Update from Ciudad Juarez

I received another email from Diana Washington Valdez yesterday with an update on the situation:

A new statistic for you to use. According to COLEF Professor Julia Monarrez, as of last week, about 997 girls and women have been killed in Juarez, Mexico since 1993. I had a few more than Julia, because of information I was given by officials privately, so by my count, and with the latest weekend murders, the number of girls and women murdered in Juarez has surpassed 1,000.

(I know some people are saying that this is not many compared to the number of men killed. I agree many more men have been killed, particularly in the context of the drug wars, but I also know that historically the number of femicides is unprecedented for Juarez, and, they are too many.)

Yesterday I also met with The Latin American group in Norway (Latin-Amerikagruppene i Norge (LAG), www.latin-amerikagruppene.no,presenting the project and the situation in Juarez for them. They also embroidered labels. Many were familiar with the situation in Juarez, but maybe this meeting can also result in more involvement from them directly with organizations like Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa in Juarez?

Best Lise