MEXICO—Sometimes the targets of state terror are outright murdered or disappeared, like in the cases of the Ayotzinapa 43 or Mike Brown of Ferguson. Other times, the targets live to witness the perpetrators get off the hook.
That was the case in 2006 for over 40 women protesters in San Salvador Atenco who had been captured, abused, and tortured by police.
Eleven of those women have now come out to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about the sexist violence unleashed on them by the government. They were raped, beaten, openly humiliated, and then denied medical care. Not one of the nearly two dozen cops involved have been convicted.
The governor overseeing these atrocities was none other than the current president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto. The New York Times admits it is “unlikely that Mr. Peña Nieto’s government will conduct an investigation into whether he knew of or covered up the assaults.” The only impact this court ruling will have is a “deep embarrassment for [Nieto]” (9/22). Embarrassment will not stop the daily harassment, exploitation, and terrorization of women workers!
Prosecuting the Victim
“Rather than go after the police who committed the sexual torture, the state initially prosecuted the women. Five were imprisoned for a year or more, on charges like blocking traffic, detentions the commission found arbitrary…Mr. Peña Nieto told a local newspaper at the time that it was a known tactic of radical groups to have women make accusations of sexual violence to discredit the government” (NYT, 9/22)
The capitalist state first terrorizes and then criminalizes the targets of sexism. This double assault on women workers reveals just how central sexism is to maintaining state terror. Terrorizing those who have been super-exploited is one the bosses’ ways to ensure women don’t fight back and give leadership. This also acts as a setback for the whole working class. Without the leadership of working-class women, the movement against capitalism is crippled. The bosses understand this.
Women’s Place Is to Fight Back
The state’s resolve to terrorize women reveals another truth—when women fight back, shoulder to shoulder with working-class men, the bosses shake in fear. The 40 Atenco women were captured at a protest. This fact points to the distinct role working-class women play in the path to liberation from wage slavery.
Women, especially Black and Latin women, often provide some of the most militant leadership when it comes to fighting the bosses and their racist, sexist system, so the bosses need to terrorize women to stop them. In Mexico, women workers are leading the struggle in Oaxaca against the fascist attacks on teachers and students. In Baton Rouge, Black women made up the majority of the fighters against the police. In Brooklyn, Black women are leading the rallies and events against police terror.
No Profit, No Basis for Sexism
President Nieto’s attack on women fighters is typical in a system designed to super-exploit and oppress working-class women. Sexism equals billions of extra dollars in profits for the bosses because women are paid lower wages at work and women are responsible for unpaid labor at home in the form of childcare, cooking, and cleaning.
With a communist revolution, the working class army will abolish wages, capitalism, and the bosses’ state. There will be no more distinction between unpaid and paid labor, thus eliminating the material basis for sexism. Every member of society will share in the raising of children and other tasks that capitalism teaches us are “women’s work.” There will be no basis for unequal pay or benefits. All will receive according to their need, organized through a workers’ government.
Anything short of communism means women will continue to be exploited, abused, and terrorized. The Progressive Labor Party organizes in 27 countries to smash this sexist system. Join the fight!