Jennifer Clement's 'Prayers For The Stolen'

Can you imagine a young woman you know being stolen? Disappearing without a trace and when you look for help, you are told that there is nothing anyone can do. Sadly, this is the reality of many families in Mexico. According to Jennifer Clement, “In Mexico today women are stolen off the street or taken from their houses at gunpoint. Some women never return home from their work place, a party or from walking to the corner. They are all young and poor and pretty.” (Clement). I have read Clement’s book “Prayers for the Stolen” about these young women in a village in Mexico being abducted and the struggles their families went through. It made me wonder how much of it was true and how much was fiction. I started to research about it and I was chocked to know that women in Mexico are indeed disappearing, being stolen from their families, and not much is being done to stop it. Women in Mexico are underrepresented, suffering from violence increase, losing the power over their bodies and lives, and they are not being properly heard from authorities.

Women in Mexico are completely underrepresented.

Although women have conquered more power over the years, machismo still rules all over Mexico. Women is taught to be “stay-at-home” individuals and serve the men of her family and society. That type of thinking reinforces domestic violence, street violence, and the formation of groups that kidnap young women due to women’s vulnerability and the lack of protection in Mexico. Brooke Binkowski says that, “this issue’s been going on for a long time: the mistreatment of women, especially women of colour, the abuse of women, the disappearance of women” (Binkowski). Despite all the fight for equal rights, women are still treated like inferior

individuals.
Femicidio (femicide in English), or de violence against women, is increasing each year. According to UN, “more than 2,500 deaths of women in Mexico can be attributed to gender-targeted violence. The Nacional Citizen Femicide Observatory, stated that at least six women are targeted and killed every day in Mexico” (Binkowski). Countless victims are targeted online. Since Mexico culture is machista, many young women dream of a different future and believe scammers that promise them a better life. They leave their homes thinking about a change, a good opportunity to grow, and then they are being trafficked, forced into prostitution, or killed. There are also drug cartels that simply invade people’s house and steal the young women’s in the household or steal them on the streets. To protect their girls, families are hiding them in shelters under the ground, making girls look like boys our making them look ugly to avoid trafficker’s attention. But should not their country be protecting them, also?
While femicide rates are rising, Mexican authorities are trying to hide it. Although there was an alert declared because of the high level of violence against women and their disappearance, authorities are in most cases, blaming the victim or involved in local mafias. According to Duncan Tucker, “instead of denying, criminalizing or stigmatizing women, they should at least approach them and listen to what happened to them in order to see what can be done to help” (Tucker). The victims that were found or have escaped a kidnap attempt, are not being heard, not having the right support from specialists, what could help to reduce the number of fatalities. Clement says that “the government has vowed to find a more effective means to fight the country's violence, but has yet to produce any kind of plan” (Clement). Authorities should investigate better the cases and reasons behind the high levels of femicide and introduce an effective measure to protect Mexican women.

Throughout the years, women from all over the world have been fighting for equal rights. Women have proved their worth and all they are capable of. All women are precious and valuable. However, Mexican women need more attention at this moment. They are strong, determined, beautiful and deserve more respect. They have the right be heard and to have power over their own lives.