International Conference to Examine the Murders of Women in Mexico, Canada and Guatemala May 16, 2007

The conference Feminicide = Sanctioned Murder: Race, Gender and Violence in Global Context will be examining the murders and disappearances of women in Mexico, Guatemala and Canada that are occurring on an epidemic scale.

The aim and purpose of the conference is to stop the violence and map out ways to bring about justice. Distinguished participants include Elena Poniatowska, one of Mexico’s most eminent writers, whose innovative writing advocates for women and the poor in their struggle for social and economic justice, and Lidia Cacho, who recently received an award from Amnesty International for exposing a net of pederasts linked to the government and big business, and for creating a shelter for the children, victims of trafficking and abuse in Cancún, Mexico.

The conference, presented by Chicana and Chicano Studies of The Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University, brings together the most knowledgeable experts on the subject of feminicide in recent years, including mothers of murdered and disappeared women, activists, academics, writers and journalists, human rights lawyers, artists and filmmakers.

In Ciudad Juarez alone over 400 victims have been murdered over the last fourteen years and over 600 have been reported disappeared. In Guatemala, more than 700 women a year are being killed with impunity. Recently, a conference in Canada revealed that over 100 indigenous women have been murdered in a similar manner.

Schedule:

* Killer’s Paradise, the screening of a new Canadian documentary about the feminicide in Guatemala. Discussion following.

When: Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Time: 7:00pm

Where: Main Quad, Building 260, Room 113



* Candlelight Vigil. People will gather to commemorate the women who have been murdered.

When: Thursday, May 17, 2007

Time: At dusk

Where: White Plaza



* Conference. Panels and featured speakers

When: Thursday and Friday, May 18 and 19

Where: Tresidder Union, Oak West



· Friday, May 18:

* Opening speaker: Elena Poniatowska (9:00-10:00 am)
* Relatives of Murdered Women (10:00 am-12:00 pm): Paula Flores (Juarez), Eva Arce
* (Juarez), Gwenda Yuzicappi (Canada), Norma Cruz (Guatemala)
* Cover Up: Corruption, Torture and Erasure (2:00-4:00 pm): Marisela Ortiz, Miguel David Meza, Lidia Cacho
* Plenary speaker: Rita Laura Segato (4:00-5:00), “Who Is Behind the Murders?”
* Art and Human Rights (7:00-9:00): Rosa-Linda Fregoso, Lourdes Portillo, Irene Simmons



· Saturday, May 19:

· Remedies (10:00am – 12:00 pm): Adriana Carmona, Esther Chávez Cano, Judith Galarza

· Judicial Reform (2:00 – 4:00 pm): Lucha Castro, Carlos Castresana Fernández, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (to be confirmed)

Official Website: http://ccsre.Stanford.edu