The Force of Witness: Contra Feminicide

by Rosa-Linda Fregoso

In The Force of Witness Rosa-Linda Fregoso examines the contra feminicide movement in Mexico and other feminist efforts to eradicate gender violence. Drawing on interviews, art, documentaries, and her years of activism, Fregoso traces the micro and macro scales of misogyny and the patterns of state complicity with gender violence. She shows how different forms of witnessing—from activist-mothers’ bearing witness to the memories of their daughters and expert witnesses in court cases to communal witnessing and a scholar-activist-citizen witnessing her own actions—are key to resisting feminicidal violence. Fregoso situates these forms of witness in the histories, contexts, structures, bodies, and intersectional struggles they emerge from. By outlining the complexities of feminicidal violence in relation to witnessing processes, Fregoso challenges the notion of witness as an individual or autonomous subject inscribed solely in the legal or religious arenas. Rather, she theorizes witness as a force of collectivity and a constellation of multiple social locations and intersectional practices that work together to abolish feminicidal violence.

Genres: Nonfiction

248 pages, Paperback

Published March 24, 2023

Reviews

[Sunny Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feminicide, gender violence, border crossings and refugees and asylum seekers— harrowing accounts abound in this book. Some of the argumentation felt somewhat weak, but maybe that’s me as a reader. As a text, this is not one of the best academic books I’ve read, but not the worst.

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really refreshing anti-carceral take on feminicide, but the author kept going “women and trans people” and then never talked about trans people save one line about two trans activists who had been assassinated

[luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enlightening and informative, Fregoso combines anecdotal and factual reports on the impact of feminicide in Mexico. While I do think that this has the potential to be a quick, accessible read to those unaware of these circumstances in Mexico, I feel that a lot of portions of the book were repetitive and failed to make consistent, impactful points. The repetition, for me, disrupted the smooth flow of the text that Fregoso originally establishes. That being said, I still enjoyed reading the different ways Fregoso represented how feminicide is being countered, such as through art and movements.

[Alana · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The photos and accounts in this book were heartbreaking and horrifying. The author does a beautiful job of showing the strength and telling the stories of these girls and women.

Unfortunately I found some of the arguments made in the book to be weak, and some of the information included to be unnecessary and distract from the point the book was trying to make.

[Zeenah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detail of feminicide and other gendered forms of violence as structural and systemic phenomena within the Global North and South, but primarily in Ciudad Juárez. Brief discussions of what it means to be a refugee, as well as how such a term is politicized and exacerbates gendered violence. Rosa-Linda adopts an anti-carceral perspective in her book, though I feel some more arguments should have been made to perhaps address restorative justice. She also mentions violence against trans women frequently, though no anecdotes were really brought up to address that phenomenon. So, while she acknowledges the importance of intersectionality and how gendered violence consists of systemic issues such as economic insecurity; unequal access to education, jobs, and health care; the criminalization of abortion; etcetera, it would have been helpful to include case studies of feminicide and trafficking of trans women in Mexico, as she mentions they are a very vulnerable group, along with Mestizas and the indigenous peoples of Mexico.

[Rawan · Rating 3 out of 5]

dnf @ 50%. I really enjoyed the prelude but I've struggled to get through the book it feels so repetitive and the pdf format is hard for me to read. I wanted to finish it but I feel like there isn't much point after the book club meeting on this and forcing myself to get through this was putting me in a reading slump

[Samuelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

the anti-carceral nuance is refreshing

[Sinem Asya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 2 chapters and the very last chapter on asylum cases explains the lay of the land very well.

[eve is reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

i was quite intimidated beginning this book as the opening is incredibly dense. it does ease up and ended up being pretty easy to digest. i appreciated the inclusion of photos within the text, it added emotion and context.

some parts were slightly repetitive, and overall i wish i was able to watch senorita extraviada to fully cement the information in the text. i tried finding the documentary, but it is only available on kanopy which i do not have access to.

overall a decent primer to the topic of femicide/feminicide but i expect there are much more thorough texts.

[hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

heartwrenching, heartbreaking, incredibly moving. “señorita extraviada” looks to be available on kanopy and i will be watching as soon as i am able.

[Sydney ⸙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the narrative approach but a lot of the theoretical points were not very clear or well supported (at least to me in my reading). But maybe I would have been better off reading Terrorizing Women.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really accessible and moving exploration of femicide on the US-Mexico border, somewhat fails to examine the topics it touches in depth