Spring Break
The women of Juarez are in hell
Tyler Allen
Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: News
"So suddenly, you have people that used to barter beans and corn - suddenly get a tax on the land," Jitner said.
Many Mexicans could not afford the taxes, and the companies that owned the maquiladoras took advantage.
The companies would send contractors to these little villages and explain to the people that they can earn $5 a day by working in their factories.
This was appealing to these people because it gave them hope of saving their land.
This caused a huge migration to Juarez. From 1993 to the present, the population rose from 300,000 to approximately 4 million.
Jitner explained that most every person working in the maquiladoras are female.
"The women are very clear about the hierarchy in terms of gender and they will not rebel, they will not organize, they will not fight back," Jitner said.
Most of the men migrate to the U.S. for work to send money home to their families. According to Jitner, 60 percent of Mexico's economy comes from the U.S.
To expose the horrendous treatment of women in these factories, Jitner wrote "La Frontera/The Border."
The documentary follows Eva Canseco, a woman recently fired from a maquiladora.
To avoid an uprising of their workforce, the maquiladoras fire employees when they get too old or could potentially use their seniority to organize the women.
Canseco eventually decided to flee to the U.S. in search of work, leaving her children behind.
She does this to keep her daughters from having to become enslaved to the maquiladoras.
Along with developing deformities and medical complications due to the toxic environments of the maquiladoras, these women run the risk of being kidnapped, raped and murdered.
Since these factories run 24 hours a day, the women must go to and from work in the middle of the night. That is when they are susceptible to being taken for human trafficking or organ harvesting.
"Amnesty International estimates that right now there are 475 who have been abducted, brutally raped and murdered," Jitner said.
Jitner has dedicated much of her life to exposing these crimes and doing her part to save the women of Juarez.
Jitner became the first Latina ever to be nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Emmy as an executive producer, writer and director for her miniseries "American Family."
She is currently working as an executive producer and writer on the HBO miniseries "Rain of Gold."
A copy of "La Frontera/The Border" is available on the special features portion of "Bordertown," on DVD now.
tallen@unews.com
Many Mexicans could not afford the taxes, and the companies that owned the maquiladoras took advantage.
The companies would send contractors to these little villages and explain to the people that they can earn $5 a day by working in their factories.
This was appealing to these people because it gave them hope of saving their land.
This caused a huge migration to Juarez. From 1993 to the present, the population rose from 300,000 to approximately 4 million.
Jitner explained that most every person working in the maquiladoras are female.
"The women are very clear about the hierarchy in terms of gender and they will not rebel, they will not organize, they will not fight back," Jitner said.
Most of the men migrate to the U.S. for work to send money home to their families. According to Jitner, 60 percent of Mexico's economy comes from the U.S.
To expose the horrendous treatment of women in these factories, Jitner wrote "La Frontera/The Border."
The documentary follows Eva Canseco, a woman recently fired from a maquiladora.
To avoid an uprising of their workforce, the maquiladoras fire employees when they get too old or could potentially use their seniority to organize the women.
Canseco eventually decided to flee to the U.S. in search of work, leaving her children behind.
She does this to keep her daughters from having to become enslaved to the maquiladoras.
Along with developing deformities and medical complications due to the toxic environments of the maquiladoras, these women run the risk of being kidnapped, raped and murdered.
Since these factories run 24 hours a day, the women must go to and from work in the middle of the night. That is when they are susceptible to being taken for human trafficking or organ harvesting.
"Amnesty International estimates that right now there are 475 who have been abducted, brutally raped and murdered," Jitner said.
Jitner has dedicated much of her life to exposing these crimes and doing her part to save the women of Juarez.
Jitner became the first Latina ever to be nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Emmy as an executive producer, writer and director for her miniseries "American Family."
She is currently working as an executive producer and writer on the HBO miniseries "Rain of Gold."
A copy of "La Frontera/The Border" is available on the special features portion of "Bordertown," on DVD now.
tallen@unews.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Brian
posted 3/30/09 @ 3:43 PM CST
Obama come bail these people out! I don't mind paying for it! NOT
Chato
posted 4/01/09 @ 2:27 PM CST
racist pussy i wish u would tell that to someone from juarez
kelly
posted 5/14/09 @ 2:11 PM CST
Brian, you are really pathetic! I can't believe you actually wasted your time writing that comment. Go get a life!
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