Activist discusses femicide

By Catherine Ragsdale
The Collegian

Murder was on the minds of Fresno State students who attended the “Justice for Women on the Border/ Stop the Femicide!” lecture Tuesday.

The tour came to Fresno State with grassroots organizer and Mexican activist Verónica Rosario Leyva.

“The tour is meant to ask the kind of questions that need to be answered. It’s meant to incite activism, but especially awareness of the injustices going on and the reality that we could do something about it,” Chicano and Latin American studies professor Cristina Herrera said.

Leyva has spent the past 15 years holding workshops about women’s and worker’s rights. She spoke in Spanish with an interpreter present and supplemented her talk with a PowerPoint.

Leyva spoke about the more than 400 murders of women that have occurred on the border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and how the murders affect Fresno State students and all U.S. citizens.

Ciudad Juarez shares a border with El Paso, Texas, and Sunland Park, New Mexico. Leyva discussed how the negative impacts of corporate globalization could clearly be seen. Leyva said many of the murdered women worked in factories that assemble products for the United States.

Leyva encouraged a push for the Mexican government to end the violence against these women.

“Only a few hundred miles away these atrocities are occurring. We can’t just say ‘pobrecito.’ Don’t take [the presentation] for granted,” said College of Social Sciences Dean Luz Gonzalez to the students at the beginning of the presentation.

Freshman Gerardo Ochoa isn’t taking the opportunity for granted.

“I think the U.S. should be more involved [with the murders] since it’s so close to the border. If a group forms on campus, I’ll join,” Ochoa said.

Senior Marisela Morales is double-majoring in Chicano and Latin American studies and criminology. Morales isn’t involved in any groups yet, but she may choose to in the future.

“I think this is a good way to see something actually being done about the issue. They’ll get more of a reaction by promoting awareness. I hope to get involved in the future,” Morales said.

There is a group Fresno State students can get involved with during school to help fight against the injustices.

“Originally, we were no more than a discussion group,” senior Angel Galvez said, president of Juarez Femicide Action Committee.

The recruitment commitment of the non-profit organization is currently using professors to get the word out to students. Work with the committee is voluntary.

“If the government isn’t going to [resolve the issue] for us, we need to do it ourselves,” Herrera said.

Comment on this story in the News forum >>