Storify: Machismo and the threat to Latin American women
Sylvia Gereda explains ‘femicide,’ the murder of women, at the Women in the World Summit.
NEW YORK – Latin American women are some of the most marginalized in the world. Human trafficking, kidnapping and murder are horrific side-effects of the drug war. But it's not just the cartels that get away with gruesome crimes against women and girls. Almost no one has gone to trial for forced prostitution or murder, and even fewer have been incarcerated.
At the Women in the World Summit, a panel featuring some of the people working to fix the broken, corrupt legal systems and highlight rights abuses in those countries discussed the issues faced by women in Central and South America.
Mexican Congresswoman Rosi Orozco fights to change laws and shine a light on these problems. Sylvia Gereda investigates and reports on them in the newspapers of Guatemala. And filmmaker, actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal has made a series of four short films that profile the terrors migrant women face as they travel north to cross the border.
The panel was graphic, and audible gasps were heard from the audience. But it also inspired a lively social media conversation. I made a Storify representation of the discussion that took place – both on stage and on social media.