Response
Relating seemingly perfectly with an issues discussed last week — masculinity and male domination. Masculine authority and ownership is a huge issues within the factories. Women are perceived as weak and unwilling to stand up for themselves therefore being the ideal worker. They concede to their every wish of their male boss. While the women work for cheaper pay in sitting jobs, a direct contrast to the breadwinner male attitude, the men that are employed stand and as a punishment work among the women. Effective, I suppose, in promoting good behavior but demeaning none-the-less.
These women, and men, need well paying jobs to sustain themselves and their families, yet these jobs are part of the reason women keep disappearing. Unionizing is not an option because factories will simply fire the culprits of unrest and hire the many other willing non-unionizing workers. Contacting the home offices the maquiladora’s seem fruitless as well due to the fact that the Mexican factories are run by management unrelated to the large corporation themselves. Finally, to top it all off, the Maquiladoras could care less about the safety and welfare of their employees, merely whether the production quota is met at the end of each shift. In a very sad way, the situation in Juarez will get seemingly worse before it gets better.
It is quite clear the Juarez authorities have no interest in solving these crimes against women, or any crimes against their city for that matter. Riddled with corruption and reportedly run by the Mexican cartel, it is a miracle that there even is a police force. Until Mexico gets their crime ridden government together and begins to address issues of corruptness on a national level, there will be nothing but more murders in Juarez. It is a shame that so many young women are killed each and everyday and prayed upon simply because of their vulnerability. However, local issues usually take root in a larger scale problem, and until these large-scale problems are fixed, there is no hope at a local level.
Thoughts?
