Journalist Lydia Cacho on the Women’s Strike in Mexico

LYDIA CACHO: Well, 15 years ago I was incarcerated and tortured by the government because of a book I published naming names of big group of politicians and business men that were doing child trafficking and sexual exploitation in Mexico. And after that, I went after all these guys. And last year, the Mexican government recognized that they tortured me and they put me in jail unjustly.

And after that, they decided to allow a judge to chase this man that flee Mexico and they sent some sicarios or hit men, seven months ago to my house to try to kill me. They kill my dogs and they were after me. So, I had to flee Mexico last July and I’ve been traveling around trying to save my life. Mexico, you know this and a lot of people must know it. It is the most dangerous country after Syria for journalists.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: For journalists and for women because we’re talking about, you know, the terrible, terrible statistics. I mean, we said 10 a day.

Actually, the statistics show that it’s 10 and 1/2 women are killed every single day in Mexico.

Do you think what happened to you was partly because of your gender? But how — and how do you explain what’s happening to women in that country right now, in your country?

CACHO: Well, absolutely. Article 19 and many organizations from all over the world had demonstrated how violence against women and female journalists is very different to violence against men and male journalists. One of them is the kind of torture that we have suffered, the ones that have gone through torture or incarceration.

And sexism, machoism, bigotry and it’s a cultural issue in many countries. Mexico is within of them. And of course, now, the new president is not helping at all because he has been denying violence against women. He has been saying one day one thing one day and then the other day correcting himself and the women in his cabinet and this is making a real big political mess on one hand.

And then on the other hand, there’s a big reaction of a lot of Mexican men that are not happy with women’s liberation movement. And they are not happy with all these amazing, young women that are moving towards freedom, freedom of expression and their own freedom and in sexuality, in their own love life and everywhere and the economic area in Mexico. And the reaction is terrible.

You remember what happened in the femicides and all the killing of women 30 years ago in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. Now, it’s happening all over the country.