Abstract
The spaces around international borders can be magnets for violence, given the existence of two or more sovereign countries and law enforcement institutions. This chapter focuses on violence against women, particularly misogynist-driven femicide, intimate partner murder, and domestic violence. This chapter begins with the structural violence of poverty and extreme income inequalities between Mexico and the United States, driving migrants northward and putting immigrant women in legal limbo. It then goes on to analyze domestic violence in Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, drawing from field research and official data. This chapter concludes with recommendations for action, policy change, and enforcement priorities for domestic violence, calling for strong civil society human rights–oriented oversight of fragmented law enforcement institutions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
American Society of News Editors. (2010, December 5–6). Summit on violence against journalists along Mexican border (Staudt in attendance).
Amnesty International. (2003). Intolerable killings: Ten years of abductions and murders of women in Ciudad Juárez. New York: Amnesty International.
Amnesty International. (2008). Women’s struggle for justice and safety: Violence in the family in Mexico. New York: Amnesty International.
Bachratz, P., & Baratz, M. (1970). Power and poverty: Theory and practice. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cornelius, W., & Shirk, D. (co-editors). (2007). Reforming the administration of justice in Mexico. Notre Dame: Notre Dame University Press.
Lipsky, M. (1980). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public services. New York: Russell Sage.
Martínez, O. (1996). Border people. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Monárrez Fragoso, J. E., & Bejarano, C. (2010). The disarticulation of justice: Precarious life and cross-border feminicides in the Paso del Norte region. In K. Staudt, C. M. Fuentes, J. E. Monárrez, et al. (Eds.), Cities and citizenship at the U.S.-Mexico border: The Paso del Norte metropolitan region (pp. 43–70). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Paterson, K. (2010, December 18). International court holds Mexico accountable for Ciudad Juárez Femicides. Frontera News Service.
Ruiz Marrujo, O. (2009). Women, migration, and sexual violence: Lessons from Mexico’s borders. In K. Staudt, T. Payan, Z. A. Kruszewski, et al. (Eds.), Human rights along the U.S.-Mexico border: Gendered violence and insecurity (pp. 31–47). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Scott, J. (1998). Seeing like a state: How certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Staudt, K. (2008a). Bordering the other in the U.S. Southwest: El Pasoans confront the local sheriff on immigration enforcement. In D. Brotherton & P. Kretsedemas (Eds.), Keeping out the other: A critical introduction to immigration enforcement today (pp. 291–313). New York: Columbia University Press.
Staudt, K. (2008b). Violence and activism at the border: Gender, fear, and everyday life in Ciudad Juárez. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Staudt, K. (2009). Violence at the border: Broadening the discourse to include feminism, human security, and deeper democracy. In K. Staudt, T. Payan, & Z. A. Kruszewski (Eds.), Human rights along the U.S.-Mexico border: Gendered violence and insecurity (pp. 1–27). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Staudt, K. (2010). Strengthening law enforcement, democratic, and economic institutions to confront the crisis in Ciudad Juárez. Americas Program, Center for International Programs. http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/3403
Staudt, K., & Montoya, G. (2009). Violence and activism at the U.S.-Mexico border: Women, migration, and obstacles to justice. In J. S. Jaquette (Ed.), Feminist agendas and the challenges of democracy in Latin America (pp. 186–207). Durham: Duke University Press.
Staudt, K., & Robles Ortega, R. (2010). Surviving domestic violence in the Paso del Norte border region. In K. Staudt, C. M. Fuentes, J. E. Monárrez, et al. (Eds.), Cities and citizenship at the U.S.-Mexico border: The Paso del Norte metropolitan region (pp. 71–90). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Staudt, K., Payan, T., Kruszewski, Z. A., et al. (Eds.). (2009). Human rights along the U.S.-Mexico border: Gendered violence and insecurity. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Staudt, K. (2012). Violence Against Women at the Border: Binational Problems and Multilayered Solutions. In: Lusk, M., Staudt, K., Moya, E. (eds) Social Justice in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4150-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4150-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4149-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4150-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)