Last month, a female "vigilante killer" murdered two bus drivers in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The woman got onto a city bus the morning of August 28th and shot the bus driver three times without saying a word. The next day the same woman got on another city bus, rode a few stops and then walked up behind the driver and according to witnesses, said, "You guys think you're so bad, don't you", before shooting him in the head. Since last month, there has not been another killing however this vigilante violence is not uncommon in Juárez. A letter was sent into the police, quite possibly by the killer, identifying the act as revenge for violence against women riding buses late at night home from the factories. This display of vigilante “justice” is a disturbed manifestation of the anger and frustration of the women of Juárez over the sexual violence against women that is ignored by the Mexican government. Though the city has seen a decrease in violence since 2010 (speculatively because one drug cartel triumphed over another), violence against women remains a hugely ignored and silent issue in Mexico. This story was all over the news early last month, an article on the murders from the Washington Post can be found here.
The violence in Mexico, and certainly the violence against women, is in large part due to the presence of the drug cartels. Corruption, violence and a sense of lawlessness in Juárez and other parts of Mexico have all been due mainly to drug cartel control and influence. This incident, though certainly perpetrated by a disturbed individual, is representative of larger vigilante efforts on behalf of many Mexican citizens. Violence against women has gone ignored and unpunished, as “Diana, the hunter” suggested in her note to the police (assuming the killer was indeed who sent in the letter). The violence in Mexico is often thought of as being between men; men in different cartels, male police officers and the cartels but the violence against women in Mexico goes unnoticed, unregulated and is not made a priority by many forces fighting the cartels. This vigilante killing, though tragic and sick, is somewhat understandable given the context and situation in Juárez, Mexico. An article in Time this summer about sex trafficking mentioned vigilantist efforts to defend against the drug cartels and though the bus driver killings were different in nature, the frustration of the inactivity of the government against cartel violence is similar to the other vigilantist efforts. Violence against women continues to occur on a daily basis but is not in the news as frequently as the violence between men. Violence against women in Mexico is more less visible than violence between men because it happens more secretly, for instance in brothels where women and children are trafficked to work in the sex trade. Though this violence and exploitation of women may not be widely covered in the news, most people are aware it is happening yet it is widely ignored and kept invisible.
Miroff. N. (2013, September 06). Street justice from vengeful 'Diana' in Ciudad Juárez. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-09-06/world/41818041_1_bus-drivers-mexico-city-diana
Grillo. I. (2013, July 31). Mexican Drug Cartels' Other Business: Sex Trafficking. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://world.time.com/2013/07/31/the-mexican-drug-cartels-other-business-sex-trafficking/
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