TRAPPED IN LIMBOWOMEN, MIGRATION AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Sonia Herrera Sánchez

1. INTRODUCTION: POVERTY, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONAND WOMENS’ RIGHTS ...........................................................................................

2. BORDERS AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE: A COMPLEX PHENOMENON ..........................

3. GLOBAL SCOURGE, GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ............................................................

4. ACCOUNTABILITY AND REDRESS ...............................................................................

5. FOR REFLECTION ...........................................................................................................

6. INFORMATION CENTRES AND FURTHER RESOURCES ............................................

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...............................................................................................................

8. NOTES ...............................................................................................................................

29

26

23

12

6

30

3

31

Sonia Herrera is the editor of the blog of cristianisme i Justícia. she is a specialist ineducational media, journalism and armed conflicts, film, and feminist studies. she hasdone research on the audiovisual representation of the murders of women in ciudadJuárez. she belongs to a number of organizations and associations working for a cultureof peace and in defense of women’s rights.

crIstIaNIsme I JustícIa edition - roger de llúria 13 - 08010 Barcelona +34 93 317 23 38 - info@fespinal.com - www.cristianismeijusticia.netPrinted by: edicions rondas s.l. - legal deposit: B 25789-2014 IsBN: 978-84-9730-345-3 - IssN: 2014-6566 - IssN (virtual edition): 2014-6574

translated by gerarda Walsh - cover illustration: Ignasi Flores Printed on ecological paper and recycled cardboard - November 2014

Privacy Policy: the Fundació lluís espinal lets it be known that its data are registered in a file under thename BdgacIJ, legal title of the Fundació lluís espinal. these are used only for providing the serviceswe render you and for keeping you in form ed of our activities. you may exercise your rights of access,rectification, cancelation or opposition by writing to the Fundació in Barcelona, c/roger de llúria, 13.

It seems to me that those who dare to rebel inevery age are those who make life possible, it is

the rebels who extend the boundary of right, littleby little..., narrowing the confines of wrong, and

crowding it out of existence.NatalIe BarNey

«It is only by walking that you make a road», thissaying depends on the type of road, whose feet

they are and who the shoes belong to. ÁNgela Botero PulgaríNINmaculada lozaNo caro

As Olvia Alejandra Maisterra explains,the reasons for migration have alsohistorically responded to certain worriesor needs such as the search for a betterquality of life or an escape from poverty,persecution or violence:

There is the curiosity to crossborders, to get to know new places,cultures and people, the desire tocivilise or evangelise, the desire forcolonial expansion, the need tobroaden one’s horizons, to safeguardbeliefs, ways of life and worldviews,there is the need to flee fromviolence, to acquire and exchangeknowledge, goods, services andcommodities, but there is also theneed to survive.1

It is precisely this need to survivewhich is currently the main cause ofglobal migration. Migration trends canbe broadly described in the followingpoints, taking into account that we donot have all the official statistics sincethe year 20052 and that it is more thanlikely that these statistics have sub -stantially increased as a consequence ofthe global economic crisis in recentyears:

– On a global level, the number ofinternational migrants reached 191million in 2005.– Approximately one-third movedfrom one developing country toanother, while another third moved

3

1. INTRODUCTION: POVERTY, INTERNATIONALMIGRATION AND WOMENS’ RIGHTS

migration, whether it is internal (within a country), or international, hasbeen present in history since the beginning of mankind. the reasons for migration are diverse (socio-economic, political, cultural, familial,religious, because of climate change, natural disasters, wars, etc.), andthe differing types of migration are equally diverse: regular/irregular,long or short-term, voluntary or forced, temporary or indefinite,individual or collective…

from a developing country to adeveloped country. In other words,«South to South» migrants arealmost as numerous as «South toNorth» migrants.– In 2005, Europe received 34% ofthe total number of migrants; NorthAmerica received 23%, and Asiareceived 28%. Only 9% were livingin Africa; 3% in Latin America andthe Caribbean, and the other 3% inOceania.–Although one would be inclined tothink that it is predominantly menthat migrate, women migrants thatcross borders (since as early as1960) make up almost half of theglobal total of migrants and out -number male migrants in developedcountries.

Traditional gender roles and ine -qualities,3 as well as the power dynamicsthat arise from this, determine themigratory process and at the same timeare affected and transformed by it. Wecould say that on one side of the coin,the decision to migrate on their ownoffers women a new way of escapingfrom oppressive relation ships, thusimproving their quality of life andoffering an opportunity to transform thebehaviour, role and expectations that aretraditionally assigned to women. It mayallow them to earn their own wage,which in turn gives them greaterautonomy and self-confidence, thusmoving away from the patriarchal ideaof the man as head of the family and soleprovider. However, on the other side ofthe coin, through migration, womenencounter a whole host of vulnerabilities

and risks (harassment, assault, verbalabuse, threats, extortion, inadequatesettlement camps, illness, long workinghours, job insecurity, irregular legalstatus, death, etc.) resulting from theisolation, discrimination and exclusionthat often accompanies migration, andwhich often leads them to suffer thesame social inequalities associated withtheir gender which they were alreadysuffering in their place of origin.

Taking into account the fact that wehave previously noted that womenmake up almost 50% of the interna -tional migrant population, in thisbooklet we would like to highlight, froma woman’s point of view, a reality whichis often hidden or only treated in passingby traditional media sources: that is thereality lived (and suffered) by thousandsof migrant women on the move whobegin their journey searching for betterliving conditions and yet often findthemselves caught up in a web of chau -vinistic violence4 (economic, symbolic,psychological, institutional, physical,etc.), so that just by the mere fact ofbeing women they experience a con -tinuous violation of their basic humanrights5, and this often manifests itself inone of the most cruel ways: sexualviolence.

As a woman, it is difficult to tacklethis issue without looking at it throughthe filter of empathy and identifyingoneself with the victim. How can weturn a blind eye to the suffering of thosewho because of their origin or socialclass find themselves forced to undertakea long journey with an uncertain end,which so often leaves them in limbo,unable to return or to move forward?

4

Furthermore, how can we not feel hurt orangry when faced with the indifferenceof a patriarchal or chauvinist societywhich continues to look for excuses forviolence against women? And why dowe not speak out when in every countryin the world (to a lesser or greaterextent), women continue to suffer theconsequences of historical discriminationand we continue to see on a daily basis

how our bodies are invaded, judged,objectified and sold? This should not beallowed to continue. This is why thisbooklet is the result of an internal desireto revolt against this reality, as well asresulting from an unswerving commit -ment against chauvinist violence in allits forms, in order to draw attention tothese shocking injustices and promotechange.

5

Sexual violence is a complex phenome -non, polymorphic in nature (in that ittouches on the physical, the psycho -logical, the social and the institutional),and very difficult to document becauseof the lack of migration statisticsrelating to gender in some parts of theworld, and also due to the absence ofreliable statistics and reports on sexualattacks in particular.

As a concept, we can define sexualassaults suffered by women migrants asany act or attack, whether physical(rape, for example) or symbolic (threatsor verbal attacks, vulgar comments,harassment, etc.), which is directed

towards the sexuality, identity and bodyof the female migrant and which isinterpreted and received as such.

In short, and as affirmed by theConvention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action among other internationalprojects, the actions which definesexual violence can be considered asexamples of the power imbalance thatexists in relation to women, whichcontinues to happen in society andwhich continues to subordinate womenin relation to men solely because of theirgender.

6

2. BORDERS AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE: A COMPLEXPHENOMENON

If risk and vulnerability characterise migratory movements in general–paticularly in cases of undocumented migrants–, the situation isseverely exacerbated in the case of women given that the attacks andthe abuse they suffer is often of a sexual nature, attacking theirphysical, psychological and emotional integrity.

2.1. Vulnerable bodies: patriarchy,capitalism and the objectificationof the female bodyViolence is a cruel way of dominatingthe other person and objectifying them:«Targeted violence against womencovers a broad spectrum, ranging fromthe extreme conditions of war to thedaily reality of the domestic sphere»6.

This objectification of women is nomore than a denial of their equality andequivalent to an attitude of «ownershiptowards the body and sexuality of thewoman»7, regarding her as a possessionthat is subject to the will of the attackerto do with as he wishes. Based on thispremise, it is logical to conclude thatsexual violence is carried out withgreater impunity in the context of borderregions (which we will be looking atlater), where an objectified under stand -ing of women is widespread and lacksany social censure. Objectifying womenturns women into a commodity, and assuch, one that is vulnerable to rape (andeven death).8

In this way, the capitalist notion ofprivate property and patriarchal ideolo -gy are perversely joined together toconstantly validate the subordinationand domination of women throughcontrol and forced non-consensual useof their bodies, which is accentuated inthe case of sexual violence againstmigrant women in border regions or inareas that are migratory movementzones.9

We need to reflect on this question:why is exposure to sexual violence ordeath resulting from it the main pricethat womn have to pay in order toparticipate in this so-called intercultural

celebration of globalisation? It looksinstead like a global game of chessplayed by the kings of capitalism,colonialism and patriarchy, where thepawns or the female figures that leavetheir starting squares are lost, de -voured on their journey or slaughtered.Nevertheless, feminism and criticalthought must also realise that thesepieces can be crowned as Queens ifthey get as far as the eighth square.10

Sometimes, moreover, rape is used asa means of humiliating and terrorisingother women, as well as the men thataccompany them, given that in manycultures and societies sexual attacks areviewed as attacks against male honouror even against the entire community towhich the victim belongs. In this way,as Olivia Ruiz states, «to rape a migrantwoman in front of her husband, brother,son or whoever is with her, degrades thewoman in the eyes of the man (or men)who are accompanying her».

Another aspect of the objectificationand commodification of the femalebody during the course of the migratoryjourney is linked to the use of sex as asurvival strategy. Some migrant womenuse their body in exchange for money or in exchange for a ticket to theirdestination, and offer sexual favours inexchange for protection, food, help or inorder to avoid police checkpoints,attacks or gang rapes, among otherobstacles.

Be this as it may, the most basic rightsof citizenship pertaining to migrantwomen are violated at every stage of themigratory process. At the outset of thejourney, during the journey and often atthe final destination point, women lose

7

their right to «physical integrity, to adignified form of work and a life freefrom violence». But going beyond thesocio-economic context, what specifi -cally defines the sexual abuse sufferedby migrant women? Let us consider twoessential characteristics:

– In the first place, sexual violencein itself is an intrinsic element offemale migration, which systemati -cally occurs in many border regionsaround the world. Yet despite itsgravity, it has come to be regarded asan «inevitable» part of the journey.– Secondly, from this notion of the«inevitability» of violence comes theconcept of «learned helplessness»,which Bridget Wooding describes as «a feeling of resignation amongfemale victims of violence who seethemselves as being already “beaten”and end up viewing these attacks asa punishment and an unavoidabledestiny».

2.2. Risk and vulnerability: humantraffickers known as the coyotesand polleros, the military and drugs

During the journey, women who decideto migrate are exposed to specific risksand obstacles linked to the fact that theyare female, which puts them in aparticularly fragile position, and as wehave previously mentioned, they becomevictims of abuse, theft, rape and sexualexploitation, among other forms ofviolence. This violence can be perpe -trated by a wide variety of attackers,whose actions and behaviour have beenformed against a broader chauvinistic

backdrop of violence against women:coyotes or polleros (a name that is givento people that are hired by migrants andused as undercover guides to help themcross the border, mainly between Mexicoand the USA), corrupt members of thepolice force, immigration authorities,members of the military, gang members,common criminals, drug traffickers andeven other migrants.

Writing on the violent acts carriedout by the authorities, the Mexicanjournalist Sara Lovera stated that«nobody is taking the migrants’ parts.They are suffering so many violationsof their basic human rights, andextortion is one of the worst crimes: inorder to allow them to cross throughMexico, the payment demanded by theauthorities is sex».

This is how Olivia Ruiz explains thesituation in her article «Sexual violence:the case of Central American migrantson the southern border»:

They face robbery and assaults fromcriminals, extortion and bribery byofficials as well as the multitude ofdiverse dangers that go with gettingtransported on top of heavily ladentrucks or freight trains, or crossingdeserts, rivers, forests or mountainson foot.

There are in fact many authors suchas Amy Friedman who maintain thatcrossing the border between countriesbecomes a high risk and vulnerablesituation for migrant women who mustovercome several dangers in thissingular context, even when they aresupposedly under the protection of theauthorities or under the wing of a

8

smuggler or coyote, who is supposed tobe helping them cross the border (if thelatter does not flee with their money andabandon them to their fate). The situationbecomes particularly precarious whenthese women are trafficked through byhuman trafficking networks and thenbecome subject to sexual violence andmistreatment by the very men who weresupposed to be assuring their safepassage.

Approximately 6 out of every 10migrant women suffer some form ofsexual attack during their journey;attacks that are often carried out as adisplay of power, and as an instrumentof repression and oppression used bymen against women. As well as genderinequality, the context of vulnerabiity inwhich sexual violence takes place inthese border areas is also closely linkedto the violence that is commonlysuffered by undocumented immigrants,to their helplessness that is due to theirlack of financial resources and absenceof social power, to the loss of their basicrights, and on many occasions, to theirethnicity, and to cultural and historicalfactors linked to their place of origin andto the background of each woman.

2.3. Sexual violence, HIV andreproductive health

In addition to the emotional andpsychological consequences of sexualviolence, (limitation of one’s emotionalcapacity, apathy, insomnia, hypervigi -lence, irritability, etc.), rape also directlyaffects the sexual and reproductivehealth of migrant women.

Firstly, and in spite of the fact thatthe relationship between internationalmigation and HIV/STIs has not beenstudied in great depth yet, we know thatthe movement of people and the vul -nerability of migrants plays a decisiverole in the spreading of sexually trans -mitted diseases like AIDS, particularlyin international border regions which, aswe have seen, are particularly hostileplaces for women migrants.

We should add that: «Migrants aresometimes stigmatised as diseasecarriers and it is important to make thepoint that migration does not in itselfcause HIV infection, rather it dependson how migration happens and underwhat conditions.» (Overview Report onGender and Migration by BRIDGE andthe Institute of Development Studies(IDS) of the UK).

It is also essential to take intoaccount that the globalisation of povertyand the gradual increase in numbers ofpeople migrating are linked to thedismantling of local rural economiesbased in the agricultural sector, due tovarious factors such as natural disasters,armed conflicts or structural poverty. It is under these conditions alone thatthe relationship between poverty andmigration has resulted in situations witha high level of violence in which sexualattacks, in addition to trafficking,prostitution and other activities relatingto gender discrimination, promote thespread of HIV among people whoserisky lifestyles –in the words of JudithButler–, are presented as being notworth worrying about.

Sexual violence, therefore, increasesthe risk of contracting diseases like HIV

9

given that women are placed in asituation where they are no longer incharge of their sexual and reproductivehealth, and are regularly forced intorisky situations with no opportunity tonegotiate the terms of their sexualrelationships and no choice in the use ofcondoms.

The lack of access to social andhealth services, to prevention program -mes, counselling and protection fromsexual violence, brings another aspectof vulnerability to migrant women whodue to this «learned helplessness» wespoke about earlier, assume that theywill inevitably be raped during theirjourney or that they will have to usetheir bodies as as a passport with whichthey can reach their destination. Facedwith this attitude, and in order to avoidfalling pregnant as a result of rape, morewomen are deciding before they evenbegin their journey, to inject themselveswith powerful contraceptive drugs suchas Depo-Provera (also popularly knownin Central America as the «anti-Mexicoinjection»), which remains effective forup to 3 months and has a success rate of97%.

In the article by Carlos Salinas «Thepath of those who will be raped»published in the El País newspaper inNovember 2011, he describes thenormality with which Depo-Provera isnow used:

For Central American women, it iseasy to access contraceptive drugssuch as Depo-Provera, because thishas been used for decades by healthauthorities as a family planningmethod. In Nicaragua, clinics such asProfamilia deliver 15,000 injections

per year to 4000 women, 80% of thesebased in rural areas. Its use has spreadthroughout Latin America and it isrecognised by the US Food and DrugAdministration, (FDA) […]. However,some NGOs in Latin America affirmthat this is a dangerous drug, due topossible damage it can cause to bonesas well as hormonal problems, andthat it has been introduced in theregion by rich countries as a methodof mass sterilisation, in order to avoidpopulation growth in poor countries.

In spite of everything that has beendiscussed up to now in this booklet, andaccording to what Alejandrina GarcíaRojas has stated, who is in charge of theProgram for HIV and Women as part ofthe organisation Integral Health forWomen (Sipam), migrant women arestill willing to continue their journey,which could last weeks or even years, insearch of a better life.

2.4. Migrant women andinstitutional abuseFor migrant women, security and justiceare not guaranteed. This lack ofguarantees has brought about a newform of institutional abuse which leavesmigrant women defenceless as theyundertake the long journey from Asia,Latin America or Africa, in search of abetter quality of life for themselves and/or their families in so-called first worldcountries, which often ignore them ortreat them as invisible people, lookingthe other way.

As for the institutional response andthe attention that migrant women whoare victims of sexual violence receive,

10

this usually becomes yet another formof mistreatment, which results in a hugelack of trust on their part towards theability of the authorities (social, health,political, and legal services…) toprotect them or to resolve the situation.This lack of trust in turn results in alower rate of reporting crimes and thuscauses this type of violence to remaininvisible.

Several studies have put the notionof institutional violence on the table,since when women do notify authoritiesof acts of violence against them, theyoften feel as if they are being violatedall over again. This is because they aremet with attitudes of indifference,discrimination and inactivity on the partof the authorities that should, in theory,bear the responsibility of preventing or

intervening in cases of any type ofviolence against women.

In practice, the legal systems ofmany countries where these attacks arecarried out do not offer guarantees towomen regarding the defence of theirrights, or the preservation of theirfreedom of movement or physical andpsychological integrity. This is why ontoo many occasions, the system itselfdoes not encourage the reporting ofsuch crimes and nor does it facilitate thearrest or punishment of the attackers.

The efforts launched so far by non-governmental organisations and civilbodies attempting to improve the violentsituations encountered along these mi -gration routes and to assist and guide themigrant women who see their rightsviolated, continue to remain insufficient.

11

As the list of the most dangerous bordercrossings of the planet put together in2011 by the Foreign Policy magazinedemonstrates, conflicts and violence donot just happen within countries, and onmany occasions take place on thecountry’s borders.

3.1. The Dominican-Haitian border

As we have already seen, borders areplaces with a tangled mix of charactersand groups, and where different forms

of violence and discrimination againstmigrant women take place. On theborder between the Dominican Republicand Haiti in particular, migrant womenand those displaced by the earthquakeof January 2010 and more recently, bythe post-electoral violence unleashed in April 2011, move between a swarmof officials, police, customs officials,pimps, con artists, racketeers, potentialemployers, traffickers, etc., and findthemselves exposed and subjected tovarious types of violence, whether that

12

3. GLOBAL SCOURGE, GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

«the place of origin, the migration route and the destination are allframed by the social construction of gender, in such a way that theexperiences of women are very different than those of men, for boththose who leave and those who are left behind. specific issues such assexual violence, the control over their sexuality and the limitation of theirhuman rights are shared by migrant women, in spite of their differentorigins, social status and personal expectations.as with any social phenomenon, migration has many different aspectsand offers us stories that are marked by human determination toovercome obstacles. there are numerous traces of these silent travelerswho are redefining rights, linking people and cultures, overcominguncertainties, and passing on knowledge.»11

be violence related to their gender, totheir status as migrants, or to their socialand ethnic class.

Haiti is a failed State marked byextreme povery and institutionalviolence. Haitian women that abandontheir country and try to cross the bordermainly find work in the following areas:as sellers in the Comendador market (in the province of Elías Piña, on theDominican side); as domestic workersin houses; or in prostitution, both in thecity of Comendador and in Belladère(on the Haitian side).

These are the major hotspots of theborder between the two countries andthis is also the area with the highest and most normalised levels of maleviolence in all its forms (physical,sexual, economic, institutional, verbal,psychological…). The border area alsobrings with it high risks of illegal humantrafficking, as well as trafficking withthe aim of sexual exploitation.

More specifically, the Comendadormarket is an important work andbusiness space for many Haitianwomen, who find themselves exposedto corruption and to the «bribery» of theauthorities that extort money from themand have been known to threaten themwith deportation if they do not agree tohave sexual relations with them.

While sexual violence againstHaitian women refugees in the tentcities –in the camps of Port-au-Princeand its surrounds–, has received muchmedia attention in recent years due tothe increase in studies and investiga -tions related to violence against womenin Haitian camps, the same level ordepth of attention has not been afforded

to the complex border situation (whichis far removed from capital cities andcentres of power) and its consequenceson the life of migrant women.

Adding yet more risk to the situa -tion, the investigator Bridget Woodingexplains that «the outbreaks of cholera(2010–2011) led authorities to close theborder on several occasions and toseparate the Haitian sellers from theDominican ones in a provisional marketin El Carrizal, all of this in the name ofpublic health. This action caused thenumber of women crossing the borderthrough unofficial points to rise, wherethey found themselves exposed torobbery, sexual violence and in extremecases, homicide»12.

In spite of everything, the percentageof reported cases of violence againstHaitian women in border regions con -tinues to remain very low for differentreasons:

– In the first place, ignorance of theirrights. – Secondly, poorly operating andinadequate care services on bothsides of the border.– Lastly, the high cost of theseservices and resources on the Haitianborder.

3.2. Sub-Saharan Africa-Morocco-EuropeMorocco is also a transit country formany migrants and asylum seekers whoare coming from sub-Saharan Africaand trying to reach Europe, althoughthey often find themselves having toremain trapped indefinitely in Morocco

13

without being able to make progress ontheir migratory path and without beingable to return to their country of origin.

Many of these people are fleeingfrom extreme poverty or bloody armedconflicts, and living conditions inRabat, Casablanca or Oujda (the borderwith Algeria), are extremely difficult.This is discussed in the 2010 report onsexual violence in the region by theorganiza tion Doctors Without Borders(MSF):

The great majority of womeninterviewed by MSF (70% of cases)explained that they had fled theircountries of origin due to armedconflict, political persecution andother types of violence or abuse, suchas forced marriages, domestic vio -lence and abuse in the home. In therest of their testimonies, particularlyin the case of women coming fromNigeria, the reasons given wereeconomic ones, such as poverty.

In the same year, MSF attended tosome 145 victims of sexual violence.According to the organisation, betweenMay 2009 and January 2010, «one outof every three women attended to byMSF in Rabat and Casablanca admittedto having suffered single or multipleepisodes of sexual violence, whether in their home country, during themigratory process and/or once they hadreached Moroccan territory. This figurecould be even higher, given that somewomen refuse to talk or do not realisewhat their own testimony gives evi -dence for. The use of sexual violence thusbecomes one of the most commonviolent practices against women in thecontext of migration».

The border journey between Algeriaand Morocco (travelling from theAlgerian city of Maghnia to the city ofOujda, in Morocco) demonstrates theextreme danger of the crossing and theparticular vulnerability of the womenwho make it. As the aforementionedreport by the MSF points out, thejourney towards Maghnia (an areawhere migrant groups wishing to enterMorocco are concentrated) is usuallymade under harsh physical conditions:

In general they are travelling forseveral days huddled in the back ofpick-ups that cross the desert, withoutstopping to sleep or eat and withhardly any water. In some places,they are forced to walk to avoidcheckpoints. According to severaltestimonies, there are cases of men,women and children who die en routebecause of the conditions of thejourney or due to violence. Womenalso run a higher risk of falling victimto sexual violence.According to statistics compiled byMSF, 59% of the 63 women inter -viewed who passed through Maghniaon their way to Oujda suffered sexualviolence. This figure could be evengreater if you take into account thetotal number of migrants that passthrough this point, given that this isthe most commonly used route bymigrants –the trafficking networksdrive migrants through this route–and the main players that operate inthis area between the two borderposts are particularly violent.

As noted earlier in this section,many migrants and asylum seekers findthemselves «stranded» in Morocco,

14

abandoned to their fate and unable toresume their journey to nowhere. Thissituation of limbo and irregularityprevents women who have sufferedattacks from reporting them out of fearand due to a lack of trust of the authori -ties, reinforcing once again the impunityprotecting their attackers. Some of thesewomen also find them selves under thecontrol of traffickers or traffickingnetworks and suffer daily attacks andsexual exploitation.

There is no better testimony thanthat of the migrants themselves, some ofwhich are gathered in the followingextract from the collection «Diez barcasvaradas en la playa. Diez relatos sobrela migración africana subsahariana» 13,compiled by the Service AccueilMigrantes in Casablanca in 2010:

In two weeks I arrived in Maghnia,on the border between Algeria andMorocco, and I had to wait another 3months there. On the outskirts ofMaghnia there was a large migrantcamp: it was a huge place at that time(November 2004). It was not a goodplace to be. I regretted leaving Gao:this was even worse! We were in hell!Many people died at that camp inMaghnia. Men were the only oneswho were allowed to go out lookingfor food and water. Women had towait inside, under lock and key.

We slept and we ate, that was all. […]As a woman, I have to say that thiswas a difficult time for me. I learnedhow to pretend I was sick in order tokeep myself away from the men. Mypregnancy was not enough to protectme. Some girls were beaten andwounded with knives when they tried

to avoid having sex with the men inthe camp. I used to hide and... well, Ihave to admit that I did not go for ashower too often, if you know what Imean?

It was not the first time that I foundmyself in this type of situation as Iwas already used to this, but Maghniawas different. […] There was no wayout: it was a prison for migrants onthe Moroccan border.

[…] At the start of 2005 I was readyto overcome the last obstacle that wasblocking my entrance into Europe.But there was something that didn’tfit: after this long journey towardsEurope, I realised that the people whowere paying for me wanted me to gointo prostitution, but this was notwhat I had in mind. I made up mymind: once I reached Europe I wouldescape once more and choose my ownlife. I had already tried prostitutionand it was not an option for me. Thepeople in Europe organised the laststage of my journey: I was to go toTangiers, live in the wild with mybaby and from there, catch the boat toSpain.

[…] Mali was the first long stop: thecity of Gao. Three months of wastedtime. There were many girls fromdifferent countries. We were in asmall house, waiting. They told methey were going to Europe like me. Iwas surprised to meet so many girlswho were travelling to Europe to goto school. I can still remember the waythey began to laugh at me when Iasked them what kind of studies theywould like to do in Europe. It wasthen that I understood that prostitution

15

would be my future. Depressing, verydepressing.

I called my «contact lady» in Europeand asked her what was going on. Thenshe told me I would get the educationpromised me, but that I would haveto work for it. She told me that if Ididn’t want to carry on the journey I could go home and that is what Idecided to do immediately.

But that was when all my problemsstarted: she did not send me any moremoney and all my papers were takenoff me, so I could not move freely, Icould not return home. I was alone,stranded in Gao.

I didn’t even have the address of myfamily and I also knew well that Icouldn’t ask them for help, becausethey too had no money.

3.3. Central America-Mexico-U.S.A.

3,185 kilometres long. This is the lengthof the border that separates the UnitedStates and Mexico. A border that inrecent decades has become one of themost troubled and dangerous areas inLatin America.

In spite of this, the northern borderof Mexico receives a high number ofmigrants, mostly Central Americansand people from other Mexican Stateswho are trying to secretly travel into theUnited States looking for an opportunityto improve their quality of life and thatof their families. When they fail, manyof them are forced to remain at theborder and look for work in Mexicancities like Tijuana, Juárez, Matamorosor Nuevo Laredo in order to survive or

in order to get enough money tocontinue their journey at a later stage,(80% of Mexican factories are found inthe border area). In many of these cities,there are «tolerance zones» in whichviolence, capitalism, (exacerbated by thefactory industry), prostitution and drugtrafficking14 are the order of the day.

Since 2006, the violence has beenconcentrated on the Mexican side of theborder, as a consequence of the so called«war on drugs» undertaken by the ex-President Felipe Calderón who mili -tarised the country by deploying some25,000 army troops and federal policethroughout the territory. The increase inviolence was immediate and 7 yearslater, the statistics are harrowing.

According to the organisationMexico United Against Crime, between2007 and 2011 80,745 people died inthis conflict (47,453 according togovernment figures).

Although at first the violence wasconcentrated in the northern states, ithas progressively spread across therest of the country and it is todayconsidered by the UN as being one ofthe five countries with the highestlevel of organised crime in the world.15

In the particular case of the northernborder, this is characterised by its triplefunction: as that of a social border thatseparates two very different levels ofeconomic life;16 as a cultural borderseparating the Anglo Saxon and theLatin American world; and as a naturalfrontier since the Bravo River (or RíoGrande as the Americans call it), acrosswhich thousands of migrants try to crosseach year, covers a large part of the

16

border between both countries, approxi -mately from El Paso (Texas) to themouth of the Gulf of Mexico in the Stateof Tamaulipas.

However, if we take this context intoaccount, why then is there such a highnumber of migrants crossing this border?While it is true that globalisation hascontributed to the rise in the number of migrants in general, in the case ofmigration from the southern States of Mexico and from Central and SouthAmerica towards the «American dream»,many other factors come into play suchas political, historic, economic andcultural ones, for example, the post-warcontext of countries such as Nicaragua,Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduraswhich have serious structural issuessince the eighties and nineties.

Without support networks and facedwith a total lack of information on theirrights, the migrants coming fromCentral America that travel throughMexico on their way to the UnitedStates suffer countless humiliations, ashas been reported on several occasionsby various human rights organisationslike Amnesty International and othermedia outlets that have tried to drawattention to this situation.

Within this context, groups thatwould typically find themselves op -pressed are placed in a situation of evengreater vulnerability in relation to theviolation of their human rights, as in thecase of women migrants who abandontheir communities in these countries inorder to go in search of a better life:

In the past, people migrated to find abetter quality of life. Today peoplemigrate never to return again, and

crossing the border becomes a life ordeath decision. On the border, noman’s land, the right to life is worthalmost nothing, becoming insteadlike a great void where people searchfor the «American dream», sometimesdying in their search and leaving thehopes of a better life for thousands ofpeople in the desert or in the river.17

As the words of a popular song byJosé Alfredo Jiménez say, in some partsof the world «life is worth nothing».This phrase certainly describes thejourney undertaken every day byhundreds of Central American immi -grants in order to cross Mexico, ridingwhat is known as La Bestia, a freighttrain which crosses the entire countryfrom south to north (a journey of some5,000 km) and in which many migrantstravel, in spite of the dangers involved.

The undocumented migrants, havingpaid around 1200 dollas to the Mafia(about 880 Euro), get on the train whileit is moving and travel either on the roofor between the wagons of the train,facing threats and attacks from differentcriminal elements during their journeysuch as Los Zetas18, a criminal syndicatethat split from the Gulf Cartel in 2010.The priest Alejandro Solalinde, whosome years ago founded the hostelHermanos del Camino de Ixtepec, awelcome centre for travellers offeringcomprehensive care and support tothose who have chosen this route toreach the United States, has drawnattention to this on numerous occasions:

The migrant is a commodity subjectedto extortion, robbery and kidnappings19

on their journey. Now a new practicehas emerged: demand one hundred

17

dollars for every leg of the journey inthe train, and if they don’t have it,shoot them. Some are killed, othersare lucky enough to jump off and areonly injured, while others aremutilated […] These are people whohave been forced out of their homesand their countries because there isno work for them and no quality oflife. We are trying to warn them thatwhat there is in the north (of Mexico)is worse. We tell them about thekidnappings, we explain to them thatthey are putting their lives in danger,but they say to us that, rather than diein their place of origin, they wouldprefer to die trying to reach the north.And they continue travelling andlooking for new ways to get there.20

Father Solalinde has been assaultedand arrested on many occasions for high -lighting criminal organisations and fordenouncing the indifference and com -plicity of the government and authori ties.He also works towards obtaining fairerlaws that would protect migrants ontheir journey through Mexico and allowthem to travel along safer routes. For themoment however, none of the initiativeshave become a reality.

We should point out that the majorityof Central Americans who try to crossinto the United States are women.According to the National Bureau forMigration in Guatemala, womenrepresent 57% of Guatemalan migrantsand make up 54% of migrants from ElSalvador and Honduras. In this contextof injustices and wrongs, it is thewomen who endure the worst: it isestimated that between 6 and 8 out ofevery 10 Central American women are

raped on their way through Mexico.Others, as we previously pointed out,find themselves obliged to offer sexualfavours in return for protection or inorder to cross borders and checkpoints.

Unfortunately, gender-based suf -fering, discrimination and violence donot cease on reaching the northernborder.

3.4. Displaced women in otherparts of the worldAnother form of migration is forceddisplacement within a country (as in thecase of Colombia), or out of a country(as is happening in Somalia, for exam -ple). In these circumstances, migrantsdo not have a concrete migratory plan,but instead find themselves forced toabandon their places of origin againsttheir will, fleeing war, food crises ornatural disasters among other examples.

On the subject of the forced displace -ment of women due to armed conflicts,paragraph 136 of the Beijing Platform forAction (UN 1995) notes the following:

Women and cildren constitute some80 per cent of the world’s millions ofrefugees and other displaced persons,including internally displaced persons.They are threatened by deprivation ofproperty, goods and services anddeprivation of their right to return totheir homes of origin, as well as byviolence and insecurity. Particularattention should be paid to sexualviolence against uprooted womenand girls employed as a method ofpersecution in systematic campaignsof terror and intimidation and forcingmembers of a particular ethnic, cul -

18

tural or religious group to flee theirhome. Women may also be forced toflee as a result of a well-founded fearof persecution for reasons enumeratedin the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967Protocol, including persecutionthrough sexual violence or othergender-related persecution, and theycontinue to be vulnerable to violenceand exploitation while in flight, incountries of asylum and resettlmentand during and after repatriation.Women often experience difficulty insome countries of asylum in beingrecognised as refugees when theclaim is based on such persecution.

The Beijing Platform for Actionurges countries to intervene in order toreduce the number of human rightsviolations against women in situationsof conflict and more specifically to«provide protection, assistance andtraining to refugee women, to otherdisplaced women in need of internationalprotection and internally displacedwomen».

Just as with «voluntary» migratorymovements, the vulnerability of womenfollowing displacement due to conflict,natural disasters, drought, etc. isparticularly high, especially on the wayto refugee camps. Most of these womenleave their country of origin with fewbelongings or resources, often withchildren in their care and with littleinformation on how to get to a safeplace.

For this reason, displaced womenare particularly vulnerable to sexualviolence on their journey, and even inthe refugee camps –which are supposed

to be safe–, as much as from the militaryand armed forces as from other menwho take advantage of their circum -stances. These women not only have todeal with the threats and abuse theysuffer personally, but also have to takecare of the wellbeing and physicalsecurity of their families.

Approximately half of all displacedpeople are adult women and childrenwho face the harsh conditions of longdays on the road on their journey intoexile, often encountering harassmentand sexual violence, having lost theshelter of their homes, the protection oftheir family units and the support oftheir governments who subject them tocomplete indifference.

In recent years however, the UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) has launched a series ofprograms aimed at guaranteeing accessfor women to legal protection and moreimportantly, to emergency humanitarianaid as they try to put their lives together,although these measures have not beenenough to alleviate the generalisedabuse of women.

The following are some examples ofcurrent situations of displacement wherewomen have found themselves facingextreme violence, of which they areboth the main victims and the mainsurvivors.

3.4.1. Somalia-KenyaAfter more than 20 years of armedconflict and in a country where 43% of the 9.8 million inhabitants live inextreme poverty, Somalian women arethe perfect example of the macabre

19

alliance between capitalism andpatriarchy in the world, and of theapathy of the international communitytowards their suffering. In Somalia,women systematically suffer a wholeseries of injustices, shortages andviolence on a daily basis among whichare (to name but a few) famine, extremepoverty, sexual attacks, genital muti -lation (particularly infibulation21),forced marriages and no health system,which has a substantial effect on theirsexual and reproductive health, (inSomalia a pregnant woman has a 50%chance of dying during childbirth).

The displacement from Somalia toreach Dadaab, the largest refugee campin the world on the Kenyan side of theborder, is long and dangerous. Duringthe journey, women and children arevictims of rape committed by armedmen, usually members of the militaryand robbers, and once they arrive inDadaab, their prospects of reaching asafe haven are often overshadowed bynew obstacles, such as the constantthreat of sexual violence.

This was highlighted in August 2013by Donatella Rovera, Amnesty Interna -tional’s Senior Crisis Response Advisor:

Women and children, already forced toflee their homes due to armed conflictsand droughts, now face the additionaltrauma of living under the threat ofsexual attack. […] Many of the womenwe have spoken to live in sheltersmade out of rags and plastic, whichoffer no safety at all. In the context ofthe current disarray within the country,and due to the lack of safety in thesecamps, it is not surprising that suchterrible abuse goes on.

According to data from the UnitedNations, in 2012 there were 1700 casesof rape in settlements for internallydisplaced people in Somalia, and at least70% of these were carried out by armedmen wearing government uniforms.Almost a third of the survivors wereunder 18 years of age.

Most victims of sexual violenceexplained that they had not reported theattack to the authorities because theywere afraid of the stigma that went withit, and also because they did not believethat the police authorities had the abilityor the willingness to find out what hadhappened, given that criminal pro -ceedings and sentences for rape andother forms of sexual violence are rarein Somalia. On this subject, Roveraaffirms that:

The inability and unwillingness of theSomalian authorities to investi gatethese crimes and make those respon -sible face justice makes the survivorsof sexual violence even more isolatedand contributes to creating a climateof impunity in which the attackersknow that they do not have to pay fortheir crimes. […] They need to takespecific measures in order toguarantee justice for the victims andconvey a strong and unequivocalmessage that sexual violence cannotand will not be tolerated.

3.4.2. ColombiaInternal displacement in Colombia dueto the pressure created by the armedconflict which is developing in the Eastand North-East of the country since the sixties between the Colombiangovernment, the guerrilla groups and

20

paramilitaries, has left this regionpractically uninhabited.

In 2009, Oxfam ratified in one of itsreports that «sexual violence is one ofthe main causes of forced displacementin Colombia» and asserted that, as inmany other parts of the world, impunitycoupled with the indifference of theauthorities mean that cases of sexualviolence are not investigated, prosecutedor punished, and that there is no redresssystem. Against this backdrop, migrantsdo not report such crimes and justicenever comes…

In the case of Colombia, there arecredible reports from national andinternational research on attacksperpetrated against the sexual andreproductive rights of women byvarious armed groups involved in theconflict. These include a wide rangeof crimes: sexual abuse and rapes,forced contraception and sterilisation,forced prostitution, sexual slavery aswell as other forms of sexual violenceand even death.22

Moreover, given that sexual violenceis one of the primary causes of internaldisplacement in Colombia, the UNCommittee for the Elimination ofDiscrimination Against Women notedon 23rd October 2013 that womenshould be included in the negotiationsfor peace that the Colombian govern -ment has begun with FARC sinceNovember 2012.

3.4.3. Somalia and Colombia are notisolated cases In other areas of the world such asSoutheast Asia, the Democratic Republic

of Congo, Chad or Sudan, thousands ofwomen fall victim to sexual violenceeach year.

For example, the Congolese womenand children who are deported fromAngola are often sexually assaulted bythe Angolan and Congolese securityforces along the border between thecountries, where sexual violence hasbecome a pandemic.

Similarly, armed rebel groupssystematically attack hundreds ofthousands of refugees in Darfur. Thepeace treaties made with the leaders ofsome armed groups and the joining offorces to monitor the border have notimproved the situation. According toreports from the Women’s RefugeeCommission, in the majority of refugeecamps visited in 2005 in Chad andSudan, there were reported cases ofphysical attacks and rapes of womencarried out by members of theJanjaweed militia. As a result of theseattacks, many women became pregnantbut did not report the crimes out of fearand because of the social stigma thatstill accompanies victims of sexualviolence in many societies.

In many Asian countries like Thai -land and Myanmar (Burma) many poorwomen fall victim to sexual violence. Inthese countries, where the flux ofinternally displaced women migrants isconstant (intensive labour industries ofproducts destined for export give workto thousands of women), forced labour,sexual exploita tion and trafficking arecommon human rights abuses. InMyanmar, the army of the State Councilfor the Restoration of Law and Order(CERLO) forces poor people to work

21

while soldiers submit the young womento all sorts of harassment.

In order to fight against discrimi na -tion and violence against displacedwomen in post-war areas, Resolution1325 (2000) of the Security Council ofthe United Nations asks that countriesand their armed forces incorporate agender-based perspective into theiractions and receive training on defending

womens’ rights. It also invites thoseresponsible for designing refugee camps,who are charged with the protection,repatriation and resettlement of refu geesto take into account the specific needsof women and children. Unfortunately,the failure to implement this Resolutionhas not been addressed and there areonly a few countries that have put theUN recommendations into practice.

22

In this situation, the lack of a redresssystem for migrant victims of sexualviolence continues to be one of thegreatest unresolved issues. The profoundconsequences that abuse has on women,including on the perception they have ofthemselves, far transcends the migra -tory process and becomes a traumaticepisode that accompanies them andstigmatises them for life if they do notreceive the appropriate support throughprograms, qualified personnel andsupport systems in possession of all thenecessary knowledge and resources onthe migratory process in order toadequately respond to the needs ofwomen who have been attacked.

Up to now international mechanismsin place in relation to migration lack

specific provisions on gender and arenot widely implemented. Even so, theInter-American Commission on HumanRights (IACHR) considers that:

The duty to act with the necessarydue diligence requires a real commit -ment from the States to adopt measuresaimed at preventing, investigating,punishing and redressing sexualviolence; measures calculated toensure women’s full enjoyment oftheir rights and their right to live freefrom discrimination. As part of thisobligation, by ratifying internationalinstruments like the Convention ofBelém do Pará, which is even todaythe most ratified instrument withinthe inter-American human rightssystem, the States have acknowledged

23

4. ACCOUNTABILITY AND REDRESS

misogynistic behaviour (hatred of women), corruption, social impunity23

(the passivity and the lack of punishment from society) and stateimpunity (the lack of criminal prosecution by the authorities), form amacabre pact against migrant women who become the main victims ofmale violence which is getting increasingly worse in many border areasand migration routes around the world.

that the problem of sexual violenceagainst women is a priority.24

The seriousness of such attacks issuch that only compliance with interna -tional standards of truth, justice andreparation can repair the moral damagecaused. But for this to happen trans -formative measures need to be imple -mented in contexts of discriminationwhere sexual violence occurs, and whichneed to work from an intercultural,gender-aware perspective aimed atrestoring the rights of victims who havebeen violated. In order to achieve acomprehensive redress system, there -fore, and taking into account therecommendations made by the IAHCR,the following process needs to takeplace:

– Restitution: try to restore theformer situation and rights of theperson.– Compensation: in recognition ofthe damage caused.– Rehabilitation: it is necessary tooffer full medical and psycho-socialassistance to help the victim con -tinue their daily life.– Guarantees that it will not happenagain: governments should be ableto guarantee women a life free fromviolence, which prevents these typesof incidents from happening again.– Measures of satisfaction: these aremeasures principly aimed atachieving justice, recovering detailsfrom a victim’s memory of theattack and offering assistance tothose who wish to investigate theattacks.

The State should in any case offerguarantees to victims through animpartial and competent justice systemthat is capable of specifically tacklingviolence against women, particularlysexual violence, in a resolute andserious way so as to directly punishthose responsible for the crime.

Beyond the guarantees offered bythe judicial and administrative system,or the redress system offered bygovernments and the compensationsystem that needs to be set up, there isanother essential element that needs tobe part of the redress system: the factthat not enough attention is being givento prevent this from happening again inthe future. In this regard, sex educationbased on gender equality in childhoodand adolescence plays a fundamentalrole, by providing students with thetools to achieve co-existence betweenmen and women based on respect,emotional autonomy, and the ethics ofconsent and equal rights, among othervalues. This would ultimately beteaching them to live a life free fromgender stereotypes, power imbalancesand male-dominated values that aretoday grounded in control, strength andviolence.

In relation to sexual violence,prevention, accountability and acomprehensive redress system areneeded. These should have as their aimbringing to an end the inequalities thatare at the root of this violence andrestoring human rights, in such a waythat women can migrate safely and infair conditions in relation to their malecounterparts, thus benefiting from theopportunities that migration can offer

24

them. According to the Institute ofDevelopment Studies of the UnitedKingdom, it is necessary that countriesfollow some basic measures so that thiscan take place:

– To promote public policies aimed atensuring adequate access to approvedmigration routes for the safe passageof women, so they can avoid goingby irregular and riskier routes.– To achieve bilateral agreementsbetween countries from whichmigrants leave and their hostcountries in order to protect therights of migrants.– To support and endorse the frame -work of International Law whichprovides protection for womenmigrants, such as the Convention on

the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination Against Women(CEDAW), Resolution 1325 of theSecurity Council of the UnitedNations and the Beijing Platform forAction, among others.– To support migrants throughoutthe migration process, providingthem with information on their legalrights before they leave, andensuring they have access to basicservices such as housing, educationand health.– To give support to migrant organi -sations and bring about solidaritybetween different migrant groups inorder to gather and analyse issuesrelated to the exclusion and isolationthat migrants suffer.

25

For further reflection on the linksbetween gender, the migratory process,border crossings and the violation of thehuman rights of women, here is someinformation and ideas you may findinteresting:

– The empowerment of migrantwomen and the knowledge thatthese have of their rights is key inthe face of sexual attacks, so thatthey can correct the gender-basedpower imbalances that they suffer in comparison to their male coun -terparts.– Countries need to be able toguarantee public safety along themigratory routes.– There is no doubt that womenmigrants in border areas find them -

selves in a very vulnerable situation,but statistics for women all over theworld are no less alarming and weneed to look at them:25

• One in every three women hasexperienced or will experiencesome type of violence duringtheir lifetime.• One in every five women hasbeen or will be a victim of asexual assault or an attemptedassault. • 19% of women’s healthproblems between the ages of15 and 44 in developedcountries are due to domesticviolence or rape.• Many women suffer sexualharass ment at different times of

26

5. FOR REFLECTION

this booklet has taken a modest approach to a phenomenon whosecomplexity and magnitude is enough for several books. Be that as itmay, reading this and looking at the questions that may arise from it,can represent a first step towards individual and collective resistance tosexual violence.

their life. Between 40% and50% of women in the EuropeanUnion reported sexual harass -ment in the workplace.• More than 80% of victims ofhuman trafficking are womenforced into prostitution, forcedlabour or servitude.• Women make up 70% of theworld’s poorest people.• Each year in the world, ablationis carried out on 2,000000 girlsand this is in addition to the 100million women who suffergenital mutilation.• In Spain alone since 1999 tothe present (November 2013),some 950 women were mur -dered by their partners or ex-partners.• 35% of women in the worldolder than 15 have sufferedphysical violence at some pointin their lives by their partner, orhave suffered a sexual attack bysomeone else. This gives a totalof some 920 million womenthroughout the whole world.

– The general population needs tobe made aware of these types ofattacks and realise that domesticviolence, and sexual violence inparticular, are not simply isolatedincidents but rather form part of asociocultural manifestation thatdemonstrates the different levels oftolerance of the society in question.– According to Melissa Alvaradoand Benny Paul, in order for pre -ventative measures to be successfulit is indispensable to actively involve

men: «Given that the majority ofperpetrators are men, it is importantthat they reflect on their attitudetowards this type of violence, whichdisproportionately affects womenand children». Taking these facts and ideas into

account, we can reveal a lot about ourown attitudes to this subject by posingourselves some questions:

– Why does sexual violence againstmigrant women not receive themedia attention it deserves? – Why are women who migrate inhigh risk situations treated asinvisible people as regards theirsafety?– What role does their social statusor the colour of their skin play in thefact that they are ostracised bysociety?– What socio-cultural reasons makemigrant women accept violence aspart of their daily life or as paymentto achieve a better life?– It is necessary to break the silenceand act against indifference giventhat the invisibility of sexual vio -lence is even worse than the abuseitself. For this reason, it is necessaryto involve survivors of sexual vio -lence in helping other women whohave experienced similar circum -stances. How can these women actas agents of change?– The sociologist Pilar Aguilar saysthat «in order to understand thereasons for violent behaviour againstwomen –and more specificallysexual violence– we must scrutinise

27

and examine the symbolic structureand the imaginary universe of oursocieties, since they sustain andfeed our behaviour and actions». Inwhat way do different social agents(family, school, media, etc.) teachus to tolerate, justify and evenminimise violence against women,specifically in cases of sexualviolence? Why do women whosuffer rape still worry about thesocial stigma of it?– Physical and sexual violence andthe murder of women are the mostextreme forms of gender inequality,but there are other more subtle typesof gender-based violence that arepresent in our own lives –often theyare laughed at and applauded– andthis makes the perfect breedingground for chauvinist behaviour:the use of sexist language by men,jokes about women with sexualcontent, defending jealousy as beingan integral part of love, exercisingcontrol over the partner (their time -table, activities, social relationships,appointments...), the lack of respon -si bility taken for domestic work, ascornful silence used as a means ofmanipulation, intimidation, insults,taking away a partner’s sense of selfworth, emo tional blackmail, eco -nomic control, paternalism... Do werecognise these as forms of vio lence?Have we suffered them or inflictedthem on someone else at some point

in our lives? Do we remain silentbefore such depreciative behaviourtowards women?– The journalist Soledad Gallego-Díaz says that «in order to fightagainst anti-semitism you do nothave to be Jewish, just as in order to fight against racism you do nothave to be black. Unfortunately,sometimes it seems that in order tofight against discrimination againstwomen, you need to be a woman».What role do men play in thestruggle for gender equality and inthe fight against violence againstwomen? What image of masculinityis being passed on in families, inschool and in the media? And howdoes it influence the tolerance of andjustification for sexual violence?Have we as a society really under -stood that violence against womenis a matter that concerns us all?– The culture of rape is very muchpresent in our society. Even in themiddle of the twenty-first century,society continues to reverse theblame, pointing at the victim insteadof the attacker. We still hear phraseslike «she deserved it», «she waslooking for it», «she provoked it»…Yet violence has no excuse. Are weteaching our girls to take care ofthemselves or are we teaching ourboys to treat women as equals andrespect their wishes and their body?

28

29

6. INFORMATION CENTRES AND FURTHER RESOURCES

Human rights office of la casa del migrante in tecún umán (guatemala)•Jesuit refugee service (Jrs) (morocco)•Jano siksè Border Network (Haiti-dominican republic)•International rescue committee (Irc) in mae Hong son (thailand)•coordinator of Non-governmental organisations for Women in Juárez•(mexico)casa amiga in Juárez (mexico)•medicos sin Fronteras (spain)•salud Integral para la mujer, sIPam (Integral Health for Women), (mexico)•uN Women: http://www.unwomen.org/•sexual Violence against Women and children – amnesty International:•http://www.es.amnesty.org/temas/mujeres/violencia-sexual-contra-mujeres-y-ninas/migrant shelter Hermanos del camino in Ixtepec: http://www.hermanosenel•camino.org/index.html

30

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Botero, Ángela y lozaNo, Inmaculada, Tras el espejo del capitalismo global.•Violencia sexual al otro lado: el cuerpo visible. Jaque a la reina negra, madrid:acsur-las segovias, 2011.cIdH, «acceso a la Justicia para mujeres víctimas de violencia sexual en•mesoamérica», uNFPa and aecId, 2011.ecosoc, «Informe del representante del secretario general de Naciones•unidas sobre los desplazados internos: misión de seguimiento a colombia»,e/cN. 4/2000/83/add.1, 2000.ecosoc, «Informe sobre la violencia contra la mujer perpetrada y/o•condonada por el estado en tiempos de conflicto armado (1997-2000)»,e/cN. 4/2001/73, 2001.gIró, Xavier, et al., Los documentales del feminicidio en Ciudad Juárez.•Barcelona: oficina de Promoció de la Pau i dels drets Humans IV. colección:materials de pau i drets humans, n. 18, 2010.magallóN, carmen, Mujeres en pie de paz: pensamientos y prácticas, madrid:•siglo XXI, 2006.maIsterra, olvia alejandra, «experiencias transmigratorias de mu jeres•centroamericanas: viajeras invisibles, un caleidoscopio de emociones»,guadalajara: cucsH-udeg, 2012.médIcos sIN FroNteras, «Violencia sexual y migración. la realidad oculta de•las mujeres subsaharianas atrapadas en marruecos de camino a europa»,msF-e, 2010.moNzóN, ana silvia, Las Viajeras Invisibles: Mujeres Migrantes en la Re gión•Centroamericana y el Sur de México, guatemala: Pcs-cameX, 2006.ruIz, olivia, «Violencia sexual: el caso de las migrantes centroamerica nas en•la frontera sur», in teresa FerNÁNdez de JuaN (coord.), Violencia contra la mujeren México, méxico dF: comisión Nacional de los dere chos Humanos, 2004.sÁNcHez HerNÁNdez, gabriela, «del riesgo a la vulnerabilidad. Bases•metodológicas para comprender la relación entre violencia sexual e infecciónpor VIH/Its en migrantes clandestinos», in Salud mental, vol. 28, n. 5 (2005).sPeNer, david, «el apartheid global, el coyotaje y el discurso de la migración•clandestina: distinciones entre violencia personal, estructural y cultural», inMigración y Desarrollo, n. 10 (2008), p. 127-156.WoodINg, Bridget, «la lucha de las mujeres migrantes haitianas por la seguri dad•ciudadana», in Migración y desarrollo, vol. 10, n. 18 (2012), p. 41-65.

1. Olvia Alejandra MAISTERRA, «Experienciastransmigratorias de mujeres centroamericanas:viajeras invisibles, un caleidoscopio de emo -ciones», tr. «Transmigratory experiences ofCentral Amrican women: invisible travellers,a kaleidoscope of emotions», in Vínculos,Guadalajara, CUCSH-UdeG, 2012, pg. 81.

2. Statistics from the Department of Economic andSocial Affairs of the United Nations and theInternational Migration Organisation.

3. The concept of gender refers to the differencesbetween women and men that are establishedand constructed by conventions and by othersocial, economic, political and cultural factors.By gender discrimination, we are referring tothe systematic, unfavourable treatment ofwomen based on their sex, which denies themrights, opportunities and resources.

4. Violence towards women takes on many forms:murder, selective infanticide, sexual violence,genital mutilation, rape and sex work, abuse,psychological abuse, harassment, discrimina -tion, segregation, forced marriages, institutionalviolence towards women following an assaultor rape…

5. From the nineties onwards, gender-based physical,sexual and emotional violence experienced bymany women was identified as a violation oftheir Human Rights.

6. Carmen MAGALLÓN, Mujeres en pie de paz:pensamientos y prácticas, Madrid, Siglo XXI,2006, pg. 38.

7. Olivia RUIZ, «Violencia sexual: el caso de lasmigrantes Centroamericanas en la frontera sur»,In Teresa FERNÁNDEZ DE JUAN (coord.), Vio -len cia contra la mujer en México, México DF,Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Hu ma -nos, 2004, pg. 90.

8. Idea worked on by Laia FARRERA, Marta MUIXÍ,Dolors SIERRA, Xavier GIRÓ and SoniaHERRERA in Los documentales del feminicidioen Ciudad Juárez, Barcelona: Oficina dePromoció de la Pau i dels Drets Humans IV.

Colección: Materials de pau i drets humans,no. 18, 2010, pg. 8.

9. The notion of women as the property of the manor men she is with brings with it the totalinability to identify or empathise with thewoman.

10. Inmaculada LOZANO, Ángela BOTERO, Tras elespejo del capitalismo global. Violencia se -xual al otro lado: el cuerpo visible. Jaque a lareina negra, Madrid, ACSUR-Las Segovias,2011, pg. 85.

11. Ana Silvia MONZÓN, Las Viajeras Invisibles:Mujeres Migrantes en la Región Centroameri -cana y el Sur de México (Tr. Invisible travelers:Migrant women in the Central AmericanRegion and the south of Mexico), Guatemala,PCS-CAMEX, 2006, pg. 42.

12. Bridget WOODING, «La lucha de las mujeresmigrantes haitianas por la seguridad ciuda -dana», in Migración y desarrollo, vol. 10, no.18, 2012, pg. 48.

13. José Luis IRIBERRI, Ten boats stranded on thebeach. Ten stories of sub-Saharan Africanmigration, Barcelona, Cristianisme i Justícia,Virtual Collection 1 (http://www.cristianismeijusticia.net/sites/www.cristianismeijusticia.net/files/col_v_en_7.pdf).

14. The drug business in Mexico moves around25,000 million dollars of which only 6,000million remain in the country. The rest ismoved into the American economy to belaundered. Therefore, we cannot talk aboutdrug trafficking in Mexico without talkingabout its economic links to the United States,the world’s foremost consumer of drugs. (S.HERRERA, «El se cuestro de la libertad deexpresión en México», tr. «The kidnapping offreedom of expression in Mexico», inPanorámica Social, march 2011).

15. S. HERRERA, «El secuestro de...».16. The main economic difference between the two

sides of the border is that, in Mexico, a workercan earn 4 dollars (2.98 euro) a day, while the

31

NOTES

minimum legal wage in the United States upto 2006 was 5.15 dollars (3.83 euro) an hour.This is the main reason why many immigrantsrisk their lives to cross the border illegally.The imbalance between the two economiesgenerates constant tensions around the border.As the immigration officials from both side ofthe border know, the area is a magnet forpeople coming from many dif ferent places.(GIRÓ, et al., Los documentales..., pg. 15).

17. MAISTERRA, «Experiencias transmigratorias...»,pg. 81.

18. In 2010, 72 Central American immigrants whowere trying to cross into the United Stateswere murdered by los Zetas in the northernstate of Tamaulipas.

19. According to the National Commission forHuman Rights in México, between April andSeptember 2010, 11,000 migrants werekidnapped in the country.

20. Eldiario.es – 28/8/2013.21. According to the World Health Organisation

(WHO), infibulation is the practice of theexcision of the external part of the genitalia(clitoris, labia minora and labia majora) andthe stitching and/or the fastening of the vaginalopening with plant fibres, wire or fishing line.

22. «Report by the representative for the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations on internallydisplaced people: follow-up mission toColombia».

23. Impunity is one of the main instigators ofviolence and the reason for repeat assaultsagainst women.

24. «Acceso a la Justicia para mujeres víctimas deviolencia sexual en Mesoamérica», tr. «Accessto Justice for Women Victims of SexualViolence in Mesoamerica».

25. In-depth study by the United Nations onViolence Against Women.

32