Juárez killings and mutilations
of women

According to Amnesty International, the bodies of at least 370 women, some raped and hideously mutilated, have been found in the area since 1993, and scores of other women are still missing. ///

A few of the artists working on Juárez-related projects are looking for innovative ways to address the killings from a nuanced, informed perspective while avoiding slasher-movie clichés and pulp-fiction conventions. 

Among the more unusual and anticipated works is a book being put together by actress Mia Kirshner (of Showtime's "The L Word") that will combine writings, photographs and other personal contributions from members of Juárez victims' families with text and illustrations reminiscent of the style of a graphic novel. 

The book will be issued in 2006 and also will include chapters on female refugees in the Russian republic of Ingushetia and along the Thailand-Myanmar border.

Kirshner says she has spent three years planning and researching the book. The granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she wanted it to convey the reflections and viewpoints of the people most directly affected by the hardships it chronicles.

"This book is not supposed to be this grand manifesto on the stage of humanitarian affairs," says Kirshner, who received a small grant from Amnesty International and is financing the rest of the project out of her own pocket. 

"It very much will be like you're looking into someone's diary... There will be nothing professional-looking about this book. It will be like looking into something very precious."

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< image : Artist Phoebe Gloeckner traveled to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico [with Mia Kirshner], to document the killings of young women there. This illustration will carry the explanation: "Identity unknown. The body of a woman, approximately 16 years old, was discovered on the 21st of March, 1997 at 19:00 hours, near the labor camps in the El Sauz Nuevo population."

from article Time to shout - Artists hope to raise the alarm about the murders of women and girls in Ciudad Juárez. But some say the works are sensationalistic. - By Reed Johnson, Los Angeles Times Aug 4 2004

> related articles :
FEMICIDE IN JUAREZ - By Pheona Donohoe
Art Born Out of Murder - By John Hiscock

designer Milton Glaser on dissent

Governments that have the least dissent are those that are most totalitarian. That is, in fact, the manifestation of dissent that defines democracy, 'cuz it means that there are oppositions to power that are freely expressed and that minority opinion is also considered to be worthwhile.

Generally speaking, dissent comes out of a sense of fairness that something is wrong. Power is being used unfairly, and there has to be some manifestation or complaint about it.

> from transcript of PBS program The Design of Dissent

> from the book: The Design of Dissent - Socially and Politically Driven Graphics - by Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic, foreword by Tony Kushner

"Dissent is an essential part of keeping democratic societies healthy, and our ability as citizens to voice our opinion is not only our privilege but our responsibility."....

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Bissell has studied women in the sex industry for nearly two decades. She has worked extensively with women in the criminal justice system with the mission to help them get out of prostitution, or "the life."

"The character's main goal is to expose the inter-relationship between childhood sexual abuse, promiscuity, and prostitution. 

"Juliet West battles the secret, silent conspiracy of shame that is immobilizing women around the United States, and worldwide.

"Every day, a child is exploited, every day, we look the other way. If I did not tell the truth about what happened in my lifetime as a result of my own experiences as an exploited child, it would be as if I too was looking the other way. 

"If no one tells the truth, the exploitation will become the norm."

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His acclaimed fiction, including the "Burke" series of novels, and nonfiction and textbook writing shine a bright light on the realities of child abuse -- all the while advancing strategies to combat it. 

His lectures and website (The Zero - vachss.com) are additional methods in his fight against people who hurt children. ...
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> Andrew Vachss : What's driven the formation of whatever I am today is not just what I've seen, but the literally omnipresent rage that it's left within me. 

The biggest single drive force in my life is anger. And the genesis of that anger is the abuse, the exploitation, the commercial trafficking, the -- there is no other name for it -- the torture of children.

But if you work at ground zero, without anger, you have no source of energy -- you sure as hell can't draw any energy from the "encouragement" of people who don't even want to look at what you're doing.

I never believed that sort of quasi-Nietzschean crap about looking into the abyss and the abyss looks into you, and, if you hate enough, you become what you hate. I consider that the sort of fake cynicism that really masks cowardice.

People have got a lot of excuses for not acting. Some say, "Oh, a person can be consumed by hate." Sure, but a person can be consumed by love, too. A person can be consumed by anything, to the point where we call it an obsession.

I never claimed that I do what I do because I love children. I admit freely I do it because I hate the people who prey on them. And I don't see any evidence that this is eating me up. 

I may not be the most charming dinner guest. I may not be a fun guy. But all I have to show for my life when I’m done -- the same as anybody else -- is how the place is different because I was in the room. I think hate's a pretty good fuel for the car that I've chosen to drive.

> from The World As They See It: Andrew Vachss - interview by Ken Kesegich, Case Magazine, Fall 2004 [Case Western Reserve University] - posted on vachss.com

The combined portrait of all the Angela Sheltons in America wakes us up to the realization that 50% of the Angelas -- rich and poor, struggling and successful, black and white -- have been abused, battered or raped at some time in their lives. 

Despite this alarming statistic, Searching for Angela Shelton leaves us not in despair, but in awe of the resilience and strength of women who have had the cards stacked against them.

Angela Shelton : This is my brother, Steve, who was also abused by my father. It is very important to realize that this problem is not just a woman's issue, this is a human issue and it is time to spread the word and protect our children. //

I wanted to do a survey of women in America by interviewing every woman with my name. 

I discovered that 16 out of 32 Angela Sheltons had been either raped, beaten or molested. That is 50%. 

And it doesn't mean that you shouldn't name your child Angela or that every Angela Shelton in a victim. It means that violence against women and children is an epidemic. 

It seems that the only way in which to battle it out is to transform ourselves and break the chain of abuse and move from the darkness to light. 

Child molesters and rapists steal our light; it is time we demanded our light back. My dream is for this movie to start a movement - a reverse epidemic of healing.

But the wounds from Angela's past had never fully healed. "I was self-mutilating when I was modeling," recalls Angela. "I would scratch myself down my face until I bled. I was suicidal. I'd actually attempted it once."

Years later, Angela wrote the screenplay for a movie based on the ups and downs of life with her mother. It was called Tumbleweeds [dvd] and it was about a girl growing up way too fast. 

But in her rush to maturity, Angela never dealt with her father. ...

"Abuse like this affects you forever. I was really close to my dad. I'm daddy's little girl," says Angela. "But yet my dad is a child molester. So it's like... it's a very twisted thing." ///

The new Angela Shelton Foundation.. "is dedicated to providing education and charitable assistance to those who seek to recover from sexual abuse.." says Angela. 

Even the Web site she started to promote her movie has become a place where abuse victims regularly email her for advice. " 'Tell your Story' is a whole forum I created to give a place where survivors can talk to each other, and talk to all the Angela Sheltons," says Angela.

My idea was to see where women are now, what we had been through, where we were going, our similarities just from the nature of being women. ...

the common denominator for so many Angela Sheltons [interviewed in the film] was abuse. ...

One of the people who saw it came up and said, "This movie is a Survivor's Guidebook." That puts it perfectly. It is like a guide in the sense that it breaks it down. 

It's sparking a conversation and getting people talking about incest, rape, and abuse. It is letting people know that they really are not alone. 

It's incredible how many people come out with their own stories after seeing it.

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Like his character, Luke has been abused. "I try not to emphasize on me because I feel Antwone had a harder life," Luke said... 

"I think sometimes people feel it may be selfish as an actor to use what you drew on to subtract from the real story. My whole thing was I felt free when I read the script. I felt like maybe I get to hide behind the script and tell my story.

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When asked if he had already come to terms with what had happened in his past when he started making the film, Luke said, "I'm healing now. 

"I think tapping into what I overcame and hearing other people's stories helped me heal. That's what I wanted to do. It's happening now."