‘Do you really want to keep going with this?’: reporting gender-based violence in public transportation in Saltillo, Mexico

Abstract

This paper extends scholarship on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) through a case study in Saltillo, Mexico. The work is based on interviews (N:12) and survey work (N: 611) with women who have experienced GBV in spaces of public transport (busses) in this city. We extend existing work through an analysis of the role of the local state in GBV by exploring women’s experiences of the systems in place to report and redress episodes of GBV in spaces of public transport. Building on existing conceptual work in feminist geography, we argue that systems for reporting gender-based violence in public transport can function as a mechanism of re-victimisation on the part of local authorities. Based on this analysis, we argue that the Mexican state is not only failing in its commitment to enable women to live lives free from violence but also acting as an agent of further violence

Keywords:

• Gender-based violence
• local authority
• Mexico
• public transport
• reporting processes
• re-victimisation
• role of the state
• sexual harassment
• Saltillo

Acknowledgements

Diana greatly appreciates the support provided by Chevening Scholarships, the UK government’s global scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organisations. This paper stems from the work conducted to obtain the title of MSc. International Planning and Urban Design at Cardiff University, under the supervision of Dr Kate Boyer. It would not have been possible to complete this study without each testimony provided by the participants who shared their stories: Jade, Luisa, Julliette, María, Julia, Lola, Violeta, Verónica, Carmen, Luna María, Paloma and Elena. Lastly, both researchers wish to thank the team of editors and reviewers that have contributed to the publication of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diana Infante-Vargas

Diana Infante-Vargas studied architecture at Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. Her interest in cities, mobility and urban design led her to study MSc. International Planning and Urban Design with a fully funded Chevening Scholarship at Cardiff University. Her research interest includes public transportation, walkable cities, and urbanism and cities through a gender perspective.

Kate Boyer

Kate Boyer is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, having received her PhD from McGill University and her MA from the University of British Columbia. She is a Human Geographer with research interests in Social, Cultural and Feminist Geography. In recent years she has studied geographies of gender and care as relating to breastfeeding and new parents’ experiences of mobility and immobility.