fe (El Paso del Norte) Bridge
Where:	Holiday Inn Airport, 6655 Gateway West, El Paso, Texas

"We need to remain vigilant so that there is an end to the violation of women's human rights," said Olga Vives, NOW Executive Vice President. "The murders in Juarez must stop."

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906

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