Creating a testimony of the unspeakable : testimonial injustice, affects and political mobilization of indigenous women in México

english

2025

volume 57, issue 1

femicide   feminicide   indigenous women   Latin America   México   testimonies   violence

Slovensko filozofsko društvo
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

In the context of wide spread violence that México has experienced increasingly since the launch of the War on Drugs trafficking in 2007, victims’ testimonies have emerged across various settings, fostering empathy and constructing a narrative that challenges the criminalization and societal passivity in the face of violent death. These testimonies have played a crucial role in shaping commemorative practices and facilitating reparative processes in cases where impunity persists. However, the construction of testimonies and memories is far from neutral. These narratives are shaped by intersecting racial, gender, and class dynamics that influence what can be told and heard at a given time. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in the Zongolica region in the Gulf of México, this article explores how the testimonies of Indigenous women have been subjected to specific forms of injustice. Their experiences of violence are often denied, their credibility questioned, and the harms they endured erased, leaving them marginalized within accepted testimony of violence. Furthermore, the article highlights how Indigenous women and their communities are actively seeking truth and justice by creating alternative testimonial practices to promote reparations processes, foster solidarity, and bring to light the profound impacts of militarization and criminal violence in their communities.

07.07.2026