Human rights along the U.S.-Mexico border

Much political oratory has been given to safeguarding America's boundary with Mexico, but policies that militarize the border and criminalize immigrants have overshadowed the region's widespread violence against women, the increase in crossing deaths, and lingering poverty that spurs people to set out on dangerous northward treks. This book addresses those concerns by focusing on gender-based violence, security, and human rights from perspective of women who live with both violence and poverty. From Pacific to Gulf of Mexico, scholars from both sides of the 2,000-mile border reflect expertise in disciplines ranging from international relations to criminal justice, conveying a more complex picture of the region than that presented in other studies. Initial chapters offer an overview of routine sexual assaults on women migrants, harassment of Central American immigrants by authorities and residents, corruption and counterfeiting along the border, and near-death experiences of border crossers. More chapters connect analysis with solutions in the form of institutional change, social movement activism, policy reform, and spread of international norms that respect human rights and good governance. These chapters show how all facets of border situation including globalization, NAFTA, economic inequality, organized crime, political corruption, and rampant patriarchy promote gendered violence and expressions of hyper-masculinity. They also show that U.S. immigration policy exacerbates problems of border violence. By focusing on women's everyday experiences in order to understand human security issues, these contributions offer broad-based alternative approaches and solutions that address everyday violence and inattention to public safety, inequalities, poverty, and human rights--Publisher's description.