Voilence Against Women in Mexico

Violence against women in Mexico

Mexico has worked hard to get the country moving along especially the poor districts but it is hard when they have many things holding them back such as the Mexican Cartels, Violent crimes, sex trafficking, and gang violence (Choundhury, 2013).   But the Mexican citizens don't let that get to them and continue moving forward to get a better future by attending school and finishing a career of their choosing. In Mexico when it comes to wages women earn 50% less than men and if they work they are considered secondary (United Nations Development Programme,  2005; 2012).  There is still an inequality going on about men being dominant against women. The social normality of a household is that a man should work for the wage of the household while the woman stays at home and takes care of the children and households. But things are starting to change due to women and young women starting to work or getting educated on a career (Choundhury, 2013).

Since men are “in charge” of the household they feel like they can take advantage of many things especially when it comes to their significant others. A survey done in 2006 shows that women who have experienced some form of violence is about 67%. Women who have experiences interpersonal violence is about 47%. The reason why most of these women don’t leave their abusive household is because of the lack of economic power (Chounhury, 2013). Women fear that once they are on their own they won’t be financially stable or they are afraid of their children growing up without their father present.

The issues are not only being financially stable and fear of not bringing home enough for themselves and their children but also women fear of they own Police Enforcement. In some of the rural areas in Mexico even Police enforcements don’t make enough money that they get bribed easily with money when it comes to something done illegally. When one of my aunts was in Mexico with her abusive husband whom she had left many times, her husband promised her he would change and not be abusive any longer. Everything was going great until she agreed to go to Mexico with him to visit his family. When they arrived to Mexico my aunt was brutally beaten by him that she contacted the police but he paid them money to let him go and pretend nothing had happened. The cop took the money and drove away from the scene leaving my aunt alone and beaten even more when the cop had left. Luckily my aunt escaped the house she was staying at and borrowed some money from a sibling of his and came back to America. When she came back to the states she let the authorities know what had happened and was a search warrant for his arrest as soon as he stepped in the states again. Situations such as these make women fear and find themselves hopeless especially those who have no connections with women rights activists.

In the first study done on sex workers the most common experience the women spoke about was how they experienced violence by an intimate partner in some point of their lives. Some of the reports said goes as followed (Choundhury, 2013):

Participant #1:

“ Well, when I was with my first partner, it was a lot of abuse, lots of blows. I couldn't see my parents; he wouldn't let me see the. He locked me up ” (Choundhury, 2013).

Participant #2

“Well this time, I arrived with my son who was sick and he began to … (he) locked my kids in the bedroom … and then he took me out and grabbed me by the hair and began to beat me. He used boots. He gave me such a beating that you couldn't put a finger anywhere on my body that hadn't received blows. I was bleeding from the mouth, the nose” (Choundhury, 2013).

In a study done by the researchers in Morelos it was stated that women who typically are abused are those  who are young, pregnant, unemployed or are manual workers, have low education, women of low income statues, and women who have experiences abuse during their childhood. (Castro, Peek-Asa, Ruiz). The study was focused in two main cities in Morelos which are Cuernavaca and Cuautla during the pregnancy of some of the women who attended the clinics. What they concluded was that the violence against women varied from 20% to 40% on women who were abused prior to their pregnancy. The study was done in two clinics that most pregnant patients checked on during their pregnancy. Some of the patients refused to take the survey because of fear of the reporters reporting their husbands for their actions but some took the survey. The survey was on the following variables (1) any abuse by the partner in the year prior to pregnancy, (2) physical or emotional abuse during the women's and partner’s childhoods, (3) the witnessing of domestic violence by the woman as a child, (4) any reported abuse of children by the woman or her partner, and (5) sociodemographic variables (Castro, Peek-Asa, Ruiz). But at the end of the study they had concluded that violence is a common thing among pregnant women but its not a main reason as to why it happens (Castro, Peek-Asa, Ruiz).

Violence is so common that women activists have stepped in to make that change. Laws have been passed to prevent domestic violence but not all of Mexico’s states have passed them according to Mexico Cities spokeswoman, Yuriria Rodriguez.

Mexican women are facing hardship moments but with the help of women activists they have found the courage to keep moving forwards for themselves and their children.

Work cited

Cattan, Nacha. "Crime Policy/Legislation." Mexican Women Activists Put Reforms Under the Gun. N.p., 10 Aug. 2006. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.

Diaz-Olavarrieta C, Sotelo J. Domestic violence in Mexico. JAMA.1997;275:1937–1941.

Castro, R., C. Peek-Asa, and A. Ruiz. "Violence Against Women in Mexico: A Study of Abuse Before and During Pregnancy." American Journal of Public Health 93.7 (2003): 1110-116. Print.

Wright, Jessica. "Women's Media Center." Mexico. N.p., 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.

Choundhury, Shonali M. "From Voilence to Sex Work: Agency Escaping Voilence, and HIV Risk among Establishment Based Female Sex Workers in Tijuana, Mexico."From Voilence to Sex Work: Agency Escaping Voilence, and HIV Risk among Establishment Based Female Sex Workers in Tijuana, Mexico 24.4 (n.d.): 1-14. Print.