* * *
For Audio Story Click HERE
Francisco Torres, relative of the murdered women in Chiuahua was present at the Press Conference located at the University Museum Courtyard.
New Mexico State University and the College of Arts and Sciences commenced the Second Annual J. Paul Taylor Symposium on Social Justice Wednesday, to begin three days of intense discussion and reflection on the topic, “Justice for Women.”
The symposium will feature 50 panelists presenting different views on the issue, along with various art exhibits and an evening vigil that will focus on the topic of violence against women everywhere.
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Waded Cruzado-Salas explained that the overall goal of the symposium is to get people talking on both sides of the border about a serious problem that has been ignored for many years. “We need to use this opportunity as a vehicle to explore these important issues,” Cruzado-Salas said.
NMSU President Michael V. Martin described that universities and other places of higher learning have an obligation to help their respective communities with social justice issues. Martin declared the week of March 27 through April 2 Social Justice Week at NMSU.
“Through this symposium and declaration, we at New Mexico State University issue a cry for justice for women not only in the border region, but everywhere,” Martin said in a statement released Wednesday.
As various guests spoke briefly about the subject, family members of the victims of violence sat quietly nearby, with pictures of their lost loved ones proudly displayed on their chests. However, they soon found their voice and gave a strong plea to the border community to help find justice for their loved ones, and to find the individuals responsible for the murders.
Alex Cruz, theMerge
Mothers of the victimes hold up pictures of loved ones at the Kent Hall press conference Wednesday afternoon.
“The blame for the deaths of over 400 women belonged to the Mexican government for ignoring a growing problem that has gone on for over 12 years,” said Malu Andrade, who lost her sister to the ongoing border violence.
Patricia Cervantes who lost her daughter, Nevra Azucena Cervantes in May of 2003, described in Spanish, her frustration with the Mexican authorities.
“Our government gives us nothing but words, no action. We are waiting for justice. The government of Chihuahua has been covering up these murders, its not fair to us,” Cervantes said.
Many of the women participating in the symposium are members of various organizations that were created to spread the word to find justice for the murders and to end the violence that has taken so many innocent lives.
Andrade is a member of an organization called Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa, meaning “our daughters coming home,” and Cervantes is with Justicia Para Nuestras Hijas, meaning “justice for our daughters.” The names alone are enough to describe the common effort these women have undertaken to honor the ones they miss dearly.
Despite the grief and sorrow that these individuals have endured, these women are strongly united together toward one common goal: To search for justice for their daughters and sisters.
“We are mutilated women. They have ripped our heart out, but we are still here,” Cervantez said. “But we are one big family, united toward the same cause.”
