Mexico’s Disappearing Women

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News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.3 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2022

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The body of 18-year-old Debanhi Escobar was discovered in late April, inside a water tank in a motel on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico—weeks after she went missing. The identity of her killer is still unknown. The case has prompted a national outcry over the Mexican government’s consistent failure to deliver justice for missing women. But femicide in Mexico isn’t new, and past protests haven’t yielded meaningful change. Will this time be any different? Guest: Oscar Lopez, reporter for the New York Times based in Mexico City. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Joe Brand and I'm annoyed.
0:02.8	The unacceptable levels of homelessness this Christmas are no joke.
0:06.8	As the cost of living soars, people are being pushed out of their homes into temporary accommodation and onto freezing streets.
0:13.6	Crisis at Christmas offers a hot meal, health care and help with a place to stay.
0:18.3	The start of year-round specialist support.
0:21.2	This Christmas I'm standing with Crisis. Join me.
0:24.6	Search Crisis at Christmas and donate 29 pounds and 7 pence today. Thank you.
0:37.2	I asked Oscar Lopez, who reports for The New York Times, to help describe this photograph.
0:42.9	It's gone viral in Mexico.
0:45.1	The photograph shows a young woman standing on a highway looking out into the darkness.
0:51.7	She's wearing a face mask. You can see just the highway behind her and it's sort of unclear
1:01.6	you know why this photo was taken.
1:07.1	This photo is not skillfully framed. It's blurry.
1:11.0	But it's important because when it was taken, it's one of the last images we have of this teenager
1:18.3	before she went missing. You know what stood out to me about this photo?
1:25.3	She's wearing high tops. Yeah.
1:28.2	She seems a little like a kid that I went to high school with.
1:32.4	Definitely and I think that's you know part of again what made this photo kind of
1:38.6	haunting and viral is that she does look so young and fragile.
1:43.2	What's this woman's name? Her name is Debani.
1:46.4	Debani Escobar right? That's right. Debani Escobar.
1:56.4	Debani ended up at the side of the highway after leaving a party.
	...

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