1. Hello my name is Melissa W. Wright I am an Associate Professor of Geography in the
Department of Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University. One of the things I focus on is
the emergence of an international social movement that protest violence against women along
the Mexico- US border. I am the author of Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global
Capitalim(2006). I wrote an article on Narcopolitics and femicide. It is about Gendered violence
on the Mexico-U.S. border. Dr. Carrillo’s class read this article.
I argue in this article that the narcopolitics and femicide are interrelated problems.
Narcropolitics is a form of informal governance related to drug and drug trafficking. I believe the
Mexican government is involved in narcopolititcs. The Mexican government blames the deaths
in Juarez and throughout Mexico on the drug wars and argues that those who are murdered were
involved in the drug trade. In this way, the government blame the victims. The government
argues that the ones who are committing the murder are the narcos which in English stands for
drug lord; and that they are committing the murder against other narcos. Consequently, these
murders are “justified” according to some officials in Mexico, making it unfair for the victims’
families.
Due to patriarchy and the gender power structure, the deaths of the females in Ciudad
Juarez is linked to narcopolitics because the gender and sex of females is always subordinate to
that of males in all contexts of society including when drugs are involved. Females are victims of
this subordination in a very violent way. However, we also know that females are actively
involved with drugs trafficking. So they are also caught up in that way.
I believe that narcopolitics and femicide are a major issues happening in Ciudad Juarez
and both are in need of attention as they are distinct phenomena that are also interrelated.