Frontera NorteSur, September 1999
|
|
Frontera NorteSur, September 1999 |
New Mexico State University Sponsors
Conference On Murders Of Women
Supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant, Ce
, Frontera NorteSur and the NMSU Women's Studies Program
will sponsor a two-day mini-conference "Burials On The Border/Sepultadas
en la Frontera: Women and Violence at the Millennium" on
the New Mexico State University campus, Las Cruces, New Mexico
on October 1 and 2.
The conference will provide a binational and bilingual forum of experts to examine the political, social, economic and cultural issues surrounding the sexual murders that have taken the lives of nearly 200 women in Cd. Juárez. This six-year crime spree has received international attention, including visits from United Nations, the F.B.I and other criminal experts. The majority of the victims are young women, often employees of maquiladoras and most of the crimes remain unsolved.
Keynote speakers include Debbie Nathan, El Paso award winning journalist, expert on the Juárez murders and author of Women and Other Aliens: Essays from the U.S.-México border and Esther Chávez Cano, leading human rights activist in Cd. Juárez who was recently highlighted in People in Spanish and has opened the first rape crisis center ever, Casa Amiga, in the border city.
The three panels include a gathering of female journalists from Cd. Juárez including Adriana Cadia de García, Ramona Ortíz, patricia Cabrera, Josefina Martínez and Isabel Velázquezwho have recently completed a book on their investigations of the murders; a group of crisis intervention and domestic violence experts will discuss issue of violence against women on the border which includes Ari Medina from the El Paso Sexual Trauma and Assault Response Services, Silvia Domingez from Cd. Juárez' Casa Amiga, Amy Amabile from Las Cruces' La Casa and Louise Tracy from Las Cruces' Piñon Sexual Trauma Recovery Services. Several legal and police authorities from Cd. Juárez who have been investigating the crimes or are working toward the security of women have been invited including Suly Ponce, special investigator for the murders of women, Arturo Rascón, attorney general in Chihuahua, Javier Benavidez, chief of security in Cd. Juárez and Steven Slater, public safety advisor for the Chihuahua attorney general.
There will also be two artistic performances including "Fist/Hand" by Mei Ling Po McKay, a multi-media reading and dance collage investigating domestic violence.
Finally, the film "Performing the Border," by artist and videomaker Ursula Biemann will be shown as part of the event pending on funding.
The conference will be simultaneously interpreted and will serve as an excellent educational and regional opportunity for students, educators and other interested people.
For Additional Information In Spanish
and English Please Go To: http://www.nmsu.edu/~wstudies