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How nationalism overrides and hides violence against women

7:57 pm By la Macha · crime|Immigration|society|Violence · 2 Comments

11 Aug 2009

I started reading this article about a Mexican man who attempted to set his wife on fire with a sense of horror in my guts. Not because I can’t believe any man would send set his wife on fire, but because Jesus CHRIST, how many times is this shit going to happen?

I was so pleased to read that the woman managed to escape that horrible fate (the man couldn’t find a way to set her on fire after he poured gasoline on her, so he left the house)–but then I got to this part of the article:

The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was contacted. Police Chief James Horvath said he has been told by ICE that they only will become involved if the alien is being charged with a crime. He did not receive a response from ICE on Monday.

“We are finding more Mexicans living in the area,” Horvath said.

The arrest comes five years after North Strabane Township police arrested five Mexican nationals for assaulting a countryman. Three of those arrested also worked for Tatano Wire. The five did not face trial but were released to ICE.

Um…what? First off, what does “finding more Mexicans living in the area” have to do with spousal abuse? This could’ve been an article about how another woman was set on fire by a man claiming to care about her–but for the grace of god it’s not. But just because it’s not, that doesn’t mean that the spousal abuse then becomes not news worthy.

Secondly–since when do “non-biased” reporters use completely biased words like “countrymen?” That sentence very clearly assumes that all readers are “fellow countrymen” (aka good ol’ americans with good ol’ american birth certificates like you and me). Is that a valid assumption for reporters to have?

And if it is, why do I, a queer macha, have to be a countryman? Why can’t I be a cuntryboi?

All joking aside, this is what happens when people (more than likely men, although the author of that article was a woman), decide that “citizenship” and “questions of citizenship” are more important than understanding and dealing with violence against women. The women who are violated are completely erased from the story or become little more than the vessels that carry the more important story of “how are we going to catch us some alienz?”

article found via twitter

The U.S. Supports Mexico’s War on Drugs

8:25 pm By la Macha · crime|Drugs|economy|U.S.-Mexico Border|Violence · 3 Comments

10 Aug 2009

barack-obama2 Ok, remember how Mexico caught a whole bunch of drug traffickers a few weeks back? And how they were paraded in front of national Mexican television, and how it was the U.S. that basically funded the capture with money and weapons?

Well, the U.S. government doesn’t have a problem with any of that, and it wants us all to know that.

President Obama said Monday the United States remains Mexico’s partner in the fight against drug cartels, despite some calls in the United States to delay counter-narcotics aid because of alleged human rights violations by Mexican soldiers.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon reaffirmed his commitment to transparency and human rights in his offensive against the cartels, Obama said.

Some $100 million in anti-drug aid, known as the Merida Initiative, could be delayed because of concerns about human rights violations, it was reported last week.

“We have been very supportive of the Merida Initiative, and we remain supportive,” Obama said.

Obama also said the United States would work to reduce demand for drugs and stop the illegal flow of weapons south to Mexico.

The remarks came at a summit of North American leaders in Guadalajara, Mexico.

As I said earlier, I don’t really see this “war” ending until there is 1. either drug legalization efforts and/or 2. a national policy in the U.S. enacted whereby drug addiction is recognized as a disease needing treatment rather than a crime needing imprisonment.

So it’s incredibly disappointing to see that Obama, the liberal almost communist dictator, declaring the U.S.’s continued support of military options to Mexico–while also speaking out of both sides of his mouth on “ending U.S. demands for drugs.” If Mexico’s drug trafficking is a matter of national security, why isn’t treatment here in the U.S.? If Mexico can get millions and millions of dollars for military supplies, why can’t your local rehab clinic get some new chairs and a computer?

Oh, I forget, we have to use that money to imprison drug users.

Violence in Prince William County Continues

10:29 am By la Macha · Controversia|crime|society|Violence · 1 Comment

4 Aug 2009

Prince William County, Virginia has never been in danger of becoming a pro-immigrant sanctuary city. But it never really hits home exactly how violently anti-immigrant a city truly is until you understand that people who “fit” what an “immigrant” should look like (think: latino, speaks with an accent, etc), are often brutally violated in their own fucking homes simply for fitting that profile.

I know a lot of our libertarian friends will scream right now about how this family shouldn’t have been playing their music so loudly and if the woman didn’t want to be deported she shouldn’t have come here illegally and the cops were just doing their jobs and a whole bunch of other justifications.

But I have to ask those libertarians. Does it not terrify them that you can be sitting at a party with your family and have the police show up and tase you? That your pregnant wife could lean over to help you, and she could be tased too? Sure, yeah, it’s great, yay, we caught us a few more illegals, hooray for us. Now, what rights, what protections, did U.S. citizens just give up so that it could be totally legal and justified to tase a grandfather and a pregnant “illegal” in their own home because they played their music too loudly?

I am not thanking my fellow citizens for allowing their hatred to trample on my rights. Just as I am sure people like Henry Louis Gates is also not doing any thanking.

via bfp on twitter and womanist musings

A Transgender Person is Murdered Every 3 Days in the World…Mostly in Latin America

29 Jul 2009

transmap Here at VL we have covered lots of stories about violence against transgender people, and unfortunately many of these cases of violence end in death. What I didn’t know was that the rate at which transgender murders occur worldwide was so high; a recent report by non-profit organization Transgender Europe (TGEU) shows that a transgender person is killed every 3 days. And another disturbing fact is that the majority of these murders are happening in Latin America:

The cases have been reported from all six World regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The majority of cases have been reported from Latin America and North America. On these continents the majority of cases have been reported from Brazil (59) and the U.S.A. (16) for 2008 and from Brazil (23), Venezuela (20), and Guatemala (10) for the first six months of 2009. Moreover, the preliminary results show a total of 11 murdered trans people reported for Colombia followed by 5 for Honduras and 4 for Mexico and Venezuela for 2008, and 6 for Mexico and 3 for Argentina, and the Dominican Republic for the first six months of 2009.

In total 91 murders of trans people were reported in 11 Latin American countries in 2008, and 73 murders of trans people in 11 Latin American countries in the first six months of 2009. The reported murders of trans people in Latin America account for 75% and 88% of the world wide reported murders of trans people in 2008 and the first six months of
2009 respectively.

The map associated with the study (image above) for 2009 to date shows the highest concentration of murders in South America, particularly in Brazil.

Spain’s Ambiente G reports on another chilling statistic: in Peru, a gay or lesbian person is killed every 5 days.

Via / Ambiente G and TGEU

Latina Cleaning Woman Vanishes While on the Job in NYC

2:34 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · crime|New York City|Violence|Women · 3 Comments

10 Jul 2009

10missinginline I see many women going to and from their overnight jobs cleaning ofice buildings in Manhattan from my ‘hood. I know some of these women personally. Overwhelmingly they are Latina immigrants, who start their shifts just when the sun starts to set and return in the early pre-dawn before the sun has risen again. Safety is always an issue when they travel via subway, especially when they return home. This is why many travel in groups and are met at the subway by a relative. Eridania Rodríguez never got that far.
Read more…

Strange Rape Case Rocks Bolivian Mennonite Community

7 Jul 2009

The Mennonites are a religious group akin to the Amish that was driven out of Europe by persecution over centuries, eventually landing in North and South America, mostly in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. There are thousands of Mennonites all over the Americas, with large communities in Mexico and Bolivia. And it is from Bolivia that comes a strange story that has shocked the country and rocked its Mennonite community to its core. A mass rape of the community’s women, with up to 100 victims. Spain’s El Periódico reports:

The first accounts, which are pending investigation, indicate that at nightfall some men sprinkled a sleep inducing [susbtance] around the homes of the residents and when they were sure that everyone was sleeping, they came in through the windows and raped women and girls. There are suspicions that this had been going on for 9 years, which would make the initial victim count fall short. But what is more terrifying and shameful for the Mennonites is that the rapists are people from their own community. Blood of their blood.

The Mennonites have kept the names and surnames of their ancestors. Their names are Ham Neostater and Cornelio Wal and Abraham Blats and Daniel Martens. Their native language is German and they speak Spanish with an accent. “Here people are afraid, because they say that it was our own friends who committed the sin,” Wal, a farm worker (like almost everyone in Manitoba) told a Bolivian newspaper. 8 community residents were arrested this week, which means that in a community of around 2000 people, most of them are related to the suspects: cousins, nephews, son-in-laws. Ultraconservative Christians, the Mennonites see the suspects as more sinners than criminals. Because to them, sin is much more serious.

The Mennonite community is calling the rapes “an act of the devil” and is ordering the medical examination of teenage girls to confirm which ones are victims. El Periódico reports that the results of these exams could have sinister implications, as the Mennonite community requires that its women remain virgins until marriage in order to retain the respect of their peers.

Via / El Periódico and VideoBolivia

6 Months and 10 Days : What Courts Value Latino Lives At

18 Jun 2009

This morning in my inbox I received another email telling me, and whoever else was on this advocacy org’s coveted mailing list, that I should be vigilant about the rising tide of hate crimes and yet again the point of reference was the Holocaust Museum shooting.

Do I really need a reminder? Do I need to hear the frenzied 911 call of a mother after seeing her husband and daughter shot and killed? I know that audio is going around some blogs and media sites and I have refused to listen for my own personal sanity as a Latina mother but also as a statement against the exploitation of the pain of Latinas for the sake of “the story”

Would Hate Crimes legislation made a difference? Would it have prevented a Latino young man from having a noose placed around his neck and dragged around a parking lot in Ohio? Maybe if the young man would have died his lie would have been worth more than the paltry sentence his horror was met with.

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – A central Ohio teenager accused of putting a noose around a Hispanic boy’s neck and dragging him in a parking lot has been sentenced to 10 days in jail.

The 18-year-old was sentenced Wednesday in juvenile court in Mount Vernon, a city of 15,000 residents an hour’s drive northeast of Columbus. He dropped his original plea of not guilty and pleaded no contest to ethnic intimidation.

A charge of aggravated menacing was dropped.

Hate Crime Laws May Make Us Feel Good Pero They Won’t Save Our Lives

16 Jun 2009

I think I have had to write this over and over many times, every time there is a hate crime against a Latino pero it is worthy of repeating.

Defining what makes a hate crime is a political act. The reason I write this is that I am reading many media reports and blogs that keep referring to the shooting at the Holocaust Museum as a hate crime but not that many referring to the murders of Brisenia Flores and her father as a hate crime.

On a legislative level, states each have their own hate crime statutes that aren’t consistent with each other so what may be a hate crime in one state may not be in another. Often the definition of a hate crime is hinged on the use of an epithet or slur, not the history of the community where it happened. This is why some advocates have been pushing for Federal hate crimes legislation, that would create one standard that would be followed across state lines and these moves make people feel good, offer a sense of protection, except they are only good once there is a victim.

U.S. Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Steve Israel (D-NY) and José E. Serrano (D-NY) announced the introduction of the National Hate Crimes Hotline Act of 2009.

“Far too many victims silently bear the burden of the crimes committed against them, which is why we are taking steps to provide a place for them to be heard. A National Hate Crimes Hotline would allow New Yorkers and victims across the country to safely report to the police and find vital assistance. In addition, accurate reporting will improve local responsiveness, increase prevention efforts and help bring an end to these heinous acts,” said Rep. Velázquez.

Brisenia Flores : Nuestra Hija

15 Jun 2009

60arivacainvasionjpeg When Brisenia Flores and her father Raul were shot to death by Shawna Forde and Gunny Bush, two anti-immigrant activists with ties to the Minutemen, they weren’t asked for their papers. The goal wasn’t to observe, document and report as Jim Gilchrist, the leader of the Minuteman Project, has said in trying to distance himself from his associates charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of aggravated assault. The goal was to use violence against a family viewed as expendable to help further their cause of using violence against those viewed as expendable.
Read more…

72-year old Texas Woman Gets Tased

4:03 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|crime|Justice|society|Texas · 7 Comments

10 Jun 2009

What happens when a 72-year old Austin grandma talks back to a cop who shoved her on a routine traffic stop? This:

What’s pretty sick to me is that people all over the Web are justifying the tasing as if she was really some sort of a threat to the cop or to anyone else. Read more…

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