Dominican University presents lecture on women’s rights in Juarez, Mexico

Dominican University will present a lecture by Mexican human rights activist Cipriana Jurado on Wednesday, October 27 at 6:30 p.m. The lecture, titled "Women's Rights and Economic and Environmental Justice in Juarez, Mexico," will be held in the auditorium of the Priory Campus, 7200 W. Division Street, River Forest.

Cipriana Jurado will address the economic, environmental and sexual exploitation of women in Mexico and discuss the unprecedented number of unsolved murders of women in the Juarez area.  She will also focus on current challenges and human rights violations resulting from the increased presence of the Mexican military along the border and the recent disappearances of human rights workers in Juarez.  

Jurado will share her experience of working in the maquiladoras (Mexican factories run by US companies that take advantage of inexpensive labor and lax regulations) and her efforts to organize workers and advocate for women's rights.  She will also discuss ongoing efforts by nonprofit organizations to provide social services to Juarez youth and what we, in other parts of the world, can do to help the situation in Mexico.  

An advocate for over 20 years, Jurado founded the nonprofit Center for Information and Solidarity for Working Women (CISO) in the mid-1990s. Since 2008, she has been involved in investigating human rights violations committed by the Mexican military in the name of reducing the flow of drugs into the US. Because of this work, she has received death threats. Amnesty International released an alert earlier this year asking the international community to protect Jurado and other human rights activists in Juarez from intimidation and death threats.

Jurado is currently enjoying temporary refuge in the US under the auspices of the Chicago Religious Leaders Network's immigration rights project.

For more information about this free lecture, please contact Leticia Villarreal Sosa, assistant professor in Dominican University's Graduate School of Social Work, at (708) 714-9440.