The Women of Juarez

The women of violent Mexican border city Ciudad Juarez have surfaced in the news after a long spell, this time because of a spate of disappearances of young, pretty women who may have been sold into sex slave rings. Nobody’s really cooperating in their investigations, especially not the police since they’re likely helping shuttle the girls off to their servitude.

How can else can you explain the still-unsolved murders and disappearances of some 4,000 women since 1993 — official figures say 400 but locals say the number is ten times that — and the fact that this crime wave doesn’t seem to be a priority of Mexico or the U.S.? Thousands of poor women, living in Mexico, working for U.S. companies, simply a blip on the radar of governments that don’t appear to give a damn.

Photo by Lina Pallotta