In late August in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, 150 women and men took to the streets with the cry of 'Ni Una Mas!' (Not One More!). The demonstration followed the discovery of the mutilated, raped and decapitated body of 22 year old Reina on 9th August in San Cristobal, and called for justice and a guarantee of safety for women in the city of San Cristobal. The focus of the protest was not only this hideous crime but also the 50 women who have been murdered in the city of Tapachula (also in the state of Chiapas) this year, and since 1993 the 300 women murdered and 450 who have disappeared in Cuidad Juarez (Chichuahua, in the north of Mexico).

In late August in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, 150 women and men took to the streets with the cry of 'Ni Una Mas!' (Not One More!). The demonstrators carried placards with 'No more impunity', 'Safety for women', 'Justice', and 'Men and women against violence towards women'.

The demonstration followed the discovery of the mutilated, raped and decapitated body of 22 year old Reina on 9th August in San Cristobal, and called for justice and a guarantee of safety for women in the city of San Cristobal. The focus of the protest was not only this hideous crime but also the 50 women who have been murdered in the city of Tapachula (also in the state of Chiapas) this year, and since 1993 the 300 women murdered and 450 who have disappeared in Cuidad Juarez (Chichuahua, in the north of Mexico).

Cuidad Juarez was one of the first locations in Mexico for `maquil ladoras', post-NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) sweatshops which employ large numbers of Mexican women to work long hours under shitty conditions for a pittance for multi-national companies. Cuidad Juarez is conveniently located near the US border where a lot of the goods eventually head for. Many women migrate from other parts of Mexico to work in these factories, often losing their networks of social and family support. They have no choice over hours worked and the factories do not provide any form of safe transportation.

Since 1993 large numbers of women have been raped, disappeared and brutally murdered, but there have been almost no prosecutions and most cases are either closed or still "under investigation". The limited amount of evidence that exists from women who have escaped and been willing to talk has indicated that these deaths are linked to the police, prostitution and pornography, the maquilladoras, bus drivers (one of the few successful prosecutions was of a gang of bus drivers), and drug-trafficking.

The lack of investigation and prosecution means that the authorities are helping to create a situation where the disappearance, rape, torture and murder of women is acceptable.

But women in Cuidad Juarez refuse to continue to live in fear. Victims and families of victims are now campaigning for justice and for the safety of women in the area. The campaign is called Por Nuestras Hijas (For Our Daughters) and their slogan is "Alto a la impunidad - ni una muerta mas!" (Stop the impunity, no more murdered women!). They are currently touring Mexico trying to raise awareness and support and calling for an action on 25th November (the international day against violence towards women).

Tapachula, a city at the opposite end of Mexico on the border with Guatemala, also has several maquilladoras and a large migrant female working population, including many 'illegal' immigrants from Guatemala. In the past year there have been 50 deaths, and many of the victims had been raped and mutilated.

Other examples are all too easy to find: wherever there are maquilladoras, women disappear and are murdered. The Mexican state is doing nothing to protect the women and even less to find those responsible for these atrocities. Particularly worrying is Mexican President Fox's enthusiasm for the Plan Puebla Panama and Free Trade Agreement: if he gets his way Mexico will have a corridor of maquilladoras which will then extend from the north to the south of the country - and hey, all the other lucky countries in Central America will be getting them too.

Reina's death, however, is worrying from a different perspective: she did not work in a maquilladora but was involved with social campaigning and organisation, as was another woman who was murdered in San Cristobal last year. These murders are thought to be linked to paramilitaries who appear to be targeting women involved with campaigning, which ties in with the current increase in paramilitary activity in Chiapas. In a climate where violence against maquilladora women is becoming the norm, the murder of women activists can be easily absorbed and remain unchallenged.

Por Nuestras Hijas wants pressure put on the Mexican government to investigate these crimes and not allow the continuation of these murders and disappearances. It is important that the world knows what is happening in Cuidad Juarez, Tapachula and other cities in Mexico. Violence towards women must not be accepted. For a government to be tolerating this situation is intolerable - or is it just another benefit we get from free trade?

What to do from here? Try these...

Tell people, pass this article on.

Contact groups working to solve the murders in Cuidad Juarez:

Casa Amiga Centro de Crisis (Crisis Center Casa Amiga) Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Contact Ester Chavez, tel 52-16-15-38-50
www.casa-amiga.org, casa...@prodigy.net.mx

Mujeres Por Juarez (Women For Juarez) Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Contact: Vickie Caraveo, tel: 52-16-38-00-93

Contact the campaign group - Por Nuestras Hijas, Calle 5 de Mayo #321, Col P. Romero, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. www.geocities.com/pornuestrashijas/

Show Senorita Extraviada (Missing Young Woman), a brilliant documentary by Lourdes Portillo investigating the brutal murders in Cuidad Juarez. For info on how to get film:
www.lourdesportillo.com/senoritaextraviada/

Write to the Mexican embassy or government or Mr Fox himself - you never know!

Organise a solidarity action on November 25th - International day against violence towards women.