Bourdeau 1

Cassandra Bourdeau

Javier Campos

ETHS-2430

April 12th, 2018

“There is so much I want to, and cannot, change.” These are the words of many

Latina/o’s in Mexico and in the United States. According to an article in the LA times, nearly

half of Mexican American women have been subjected to rape, grouping, or other forms of

sexual violence, according to the United Nations, which ranks Mexico among the most violent

countries for women. “At least 3 million incidents of sexual assault have been filed by women

between 2010 and 2015 in Mexico City.” (Threadgould. Michelle) Many women never report

crimes because of shame or lack of trust in the justice system and even the government. To help

decrease sexual violence crimes Mexico City Mayor Miguel Mancer issued rape whistles to the

women so that they could alert police and close by citizens when they were being

attacked.(Threadgould, Michelle) In many cases, women wouldn’t be able to use the whistles

until the initial deed was done and the attacker had run away at that point. The phrase “Tu

denuncia es tu major defense” translates to “denouncement (official complaint) is your best

defense.” was engraved on these rape whistles. The whole rape whistle campain was ridiculous

to Lucia Toledo, a doctoral candidate of sociology at National Autonomous University of

Mexico. She was mad that the government took sexual violence as a joke sort of and doesn’t take

sexual violence on a high enough level of seriousness. She states the government attitude

towards sexual violence as “Women have to prepare themselves, and are responsible for
 Bourdeau 2

confronting violence, while men are the ones who are the ones who are action violently and

being macho.”

Laura Garcia, the executive director of Semillas, a non-profit dedicated to funding

organizations across Mexico devoted to the advancement of women’s rights, also felt that the

whistles weren’t the correct steop towards solving the issue as saw it as the government “telling

women that they don’t have a voice, and to elevate their voice, they need to confront their

situation, and they are also responsible to leave that situation, and denounce what has happened

to them.” (Threadgould, Michelle)

How can women trust the government to defend them when the best they can do is come

up with whistles and say the best way to is to defend yourself?

Another step they made towards protecting women against sexual violence was the Metro

Station created women-only cars for use during rush hour. The entrances were guarded by police

officers to ensure women’s safety and to prevent men from trying to enter the women-only

trains.

A Columbian writer named Catalina Ruiz-Navarro who lives in Mexico City, launched a

twitter campaign of women who shared their stories of sexual violence under the hashtag

#MiPrimerAcoso, or “my first harassment.” this campaign later helped American women

participate in a similar effort against sexual violence when leaked audio of Donald Trump

bragging about grabbing women came out. “In Latin America, we have been told forever that it

is normal for men to comment on our bodies of grab us by our waists,” Ruiz-Navarro said.

(Linthicum, Kate) She noticed that every time a woman told her story it became known to others

to recognize and share their own stories of harassment. “A year ago, everyone would tell you that
 Bourdeau 3

men harassing you was a compliment, that it was cultural, that it was men being nice,”

(Linthicum, Kate)

All the sexual violence in Mexico brings up the stereotypes of Mexican communities that

live here in the United States. Lots of Mexican man get called rapists because of the crime in the

country they came from. Statistics show that Latinos in the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS)

National Crime Victimization Survey breaks down such stats by victims. For 2013 (the most

recent year available), it shows that whites accounted for 71 percent of all sexual assaults

documented (above their total percentage of 63 percent of the U.S. population), while Latinos

accounted for 9 percent, far below their total percentage of 17 percent. And as a percentage of all

“serious violent victimizations,” sexual assaults represent 11 percent of the violent crimes

against Latinos. But while many of these girls are fleeing their homes because of fears of being

sexually assaulted, according to the UNHCR, they are still meeting that same fate on their

journey to freedom.

“Why are we in charge of violence against women when we aren’t the ones committing

the violence?” This quote brings up a lot of questions. It seems like only women are fighting for

their own protection. What can we do to better protect Latino communities against sexual

violence?

First the issue needs to be addressed all the statistics and evidence is there to prove that it

is happening. Women who get sexually assaulted need to stop being afraid and to come forward

with their stories. Many keep it to themselves afraid of the consequences of them taking a stand.

Women need to feel support when something this personal happens to them, and its

embarrassing to talk about but the problems of sexual violence won’t go away unless we take a

stand for women empowerment. Next, step would be to have parents start taking steps with the
 Bourdeau 4

future generation of man and to teach them how to respect girls, and to never lay a hand on one,

or touch one without rightful permission. Most men if raised right know how to treat a woman. I

know some outside forces can change a person and therefore change them where they’re able to

hurt a woman without feeling bad or think it’s ok because men are stronger than women.

A program where a woman can go to feel support, comfortable, and even seek self-

defense moves is much needed. I would start reaching out to local karate studios, gyms, etc. that

can maybe provide an hour of their time to teach self-defense moves to all women of any age.

Sexual violence effects women of all age, color, race, etc. Women taking a stand and learning

some moves to help avoid a terrible situation will help make a decline in sexual violence crimes

all over.

Program- “Somos más Fuertes” – “We are Stronger”

Marketing- visit local karate, gyms, etc. that provide classes. Give a speech on your idea

and see if they are willing to volunteer some time to show women of all ages self-defense moves.

Also find a place that is willing to maybe provide a room for survivors of sexual violence so they

can support each other and share stories, experiences, etc. Make posters and hang them up and

ask for survivors to take a stand and help with the cause.

Services: counseling, support groups, self-defense classes

Administration: Volunteers, Leader of the Program

Location: Local gyms, or karate studios

Costs: Donations, Sponsors, Etc.

As I did my research there is also a lot of rape victim crisis centers in many states that

provide counseling, and other services free of charge. There is also a rape hot line that victims

can call. I also think getting in touch with Catalina Ruiz-Navarro who did the twitter campaign in
 Bourdeau 5

Mexico City of the #my first harassment and Laura Garcia, the executive director of Semillas

would be open to finding a place to offer self- defense classes for women of all ages who would

like to learn some ways of protecting themselves and help decrease the numbers of those affected

by sexual violence.

I didn’t find any resistance groups. Sad to say but I think if women start taking a stand

the attackers will have less and less victims to victimize and hopefully stop sexual violence all

together. But I don’t think the men would be happy seeing women learning how to defend

themselves. Perpetrators would have less women to take advantage of. Also the Mexico city

government seems to not be all for decreasing sexual violence since the form of action their

taking aren’t all that serious.

My Interview I did on the subject wasn’t a direct interview but I watched a video of a

woman maned Kristie Love who got raped in 2010 while visiting a well know resort in Riviera

Maya, Mexico. She tried reporting it but the hotel refused to call the police. She then went on to

post her experience and warn others on the website TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor is well known for

accepting honest postings but Kristie comment got removed from the website saying it wasn’t

family friendly for the website. Kristie was trying to warn others that the hotel ignored her rape

case and didn’t fire the security guard that committed the act.
 Bourdeau 6

Works Cited

Arellano, Gustavo. “Donald Trump's Wrong. Mexicans Aren't Going to Rape You.” POLITICO

Magazine, 8 July 2015, www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/donald-trump-mexicans-

119849.

Goldberg, Eleanor. “80% Of Central American Women, Girls Are Raped Crossing Into The

U.S.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017,

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/12/central-america-migrants-rape_n_5806972.html.

Linthicum, Kate. “Why Mexico Is Giving out Half a Million Rape Whistles to Female Subway

Riders.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2016, www.latimes.com/world/mexico-

americas/la-fg-mexico-sexual-assault-20161017-snap-story.html.

Rutledge, Raquel, and Andrew Mollica. “TripAdvisor Removed Warnings about Rapes and Injuries

at Mexico Resorts, Tourists Say.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, 29 Dec. 2017,

www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/2017/11/01/tripadvisor-removed-warnings-rapes-

and-injuries-mexico-resorts-tourists-say/817172001/.

Threadgould, Michelle. “The Pink Ghetto of Women's Issues in Mexico: From Rape Whistles to

Subway Cars.” Pacific Standard, 26 Jan. 2017, psmag.com/news/the-pink-ghetto-of-womens-

issues-in-mexico-from-rape-whistles-to-subway-cars.