National security versus public safety: Femicide, drug wars, and the Mexican state

In 1994, a handful of women and their corresponding civic organizations spearheaded a political movement against violence in northern Mexico. Their initial protests sought to call attention to the violence that stalked women in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the border city famous for its export-processing maquiladoras, young female workers, and nightclubs. The protestors came to call this violence "femicide" (feminicidio) to refer not only to the crimes but also to the impunity provided by the state and enjoyed by the criminals. Over the next ten years, the antifemicide protestors generated criticism of the Mexican government, at all levels, for its failure to provide public safety to the country's working poor and their families along the border.