Abstract
Influenced by critical carceral studies and abolition feminism, this non-empirical work identifies a political, social and economic carceral system that is fueled by existing racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, ableist and xenophobic ideologies, which both minimize resources for Latinx/a women and girls and increases the level of state violence perpetrated against them. The consequences of dispossession, subjugation and stigmatization have impacted Latina/x women's access to livable waged jobs, healthcare, safe and healthy food and water, adequate living conditions, quality education, and acceptance in American society. This violence is justified and considered necessary by constructing Latina/x women and girls as unworthy of state protection and state resource and as threats to the economy, culture and politics of the United States. Latina/x women, like other women of color, are not afforded the protections extended to white women by the state. Many Americans do not see them as the “good victim”, but often they are the “bad woman”, “bad mother”, “sexual deviant”, exploited laborer, culturally defiant, and increasingly they are “illegal”, “criminal” and “terrorist”. This results in Latinx/a women and girls being more likely to be imprisoned than white women and are one of the fastest growing prison populations in the United States.
TopIntroduction
When we think of sanctuary, ideas that come to mind include safety, refuge, peace, protection. For many of us, we think of sanctuary in only positive ways. However, “sanctuary” came under fire during the 2015 presidential election campaign when U.S. cities broadly defined as “sanctuary cities” were targeted by suggested immigration policy ‘reform’. The lack of legal conceptualization of what defines a sanctuary city, at the time, allowed narratives of sanctuary cities to be painted with a broad brush (McBeth and Lybecker, 2018). But for many people living in the margins, sanctuary that is offered by a state or municipality is nonexistent. This political conversation pushed some scholar activists to question, what does sanctuary mean for those living in the margins, or at and around the border, of the carceral United States? At the 2016 Justice Studies Association conference in Flagstaff Arizona, we gathered to discuss this question. One thing that was painfully clear in my work is Latinx/a women and girls are intentionally banned from state sanctuary. Exposed to a form of peaceful state violence (Trask, 2006), Latinx/a women and girls are exposed to structural inequities resulting in increased levels of poverty and interpersonal violence. The lack of safety net and state protection allotted for women of color in the United States, leaves Latinx/a women and girls in vulnerable positions. Latinx/a women and girls are targeted by aggressive forms of state-based violence through acts of domestic war. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is ever more pressing to critique the idea of sanctuary for Latinx communities in general, and for Latinx/a women and girls in particular.
Influenced by critical carceral studies and abolition feminism, this non-empirical work identifies a political, social and economic carceral system that is fueled by existing racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, ableist and xenophobic ideologies, which both minimize resources for Latinx/a women and girls and increases the level of state violence perpetrated against them. This chapter will highlight structural inequities that result in a ‘peaceful’ form of state violence, such as poverty and access to education, followed by a deeper dialogue on direct state violence which has disproportionally impacted Latinx/a women and girls. This chapter will address the ways that the state paints a narrative on the bodies of Latinx/a women and girls which serves to criminalize them and identify them as threats, diminishing social support. Although immigrant and undocumented women suffer immensely from state violence, this chapter centers research on Latinx/a women and girls of all documentation status1. There is a lack of research and inclusion of Latinx/a women in discussions of racist state violence, racial justice and equity. Because there is substantial work that focuses specifically on immigrant and undocumented women, the intention is to be inclusive of all Latinx/a women no matter what their documentation status. Furthermore, an obscure war on immigration impacts anyone who looks like an immigrant, which can be the case for many Brown women in and around the borders of the United States.
A Note on Terminology
The use of Latinx as a gender-neutral pan-ethnic term is used to describe a variety of people from diverse backgrounds. The use of this term does not intend to erase the individual identity of Latinx/a women and girls, nor does this chapter assume that Latinx/a women and girls identify as Latinx. The use of this term is solely a political choice made by the author to identify a diverse group of women and girls which the state has identified as Hispanic and do so in a gender inclusive way. In an effort to be inclusive, I use the term Latinx/a women and girls to include all spectrums of gender and age. It is important to note that there is no singular Latinx/a identity. The experiences of the women that identify as Latina/x are as diverse as the countries they are from, or their mothers are from, or their grandmothers. Generationally and culturally the experiences of Latinx/a women are different. And given the extent for which race is a risk factor of state violence, it is important to note that many Latinx/a women can pass as white, while others are Mestiza or India (indigenous appearance), while Afro-Latinas are often identified (and self-identify) as Black. The author2 understands the complexities of this and that some of the experiences described in this chapter vary for different people.