Article published on March 8, 2022 by Grupo MILENIO, see original article.
More than twenty years ago, Claudia Ivette, Esmeralda, and Laura Berenice were disappeared in Ciudad Juárez. Their mothers searched for them desperately and found them dead months later, along with the bodies of five other young women in a cotton field. They and their mothers were re-victimized, there were serious irregularities in the identification of the bodies, and there was an absolute denial of justice. At the urging of the mothers and their advocates, Mexico was condemned by the Inter-American Court; as a result, protocols have been created, laws have been reformed, gender-sensitive rulings have been issued, and training sessions have been ordered. And yet, reality continues to scream at us. In 2020, teacher Lupita was disappeared and later found in a clandestine grave by a river in Guanajuato, along with dozens of other people, including some teenagers.
Being a woman in Mexico means being part of a vulnerable group subjected to various forms of violence, including domestic, psychological, economic, physical, sexual, as well as public and institutional violence. If, in addition, one is an adolescent girl from a low-income background, the likelihood of becoming a victim of disappearance increases. Today, there are more than 24,400 women reported as missing. The states with the highest rates of women’s disappearance from 2007 to the present are the State of Mexico, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Jalisco, Mexico City, Sonora, Puebla, Veracruz, Coahuila, and Michoacán. The municipalities with the highest disappearance rates are Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey, Puebla, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Toluca, Tijuana, and Ecatepec. Adolescent girls between the ages of 14 and 17 are the most victimized group, representing 65.64% of individuals under 18 who are missing. In Mexico, adolescent girls and young women are being disappeared.
A few months ago, in a contextual report conducted by the National Search Commission and the State Search Commission of the State of Mexico, very relevant information emerged that, in addition to aiding in searches, debunks myths and exposes stigmatization by authorities: girls, adolescents, and adult women are disappeared during the daytime—not at night or while "partying," but during school or work commutes; it is presumed they were alone—not that they "went with a boyfriend"; almost none had disappeared previously—not that "they’ve done it before," which, in the rare case it is true, is a relevant search element and not an excuse. Other important data shows that the majority of those who went missing have, at most, a secondary education (including adults), highlighting multiple discrimination; and in the case of girls and adolescents, there is a technological gap with their families, creating greater vulnerability to becoming victims of trafficking. Furthermore, in a significant percentage of disappearances of girls and women, the perpetrator is known or suspected by name, and is almost always a man.
While it is essential to analyze each specific context, this report indeed corroborates elements observed throughout the country and provides crucial information for shaping public policy actions.
To understand the phenomena of violence and to generate effective prevention policies, it is crucial to analyze not only the universe of the disappeared but also that of those who have been located. Over 73,970 (98%) of women reported as disappeared or unlocated have been found alive, with a significant percentage being between the ages of 15 and 19, often fleeing violent contexts. This clearly serves—or should serve—as a warning of potential future disappearances or feminicides. On the other hand, more than 1,380 (1.84%) have been found deceased.
Every disappearance of a girl or woman must always include, as a line of inquiry, the possibility that it is linked to gender-based violence, such as sexual violence, domestic violence, human trafficking, feminicides, transfeminicides, or any other crime that may have differentiated impacts.
One of the main ways to combat and prevent disappearances is through justice. Justice that, in Mexico, regarding disappearances, is practically nonexistent. One should also ask how many of the girls and women found deceased after being missing were victims of crimes—surely the majority—and how many investigations into feminicides have been opened and succeeded.
Treaties, standards, rulings, and protocols have been established, yet violence against women persists. The missing person and her family—almost always women—continue to be victimized; crucial hours for searching are still wasted; women are often blamed for what has happened, and, with very few exceptions, authorities continue to fail to apply a gender perspective. Furthermore, society, in general, does not respond in unison with indignation. It is no coincidence that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights points out the structural discrimination and violence against women in our country; violence that has become normalized—like many others.
Women, however, continue to fight against violence. It is impossible to write about women and disappearance without acknowledging the work of women in the search for truth and justice. They not only walk, searching for their loved ones among the living and the dead, often in places that should never exist, but they have also faced the justice system—defined by its patriarchy—almost alone. They have built bridges of dialogue with authorities, spoken with perpetrators, crafted public policies, created protocols, laws, commissions, and mechanisms, fought against regressive laws, made impacts at both national and international levels, and built community where reality has sought to destroy it.
Today, March 8, is a good moment to remember and recognize the struggle of these women—a struggle that has cost them peace and security, and in some cases, their lives. A respectful acknowledgment to the fight of Silvia, Edith, Graciela, Josefina, Araceli, Diana, Lenit, Lucy, Rosalía, Myrna, María Isabel, Brenda, Beatriz, Irma, Yolanda, Grace, Neris, Leticia, Yadira, Tita, Sinthya, Nora, Claudia, Lourdes, Virginia, Lorena, María, Victoria, Alejandra, Martha, Carmen, Sandra, Mary, Evelina, Gema, Marcela, Evangelina, Rosa, Guadalupe, Marité, Cecilia, Miyeyes, Laura, Nancy, Maribel, Roxana, Mónica, Esperanza, and thousands of other women who have built and propelled the networks, resistance, laws, and institutional frameworks for searching in this country. A collective struggle of women for justice and truth not only for their loved ones but also for the more than 98,000 people reported as missing. A struggle that should question and call us as a society to think collectively.