Ask Amnesty

Derek L. McDaniel, Austin, Texas:

I would like to know which corporations have maquiladoras in Juarez and why they have failed to provide more security for the women who work in these factories. Do you think that they (the corporations) have some responsibility for not doing more?

From AI volunteer Helga Arnadottir, who researched this question:

Dear Derek,

Thank you for your questions.

Eighty Fortune 500 companies have facilities in the Ciudad Juarez area [teamnafta.com]. Alcoa, General Electric, Du Pont, Ford, Thomson RCA, Honeywell, 3M, Amway, TDK and Kenwood are among companies operating there. Corpwatch.com provides some information on maquiladoras in Mexico and a list of companies that operate maquiladoras in the country (http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=1528).

Many of the missing or murdered women were employees of maquiladoras at the time of their murder, and some of them were attacked on their way to and from work. Most maquila workers must travel a long way from the outskirts of the city to the maquilas by bus, and often have to walk through dark areas; that fact makes the workers particularly vulnerable to attack. The rule that some maquilas have of not accepting employees that arrive late has been criticized, since it has occurred that a female employee, who was turned away from a maquila, was murdered on her way back home.

One of AI's recommendations is that the Mexican state must ensure that the maquiladoras meet their legal obligations to their employees. AI also encourages companies to adopt or improve measures to protect their employees at the work place and on their way to and from work in cooperation with the city's authorities. It is also important that companies use their influence and work together with the authorities to improve public safety and prevent gender-based crime, e.g. by organizing workshops among employees to raise awareness about issues of violence against women. AI calls on upon the companies, whose employees have been abducted or murdered, to cooperate fully with the investigation and use their influence to urge the Mexican local and national authorities to investigate and punish the crimes and to be informed of the progress made in the investigations.