First, Juarez is not a “small border town” but a city of at least 1.2-1.3 million people. About twice as large as its US neighbor, El Paso. Since 1993, using official numbers from the state Attorney General and media reports, the number of PEOPLE killed in Juarez is more than 14,500 and of that total, about 1,250 were women. This does not include the people who have gone missing.  But by ANY count or estimate, we can say with certainty that at least 10 times as many of the murder victims in the city of Juarez for all of these years from 1993–present have been men or boys. A less misleading article from the El Paso Times neglects to mention the actual HUMAN death toll. Notably, in 2012, as we have gratefully seen the homicide toll decrease, the percentage of victims who are women has increased. This is probably due to the fact that as the murders related to gang violence and narco-violence have declined in Juarez, the number of domestic violence murders where the victims are usually women becomes a larger percentage of the total…in 2012, it is about 12.5 %.  Still, the actual NUMBERS of women killed were much higher in 2010-2011 because the numbers of PEOPLE killed were so high overall. The quote from Irma Casas of Casa Amiga is absolutely true and applies to ALL of the victims, not only the women: “Murders are rarely investigated and only 1 percent are even decided upon,” Irma Casas, director of women’s rights group Casa Amiga Esther Chavez Cano, told FOX News Latino.

molly molloy

Murders of women