The Juarez Project

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The Juarez Project
juarezproject@yahoo.com

whats buried deeper? the bodies of the victims or the files for their investigations?

The situation in Juarez!
Femicide in Juarez and Chihuahua: For more than a decade, the cities of Chihuahua and Juarez, near the US-Mexico border, have been killing fields for young women, the site of over 400 unsolved femicides. Despite the horrific nature of these crimes, authorities at all levels exhibit indifference, and there is strong evidence that some officials may be involved. Impunity and corruption has permitted the criminals, whoever they are, to continue committing these acts, knowing there will be no consequences. A significant number of victims work in the maquiladora sector - sweatshops that produce for export, with 90% destined for the United States. The maquiladoras employ mainly young women, at poverty level wages. In combination with lax environmental regulations and low tariffs under the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the maquiladoras are amassing tremendous wealth. Yet despite the crime wave, they offer almost no protection for their workers. High profile government campaigns such as Ponte Vista (Be Aware), a self defense program, and supplying women with whistles have been ineffective and are carried out mainly for public relations purposes.

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What is the Juarez Project?
The Juarez Project is a local grassroots organization that has been supporting the women of Juárez since 2002. We have helped the families by providing emotional and financial support to their groups through fundraising efforts, donations, and outreach. We have organized local events on numerous occasions and have been featured in many media outlets. To date, we have raised thousands of dollars for murdered family advocacy groups in Juárez. If you would like to get involved in the juarez project and ending the violence against these women please contact us either through this page or our email address is juarezproject@yahoo.com--Tanisha founder, The Juarez Project

Help the Young Women of Ciudad Juarez by writing to these Corporations

This entry was posted on 3/28/2007 2:23 PM and is filed under uncategorized.

Ask them to make changes to provide safety for their workers, inside and outside the factory!

Most of the murdered and missing girls and women are maquiladora (foreign owned factory) employees. They often disappear or are abducted and killed on their way to or from work. Workers often arrive and leave work while it is dark, and most companies have little or no lighting or security outside their doors. Some girls have been found dead across the street from their workplaces. Wages are so low that most workers can only afford to live in shantytowns with few basic services such as water, electricity and telephone services, often 2 hours from their place of work. Many young women have to walk a mile or more too or from a busy through stretches of desert and through neighborhoods full of gangs and drug trafficking. Inside the factory, young women are often subjected to sexual harassment. They are sometimes required to take pregnancy tests or show menstrual pads to prove they are not pregnant before being hired or while working.

Maquiladoras are benefiting from a class of poor, easily exploitable women….
Minimum wage is 40.25 pesos, about $4.25 a day. One gas cylinder, which families need to cook, takes up 75% of an average worker’s wages. Milk is 17.5 pesos. Workers need to work almost half a day for a gallon of milk.

We ask that you write the maquiladoras to increase the safety and protect the lives of the girls and young women of Juarez . Ask them to:
*      Provide security outside their doors, especially at night
*    Have sufficient lighting outside their companies and create safe transportation for their
      workers.
*     Stop sexual harassment and pregnancy testing in the workplace
*     Pay wages that will give workers options for safer lives!!

Here are a few companies to start with……
Lear Corporation - Lear sent 17 year old Claudia Gonzalez home in the dark hours of the morning for being 3 min late for work, her body was found with either others in November of 2001. Lear’s only response: “Adding security is not a question that relates to Lear. Gonzalez death did not happen on Lear property.” Lear makes automotive parts for General Motors, and received an award from GM for a special Buick Design.
Lear Headquarters   General Motors-Buick Division
21557 Telegraph Rd.    2860 Clark St .
POB 5008    Detroit , MI 48232
Southfield , MI 48086    (800) 458-8006
(248) 447-1500
CEO Robert Rossiter

Zenith Corporation- admitted to subjecting women to pregnancy tests before hiring. In a statement to Human Rights Watch Zenith said , “It is common practice among Mexican employers…to inquire about pregnancy status as a pre-existing medical condition.” Zenith makes many things we use: TVs, CD/DVD and MP3 Players.
Zenith Headquarters
CEO-T. J. Lee
1000 Milwaukee Ave.
Glenview , IL 60025-2493

Sony Corporation - Sony fired 18 workers (most of them women) for trying to form a union. Workers stopped work and blocked the road into the factory. Sony brought in police and paid thugs, ,who b eat the workers.
Sony Corporation
CEO-Nobuyuki Idei
550 Madison Ave. NY , NY 10022

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2/26/2008 10:56 AM jean falls wrote:
Are the above addresses still correct, and is it a good idea to write to these companies still today? If so, I will ask my church members to participate.
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1. 4/8/2008 4:09 AM Susie wrote:
  I don't know if the addresses are correct for sure. You can always look them up online. Here is a small list of some more corporations with maquiladoras there. Alcoa, General Electric, Du Pont, Ford, Thomson RCA, Honeywell, 3M, Amway, TDK and Kenwood. It is always relevant to write and remind these companies that they should not treat their employees badly. I suggest you write these companies and send a copy to your local reps, starting with your ciy council members all the way up to your congressional reps. Maybe consider a boycott of these companies?
  Reply to this
2/26/2008 10:57 AM Jean Falls wrote:
I don't think I submitted my email address with the comment submitted a moment ago. Thank you.
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3/24/2008 2:38 PM Christina Franchesca Patricia Natalie Parker VanDyk wrote:
I really like this article and I strongly believe that a change needs to be made and something seriously needs to be done to protect all the voiceless women in Juarez....I think NAFTA is a joke it is more like a slavery trade rather then a free trade like they are saying it is in North America...Countless of women are dying for the States pleasures, while they sit on their samsung cell phones to watching TV on their sanyo television system...Instead of being on the phone with friends and watching TV the should get off their ass's and do something about the murders and disappearance's of all the women in Juarez and everywhere else in Mexico....
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1. 4/8/2008 9:06 PM Diana wrote:
  I agree. I just finished reading the book "The Daughters of Juarez" author Teresa Rodriguez, Univision.com anchor. In the book there are a lot of details on the evidence of who the real killers are. They are the police department from the city Juarez. They give death threats any other official such as the DA's office if they get all into puting an end to the killings. If NAFTA companies continues to make "profits" from these woman they should be responsible for their safety, besides if money is so important to these companies aren't they interested that their workers stay alive. With 500 woman dead, who will run their businesses. There should be basic human rights such as right to fair wages, that is "liveable wages" and safe communte all the way back to their homes, such as company owned shuttles, not "outside buses for hire" In addition, the government should work with the FBI to do a thorough investigation of the evidence such as a so called photo album at one of the police dept office that shows the girls being raped, mutilated and even burned. This and much more information is in the book "The Daughters of Juarez" More so the current president needs and should be making business with the U.S. to bring in growth, revenue, and prosperity to the country. What does the president want to cut out all the tourist from traveling to the country, what a stupid idea, of course not, the president should make is safe for all people of all walks of like to feel safe going to all parts of Mexico including Juarez. If growth would happen, crime will go down. People need money to survive. Well paying salaries to the police staff so that they wont be tempted to accept bribes or be "bought" as they say. Life itself is all about money and without a decent amount of money coming in anything goes for these people in Juarez even to the point of killing. Wake up president help the people make a decent living, help the poor, establish programs, etc, copy the U.S. in how they handle proverty, but move it.
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