Feminicidios
Everybody's heard of serial killers. They commit at worst a dozen murders or two over a decade or so. Well, have you heard of the feminicidios in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico? The place is more like a warzone than the hunting ground of a stealthy psychotic murderer. A small army of young women has been found dead there over a period of 13 years.
Says Amnesty International, "... since 1993 more than 370 young women and girls have been murdered in the cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua -- at least a third suffering sexual violence -- without the authorities taking proper measures to investigate and address the problem".
The story of how Mexican authorities have tried and failed to solve the crimes is long and convoluted. Many believe that police corruption and involvement with organised crime is the reason for this failure. But the question remains: who's killing all of these women, and why? It can't be a single maniac -- it would be a full-time job for him. And with so many murders, the likelihood of one intended victim surviving and leading the police to the man should be close to 100%.
I can't help but think of this in archaeological terms. What are 370 shallow graves containing mutilated young women? They are, of course, the material record of a cultural custom. Not individual insanity -- cultural insanity. A considerable number of people in Ciudad Juárez clearly cultivate a custom that entails the kidnapping, torture and murder of poor young female factory workers from the countryside. A rationally chosen demographic: the only people likely to miss the women have very little influence in society. And of the people involved with the custom, only a few are likely to commit the actual atrocities. The rest protect them.
So, who are the bearers of this insane subculture? Well, according to the media, there are rumours of coke-fuelled revels among the local mob when big business deals have been closed and delivered. What better time to initiate new members with the special sacrament that ties them securely into the group?
I'm a cultural darwinist. Cultures are experiments. Sometimes the random mutations we love to make up turn up traits that aren't adaptive in the long term. In Ciudad Juárez, this process has produced a particularly ugly cultural mutant.
[More blog entries about juarez, Mexico, murder, crime; mord, brott, Juarez, Mexico.]
Says Amnesty International, "... since 1993 more than 370 young women and girls have been murdered in the cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua -- at least a third suffering sexual violence -- without the authorities taking proper measures to investigate and address the problem".
The story of how Mexican authorities have tried and failed to solve the crimes is long and convoluted. Many believe that police corruption and involvement with organised crime is the reason for this failure. But the question remains: who's killing all of these women, and why? It can't be a single maniac -- it would be a full-time job for him. And with so many murders, the likelihood of one intended victim surviving and leading the police to the man should be close to 100%.
I can't help but think of this in archaeological terms. What are 370 shallow graves containing mutilated young women? They are, of course, the material record of a cultural custom. Not individual insanity -- cultural insanity. A considerable number of people in Ciudad Juárez clearly cultivate a custom that entails the kidnapping, torture and murder of poor young female factory workers from the countryside. A rationally chosen demographic: the only people likely to miss the women have very little influence in society. And of the people involved with the custom, only a few are likely to commit the actual atrocities. The rest protect them.
So, who are the bearers of this insane subculture? Well, according to the media, there are rumours of coke-fuelled revels among the local mob when big business deals have been closed and delivered. What better time to initiate new members with the special sacrament that ties them securely into the group?
I'm a cultural darwinist. Cultures are experiments. Sometimes the random mutations we love to make up turn up traits that aren't adaptive in the long term. In Ciudad Juárez, this process has produced a particularly ugly cultural mutant.
[More blog entries about juarez, Mexico, murder, crime; mord, brott, Juarez, Mexico.]
posted by Martin at 22:52
2 Comments:
Wow, that's some comment!
You may very well be right. Here are a few thoughts.
For a single maniac or a small club of maniacs to be able to murder women at an industrial scale like this for years and years, I do believe that they would need a go-ahead from the local powers-that-be, i.e. the police and the mob. The police can have no interest in a grossly heightened murder rate. But the mob could afford that sort of thing easily, particularly since nobody cares much about the individual victims in question. It might even make their regular business easier if it ties up police resources.
Although personally an innocent when it comes to drugs, I am aware that cocaine does not turn people into murderous psychotics. It seems more likely to make them willing to dance all night to cheesy disco and, in rare cases, record The Wall. So, for "coke-fuelled", substitute "fun" or "energetic".
I guess the reason I try to come up with a "social" or "conspiracy" explanation is that I am unable to understand why anyone would want to murder a single young Mexican woman, let alone 370 of them. Myself, I'd be infinitely more interested in inviting them home for a night of vigorous consensual exercise followed by a hearty breakfast.
Food for thought!
It certainly seems silly to try to find different perps for five or ten of the murders each. That would mean there was a psycho killer convention going on in Juarez with people flying in all the time to take part.
I'm pretty sure a statistical study of a detailed database over the murders would turn up some interesting patterns. Assume as few causes as possible, as Razor Man said.
As for s/m, I'm definitely tops. But hurting women is a total turn off.
Post a Comment
<< Home