Brainstorm #5 - Zahra McKee

Whereas the investigations and most media coverage of the deaths and disappearances of women in Juárez attacked the women’s morals and participated in victim-blaming, Seniorita Extraviada, according to Rosalinda Fregoso in her piece Toward a Planetary Civil Society, “emphasizes the process of radicalization rather than victimization. The narrative gives voice to women’s agency, to the mothers and sisters who have emerged as protagonists in grassroots movements.“ The activists fighting to end the deaths and families of victims remember and care about the young women, standing in direct opposition with others who might try and make the women seem disposable. The idea of “social death” argued by Lisa Cacho, is present in discussions around the deaths in Juarez. Because the murder victims are female and often dark-skinned, poor, and lower-class, some representations of their deaths try and paint them as of low value and importance. Journalists in the piece  El Silencio que la Voz de Todas Quiebra ask the reader “What makes anyone...think that in Ciudad Juárez one can rape or kill a woman without fear of retribution?” (24). The slander of the women’s reputations by officials in addition to colonial and patriarchal values is exactly what makes the murderers think their actions are okay. As Fregoso states, “shifting the blame toward the victims’ moral character in effect naturalizes violence against women” (5). But the families of victims, as well as activists, work to combat this narrative and raise awareness of the tragedy. For example, the Ni Una Mas organization was created in 2002 by feminist activists from hundreds of organizations (22). Activist art honoring the victims and protest the mis-investigations of their deaths include the pink and black crosses painted all over Juarez and media like Seniorita Extraviada. With these movements, activists and families create a community to mourn and practice resilience.