Fonda, Field, Ensler honor Mexican victims of violence against women

[La_Serpiente]

From Yahoo News

Fonda, Field, Ensler honor Mexican victims of violence against women



CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AFP) - In a Valentine's Day (news - web sites) show of solidarity with Mexican victims of violence against women, a raft of American show business celebrities came to Ciudad Juarez declaring, "the dead women of Juarez" were their daughters, too.

"We are here because 300 young women are not," actress Sally Field (news) told a rally organized in this Mexican-US border town by V-Day, the international feminist movement formed in 1998 by playwright Eve Ensler, author of the Vagina Monologues.

"We must listen to this injustice and we must exert pressure to protect the mothers of these women," she said. "They are your daughters, but now they are mine too, and we should fight for them."

Field, Ensler and actress Jane Fonda (news) led a protest march through the streets of Juarez City demanding information on the assassinations and disappearances of at least 375 women in this region.

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Fonda, Field, Ensler honor Mexican victims of violence against women

From the Houston Chronicle

Celebrities join protest of Juarez slayings

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- Actresses Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Christine Lahti urged the Mexican government to provide sufficient resources to new officials helping investigate the slayings of hundreds of women in this rough border city.

Hundreds of people gathered today to join the actresses and playwright Eve Ensler in a march to denounce the slayings and support families of the victims.

"I'm here because 300 young, vibrant women are not," said Field, joining a panel of actresses, female members of the U.S. Congress, mothers of victims, and Mexico's newly appointed commissioner and special prosecutor for the killings. "Now is the time on this planet when we have to stand up and shine the light on injustice."

The massive march was co-sponsored by Amnesty International and the nonprofit organization V-Day Foundation led by Ensler, author of the "Vagina Monologues." The foundation combats violence against women worldwide.

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Celebrities join protest of Juarez slayings

Amnesty International

DEVELOPMENTS AS OF SEPTEMBER 2003 IN JUAREZ, MEXICO

• "When evaluating what this government has achieved in terms of human rights, the crucial benchmark the international community and Mexican civil society will use will be whether it has been able to turn words into action". (Irene Khan, Proceso, 16 August 2003)
  

The Secretary General of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, visited Mexico between 9 and 14 August 2003 to present a report entitled Intolerable killings: 10 years of abductions and murder of women in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua to the Mexican authorities, relatives of the victims and the national and international media.

During the visit, Irene Khan travelled to Ciudad Juárez to meet with affected families and women's and human rights organizations. She also laid a floral tribute to commemorate the victims which took place at the former cotton field where eight bodies were found in November 2001.

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DEVELOPMENTS AS OF SEPTEMBER 2003