Human Rights along the U.S.-Mexico Border: Gendered Violence and Insecurity / Edition 3

by Kathleen Staudt, Tony Payan, Z. Anthony Kruszewski

Overview

Much political oratory has been devoted to safeguarding America’s boundary with Mexico, but policies that militarize the border and criminalize immigrants have overshadowed the region’s widespread violence against women, the increase in crossing deaths, and the lingering poverty that spurs people to set out on dangerous northward treks. This book addresses those concerns by focusing on gender-based violence, security, and human rights from the perspective of women who live with both violence and poverty.

From the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, scholars from both sides of the 2,000-mile border reflect expertise in disciplines ranging from international relations to criminal justice, conveying a more complex picture of the region than that presented in other studies.

Initial chapters offer an overview of routine sexual assaults on women migrants, the harassment of Central American immigrants at the hands of authorities and residents, corruption and counterfeiting along the border, and near-death experiences of border crossers. Subsequent chapters then connect analysis with solutions in the form of institutional change, social movement activism, policy reform, and the spread of international norms that respect human rights as well as good governance.

These chapters show how all facets of the border situation—globalization, NAFTA, economic inequality, organized crime, political corruption, rampant patriarchy—promote gendered violence and other expressions of hyper-masculinity. They also show that U.S. immigration policy exacerbates the problems of border violence—in marked contrast to the border policies of European countries.

By focusing on women’s everyday experiences in order to understand human security issues, these contributions offer broad-based alternative approaches and solutions that address everyday violence and inattention to public safety, inequalities, poverty, and human rights. And by presenting a social and democratic international feminist framework to address these issues, they offer the opportunity to transform today’s security debate in constructive ways.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780816528721
Publisher:	University of Arizona Press
Publication date:	11/15/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Kathleen Staudt, Tony Payan, and Z. Anthony Kruszewski are respectively professor, associate professor, and professor of political science at the University of Texas–El Paso. Staudt is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, most recently Violence and Activism at the Border: Gender, Fear, and Everyday Life in Ciudad Juárez. Payan is the author of The Three U.S.–Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

1 Violence at the Border: Broadening the Discourse to Include Feminism, Human Security, and Deeper Democracy Kathleen Staudt 1

Part I Framing the Problems: Violence, Security, and Immigration

Introduction to Part I 29

2 Women, Migration, and Sexual Violence: Lessons from Mexico's Borders Olivia T. Ruiz Marrujo 31

3 Human Bights Violations: Central American Immigrants at the Northeastern Mexico Border Alberto Martín Alvarez Ana Fernández Zubieta 48

4 Crime and Violence in the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands: NAFTA's Underground Economy as a Source of In/Security, with Comparisons to the EU Julie A. Murphy Erfani 63

5 In the Footsteps of Spirits: Migrant Women's Testimonios in a Time of Heightened Border Enforcement Anna Ochoa O'Leary 85

Part II Toward Action in Civil Society, Policy, and Transnational Policies

Introduction to Part II 105

6 Violence against Women at the Border: Unpacking Institutions Kathleen Staudt 107

7 Femicide on the Border and New Forms of Protest: The International Caravan for Justice Carol Mueller Michelle Hansen Karen Qualtire 125

8 Transnational Advocacy Networks, International Norms, and Political Change in Mexico: The Murdered Women of Ciudad Juárez' Olga Aikin Araluce 150

9 Human Trafficking and Protections for Undocumented Victims in the United States David A. Shirk Alexandra T. Webber 168

Closing Perspectives

10 Closing Reflections: Bordering Human Rights, Social Democratic Feminism, and Broad-Based Security Kathleen Staudt Tony Payan Timothy J. Dunn 185

References 203

About the Editors 223

About the Contributors 225

Index 227

Editorial Reviews

This book is a fascinating, if horrifying, look at border violence and the many reasons it is flourishing, including the well-intentioned but frequently misguided policies of the United States government. I’m transfixed by its depiction of a topsy-turvy world where the immigrants are the heroes and the officials who pass and try to administer inhumane laws to please their xenophobic constituencies are the villains. This book makes a powerful statement about how insecure our newfound emphasis on homeland security is making all of us.” —Susan Tiano, author of Patriarchy on the Line: Labor, Gender, and Ideology in the Mexican Maquila Industry

From the Publisher